Director, Sales Compensation

Location: Austin, Texas

Department: Sales

Reports To: Head of Revenue Operations

About the Opportunity

Our client is a rapidly growing technology company delivering complex enterprise solutions through a combination of technology, services, and recurring revenue offerings. As the organization continues to scale, they are seeking a Director of Sales Compensation to lead the strategy, governance, administration, and optimization of sales incentive programs across the go-to-market organization.

This is a highly visible leadership role responsible for designing compensation plans that drive the right sales behaviors, align with business objectives, and support profitable growth. The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with operational excellence and serve as a trusted advisor to Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Legal, and Executive Leadership.

Position Overview

The Director of Sales Compensation will own the full lifecycle of sales compensation, including incentive plan design, quota and payout mechanics, commission administration, compensation analytics, systems management, governance, reporting, and field communications.

This role requires a highly analytical individual with deep expertise in sales compensation principles, financial modeling, and compensation operations. The ideal candidate has experience building scalable compensation programs in growing B2B organizations and can effectively balance sales motivation, operational efficiency, and financial discipline.

Key Responsibilities

Compensation Strategy & Plan Design

• Own the company's sales compensation philosophy, framework, and governance model across all variable compensation roles.


• Design and recommend compensation plans including:
  
  
  
  • Pay mix
  
  
  • Commission structures
  
  
  • Accelerators
  
  
  • Overlay plans
  
  
  • Quota mechanics
  
  
  • Renewal and expansion incentives
  
  
  • Strategic account incentives
  
  
  • Multi-year contract treatment
  
  
  
  


• Lead annual and mid-year compensation planning cycles.


• Conduct financial modeling and scenario analysis to evaluate plan effectiveness.


• Partner with Sales Leadership and Finance on territory planning, quota methodology, attainment distribution, and compensation cost considerations.


• Ensure compensation plans support both growth objectives and organizational profitability.

Commission Operations

• Manage end-to-end commission administration and payout processes.


• Oversee:
  
  
  
  • Data validation
  
  
  • Payout calculations
  
  
  • Exception management
  
  
  • Dispute resolution
  
  
  • Accrual support
  
  
  • Financial close coordination
  
  
  
  


• Develop and maintain strong operational controls and governance processes.


• Ensure payout accuracy, compliance, and audit readiness.


• Implement scalable processes that support organizational growth.

Compensation Systems & Operations

• Own the sales compensation technology ecosystem.


• Manage compensation-related processes within CRM, commission automation, and reporting systems.


• Ensure data integrity, organizational hierarchy accuracy, workflow effectiveness, and reporting consistency.


• Evaluate and implement tools that improve efficiency and scalability.

Analytics & Executive Reporting

• Develop compensation reporting and analytics for executive leadership.


• Analyze:
  
  
  
  • Quota attainment
  
  
  • Incentive effectiveness
  
  
  • Compensation ROI
  
  
  • Payout trends
  
  
  • Cost of sales
  
  
  • Performance distributions
  
  
  • Exception activity
  
  
  
  


• Identify trends, risks, and opportunities within compensation programs.


• Provide data-driven recommendations to improve plan performance and sales productivity.


• Partner with Revenue Operations and Finance leaders on forecasting and performance reporting initiatives.

Communications & Governance

• Create compensation communications, including:
  
  
  
  • Plan documents
  
  
  • Compensation summaries
  
  
  • FAQs
  
  
  • Manager guides
  
  
  • Sales enablement materials
  
  
  • Payout statements
  
  
  
  


• Ensure compensation plans are clearly understood across the organization.


• Partner with Human Resources and Legal to ensure compliance and consistent plan administration.


• Maintain compensation policies, procedures, and documentation standards.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in Sales Compensation, Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, Finance, Business Operations, or a related analytical discipline.


• 5+ years of direct experience designing and administering sales compensation programs in a B2B environment.


• Deep expertise in:
  
  
  
  • Incentive compensation design
  
  
  • Quota methodologies
  
  
  • Commission structures
  
  
  • Accelerators
  
  
  • Overlay models
  
  
  • Renewal and expansion compensation
  
  
  • Strategic and multi-year contract treatment
  
  
  
  


• Demonstrated experience managing compensation operations, controls, governance, and executive reporting.


• Advanced financial modeling, spreadsheet analysis, and scenario-planning skills.


• Experience partnering with senior leaders across Sales, Finance, Human Resources, and Legal.


• Strong understanding of CRM systems, business intelligence tools, and commission management platforms.


• Excellent communication and presentation skills.


• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Operations, Accounting, or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting technology, software, cloud, infrastructure, managed services, telecommunications, or recurring-revenue business models.


• Experience with margin-based compensation plans.


• Experience supporting multi-year contracts and complex enterprise sales cycles.


• Experience building or scaling sales compensation programs in high-growth companies.


• Familiarity with compensation management platforms such as:
  
  
  
  • Xactly
  
  
  • CaptivateIQ
  
  
  • Spiff
  
  
  • QuotaPath
  
  
  • Anaplan
  
  
  • Similar compensation automation solutions
  
  
  
  


• Experience supporting commission accounting, policy controls, and audit processes.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strategic thinker with strong business and financial acumen.


• Highly analytical and detail-oriented.


• Comfortable balancing executive-level strategy with hands-on execution.


• Skilled at influencing cross-functional stakeholders.


• Able to communicate complex compensation concepts in a simple and effective manner.


• Thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment.


• Passionate about building scalable systems and processes.

Compensation & Benefits

Our client offers a competitive compensation package, including:

• Base salary of $180,000 – $225,000


• Performance-based bonus opportunity


• Equity participation potential


• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage


• 401(k) with company match


• Generous paid time off


• Professional development and career growth opportunities

Compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, location, and market factors.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

This is an opportunity to build and lead a critical function at a rapidly growing organization. You will partner directly with executive leadership, shape compensation strategy, influence revenue performance, and create scalable programs that support long-term growth. The role offers significant visibility, impact, and career advancement potential within a dynamic and evolving business.