Job Role Description (JRD)

Department Manager – Compensation & Benefits

Reports To:

Vice President – Human Resources Management / Total Rewards

Job Purpose

Lead and manage the organization's Compensation & Benefits (C&B) and Total Rewards function to ensure competitive, equitable, and sustainable reward programs that support business growth, talent attraction, employee retention, internal mobility, and organizational performance.

Drive compensation strategy, salary structure governance, incentive design, benefits optimization, and market benchmarking while ensuring alignment with organizational goals, budget, governance, and labor regulations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Market Compensation Benchmarking

Develop and maintain compensation philosophy aligned with business and talent strategy.
Conduct annual salary and benefits benchmarking using market survey data.
Analyze compensation competitiveness against relevant industry peer groups.
Recommend compensation positioning and pay strategy.
Prepare executive reports on market movement, salary trends, and labor market intelligence.
Identify critical talent segments requiring differentiated reward strategies.

2. Salary Structure Management

Design and maintain salary structure, grading architecture, and pay ranges.
Conduct job evaluation and job grading exercises.
Monitor salary compression, pay equity, and internal competitiveness.
Manage compa-ratio analysis across all employee groups.
Review organizational salary structure to ensure alignment with business transformation.

3. Incentive & Commission Plan Management

Design and manage incentive, commission, and variable pay programs.
Ensure incentive schemes align with organizational goals and performance outcomes.
Review effectiveness and ROI of sales incentive and bonus programs.
Partner with Finance and Business Units to establish performance metrics.
Conduct post-program analysis and recommend improvements.

4. Annual Compensation Planning

Lead annual salary review and merit increase process.
Manage promotion and salary adjustment frameworks.
Facilitate annual compensation budgeting exercises.
Conduct compensation modeling and cost impact analysis.
Present annual compensation recommendations to HR Leadership and Management Committees.

5. Employee Benefits Management

Design and optimize employee benefits programs.
Evaluate benefit utilization and effectiveness.
Conduct benefits benchmarking and ROI analysis.
Manage vendors, insurance providers, and wellness partners.
Develop benefit programs that support employee wellbeing and retention.

6. Total Rewards Communication & Advisory

Develop Total Rewards communication strategy.
Create employee awareness and understanding of rewards programs.
Provide compensation consultation to HRBP, Talent Acquisition, and Business Leaders.
Educate managers on compensation governance and reward decisions.
Support change management related to compensation initiatives.

7. Salary Offer Review & Recommendation

Review and approve compensation proposals for new hires, promotions, transfers, and retention cases.
Partner with Talent Acquisition in offer strategy development.
Evaluate internal equity and market competitiveness for salary offers.
Support executive hiring compensation proposals.
Provide recommendation papers for Management and Executive Committee approval.

8. Analytics, Governance & Compliance

Develop compensation and benefits dashboards.
Monitor key Total Rewards metrics and trends.
Ensure compliance with labor laws, tax regulations, and company policies.
Conduct periodic audits of compensation practices.
Support HR digitalization and automation initiatives.

Qualifications

Education: Bachelor's Degree or higher in Human Resources, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, Statistics, or related field.
MBA or HR-related certification is an advantage.
Experience
Minimum 8–10 years in Compensation & Benefits / Total Rewards.
At least 3–5 years in managerial level.
Experience in large organizations (3,000+ employees preferred).
Experience in retail, consumer, hospitality, aviation, logistics, or multinational organizations is advantageous.

Department Manager - Compensation & Benefits