Compensation & Benefits Director

Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI, and data solutions that solve the world’s hardest, highest-impact problems. With unmatched industrial heritage and a comprehensive suite of AI capabilities, including low-code AI agents, Cognite accelerates the digital transformation to drive operational improvements.

We thrive in challenges. We challenge assumptions. We execute with speed and ownership. If you view obstacles as signals to step forward - not backwards - you’ll feel right at home here.

Our Moonshot is bold:
Unlock $100B in customer value by 2035, and redefine how global industry works. Join us in this venture where AI and data meet ingenuity, and together, we will forge the path to a smarter, more connected industrial future.

We are seeking a Compensation & Benefits Director to serve as the global owner of Cognite’s compensation philosophy & strategy, and operational governance. This is a high-impact, business-critical role at the intersection of strategy, financial rigor, and employee experience.

Our global footprint spans the US (Phoenix, Houston, Austin, and multistate presence), Norway, India (Bangalore), Japan, Western Europe, and the UAE — with continued growth through new entities and global hiring. How we reward, deploy, and develop our talent across these markets is central to our ambition.

You will evolve the compensation and benefits frameworks that reinforce performance culture, attract and retain world-class talent, and scale with Cognite’s growth. You are a hands-on subject matter expert and genuine team player — equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and rolling up your sleeves to get things done. You will report directly to, and partner closely with, the VP, People Operations & Rewards, while serving as the subject matter expert to the CHRO and CFO alongside the broader People & Organization team.

1. Global Compensation Strategy & Architecture

• Own and evolve Cognite’s global compensation philosophy and strategy, ensuring alignment with business growth, talent strategy, and shareholder value creation.
• Architect scalable compensation frameworks across base salary, annual bonus, equity, and long-term incentive programs.
• Evolve our compensation structures for new and existing geographies, ensuring market competitiveness, regulatory compliance, and alignment with local market dynamics.
• Drive performance differentiation through compensation design, linking directly to Cognite’s performance frameworks, ratings, and career architecture.
• Monitor global market trends, emerging compensation practices, and evolving pay transparency regulations — proactively adjusting Cognite’s approach to remain competitive and compliant.
• Ensure compensation governance frameworks are robust, auditable, and scalable across all geographies — appropriate for a company building toward public-company readiness.
• Prepare clear, structured materials for Board and Compensation Committee reviews.

2. Equity, Incentives & Performance Alignment

• Design and continuously refine annual bonus structures and incentive frameworks across technical, commercial, and leadership populations.
• Partner with HRBP, business Operations, Finance, and executive leadership to ensure incentive models and commission structures align with Cognite’s global Compensation strategy
  
  Develop compensation models tied to career architecture, creating clear progression pathways and meaningful reward differentiation across levels and functions.

5. Operational Excellence & Compensation Execution

• Own the end-to-end operational execution of global compensation programs: annual review cycles, bonus processing, equity planning, and promotion-related adjustments.
• Manage and scale automated compensation processes leveraging platforms such as Pave, Radford, and Cognite’s HRISto ensure efficiency, accuracy, and governance.
• In alignment with HRBP, partner with Finance Partners to align compensation planning with headcount budgets & financial forecasts
• Ensure all compensation processes, records, and decisions meet compliant auditability and controls standards
• Define and track key Compensation…