Director, Regulatory Compliance Specialist, HR​/Recruitment

Job Description Summary

The Director, Compensation owns the strategy, governance, and operational execution of Zendesk’s global compensation programs. This role is responsible for translating compensation into a business advantage by enabling competitive pay decisions, supporting talent retention and growth, and delivering scalable, equitable, and market-aligned compensation practices.

The Director will set the functional roadmap for global compensation advising, compensation analytics, tools and systems, with strong emphasis on data rigor, automation, process discipline, and cross-functional partnership. This leader will partner closely with senior leaders in Finance, Legal, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners, Total Rewards, and business executives to drive org-level outcomes that directly impact workforce planning, pay equity, budget management, and talent strategy.

This is a high-impact leadership role accountable for building scalable compensation operations, establishing practical policy guardrails, and serving as the final decision-maker for complex compensation escalations, exceptions, and executive compensation support.

• Direct and oversee the global compensation function, including compensation advising, analytics, tools and systems, policy governance, and employee and manager support.
• Develop, modify, and execute global compensation policies, guidelines, and procedures, ensuring alignment with business objectives, compensation philosophy, and organizational values.
• Establish and implement compensation strategies and operating models that support pay decisions, job architecture, promotions, market pricing, and annual compensation cycles.
• Serve as the functional authority on complex compensation matters and provide guidance to business leaders, HR partners, and employees on policy interpretation, exceptions, and competitive pay decisions.
• Partner with Finance, Payroll, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and Total Rewards to support compensation planning, budget allocation, offer design, pay progression, and broader workforce planning.
• Lead compensation analytics and insights, including market benchmarking, pay equity analysis, range penetration, incentive analysis, and executive-ready reporting.
• Own compensation tools and systems, including configuration, workflow design, data integrity, reporting, and process automation to improve scale, accuracy, and user experience.
• Support executive compensation activities, including executive offer packages, annual executive pay review processes, equity support, and coordination of governance and approvals.
• Build forecasting and planning processes for compensation spend, merit cycles, promotions, adjustments, equity refreshes, and other compensation-related investments.
• Analyze market trends, internal compensation data, and best practices to identify opportunities for program optimization, competitiveness, and improved employee experience.
• Drive continuous improvement through process redesign, technology enablement, and standardization of compensation practices across regions and business functions.
• Lead, develop, and mentor the team supporting global compensation operations, establishing priorities and accountability for results.
• Monitor program performance, data quality, escalations, and compliance risks, taking corrective action as needed.
• Own short- to mid-term planning for the function, including annual goals, service delivery priorities, and strategic initiatives.
• Establish KPIs, SLAs, and dashboards to measure compensation cycle effectiveness, turnaround time, decision quality, employee experience, and operational health.
• Build and maintain governance frameworks for compensation decisions, including exception handling, approvals, documentation standards, and audit readiness.
• Partner with leadership to ensure compensation programs support hiring strategy, retention goals, internal equity, and market competitiveness.
• Lead org design, hiring, development, and succession planning for the Global Compensation team.
• Build career frameworks and development paths for compensation specialists and managers, with clear accountability for performance and promotion readiness.
• Manage vendor strategy, including RFPs, negotiations, contract management, and ongoing performance governance for compensation survey providers, analytics tools, and systems vendors.
• Ensure compliance with global compensation requirements, including wage and hour considerations, pay transparency laws, internal controls, and data/privacy obligations, partnering with internal stakeholders to mitigate risk.
• Provide executive-ready reporting and recommendations on compensation trends, risk, cost, and program effectiveness.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field.
• 12+ years of experience in global compensation, executive compensation, total rewards, compensation analytics, or enterprise HR leadership.
• 5+ years of people…