Job Summary

As the Senior Compensation Manager, you will lead the evolution and scale of OpenGov's compensation programs in alignment with our business objectives, combining hands-on program ownership with strategic analytics and AI-enabled operations. You'll serve as a trusted compensation advisor to HRBPs, People Managers, Talent Acquisition, and cross functional partners across the business — helping them navigate compensation decisions with clarity and confidence. You'll own the full compensation toolkit — program design, cycle execution, equity planning, and manager enablement — while building the data-driven infrastructure and automated workflows that let compensation scale ahead of the business, not behind it. This is a player-coach role: you'll do the work yourself building models, running benchmarks, owning cycles, while also setting direction and raising the bar for other professionals on the team.

Responsibilities

Compensation Advisory & Program Management

• Administer and evolve OpenGov's compensation programs - comp cycles, promotions, and variable pay - serving as project lead across each program

• Maintain the integrity of compensation data and systems, including internal job architecture, career paths, salary scales, and comp ranges aligned with our compensation philosophy

• Serve as a strategic advisor to HRBPs, People Managers, and FP&A, providing business-relevant compensation guidance and recommendations for new and existing employees to ensure internal equity, external competitiveness, and budget alignment

• Build trusted, consultative relationships with cross-functional partners, helping them apply compensation philosophy confidently to real business decisions

Equity Planning

• Own equity planning and administration, including new-hire and refresh grant guidelines, vesting structures, and equity budget modeling

• Partner with Finance and Legal on equity program design, plan changes, and compliance requirements

• Advise HRBPs and business leaders on equity-related questions for offers, promotions, and retention scenarios

Strategic Analytics

• Design and build compensation metrics, reports, and tools that inform program decisions and forecast/analyze compensation outcomes

• Lead competitive intelligence on market trends and talent movement, particularly for premium and fast-moving job families (e.g., AI/ML, engineering, data science)

• Analyze compensation data to surface trends, outliers, and risk areas, translating findings into clear, actionable recommendations for HR and business leaders

Enablement

• Create and deploy compensation content and training for HRBPs, Talent Acquisition, Managers, and Employees, spanning foundational and complex compensation topics

• Promote understanding of OpenGov's compensation philosophy and practices across the organization, building relationships that result in trusted partnership

AI-Enabled Compensation Operations

• Design and build AI-powered workflows and tools that automate recurring compensation work — benchmarking, offer modeling, job description generation, and comp cycle reporting — operationalizing and automating so compensation scales with our growth

• Integrate AI tools directly into daily compensation work to increase speed and consistency of deliverables, including market analysis, manager communications, and data summarization

• Evaluate where AI can responsibly replace manual steps, with clear judgment on where human review must stay in the loop, and bring recommendations forward proactively to the broader People Team

Requirements and Preferred Experience

• 10+ years of experience in compensation, consulting, or a related field in a high-growth, fast-paced environment

• Experience building compensation programs, managing projects, and scaling processes with company growth

• Experience with equity program design and administration, including grant guidelines, vesting structures, and equity budget modeling preferred

• Advanced proficiency with Workday Advanced Compensation strongly preferred

• Strong analytical and Excel/Google Sheets skills required to analyze data and build meaningful, understandable models and reports; ability to see beyond the numbers to drive sound decision-making

• Demonstrated, hands-on experience building AI-powered tools or workflows in a compensation/HR context (e.g., automating benchmarking, modeling, or reporting tasks)

• Knowledge of federal, state, and local laws impacting people operations and compensation

• Experience working with base pay and incentive plans required

• Experience with global compensation strongly preferred

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience required; a strong background in data/quantitative analysis such as Finance, Statistics, or Economics preferred

• Ability to present and distill complex topics in a concise and meaningful manner to diverse stakeholders

• Strong consultative and advisory skills, with a track record of building trusted partnerships with cross-functional stakeholders

• Must be able to independently problem-solve and work under pressure in a deadline-driven, rapidly changing organization

• Ability to exercise judgment and discretion in maintaining confidential and sensitive information

• Ability to gain alignment and represent a common point of view across multiple stakeholders

Compensation:

Chicago, IL: $160,000 - $180,000

Why OpenGov?

• Comprehensive healthcare options for individuals and families

• Flexible vacation policy and paid company holidays

• 401(k) with company match

• Professional development and growth opportunities