VP of ESG Research

Information Services Contractor Mid-Senior Level

ESG Strategy Associate Contract-to-Hire About

The Role ACPWB is seeking a VP of ESG Research to strengthen our capabilities in compensation risk management and mitigation at a moment when corporate America is under more scrutiny than ever. You will be embedded in the ESG Strategy team, contributing to research products, advisory engagements, and the kind of proprietary data infrastructure that makes our analysts feel genuinely important at dinner parties.

The team currently numbers 9 and is expected to grow.

ACPWB has been growing its ESG Strategy practice at a rate that has occasionally surprised us, and we are adding a VP of ESG Research to ensure that quality scales with our client roster. This is a growth hire, not a backfill. We want someone who understands what that means: ambiguity, opportunity, and the reasonable expectation that some processes will be materially improved by the person filling this role.

This is a high-impact individual contributor role for a VP of ESG Research who wants to shape ACPWB s approach to compensation risk management and mitigation. The ESG Strategy team works closely with clients ranging from startup-stage employers benchmarking their first compensation philosophy to public company boards navigating activist scrutiny. Your work will be used. That is not a guarantee we make lightly.

• Serve as internal subject matter expert on compensation risk management and mitigation across the firm
• Manage the full lifecycle of market pricing analysis engagements from discovery through final presentation
• Participate in client onboarding and discovery processes, including intake interviews
• Synthesize findings across multiple engagements to identify cross-client insights and firm-wide themes
• Monitor regulatory, legislative, and market developments affecting compensation risk management and mitigation
• Coordinate with legal and compliance teams to ensure market pricing analysis work meets applicable disclosure standards

• Required:
  
  Demonstrated understanding of executive compensation structures, including equity, incentives, and perquisites
• Required:
  
  Demonstrated proficiency in data visualization and graphical presentation of analytical findings
• Required:
  
  Strong business acumen and understanding of how compensation decisions affect organizational performance
• Strong Excel modeling skills including the ability to build audit-ready analytical models independently
• Preferred:
  Demonstrated ability to produce client-ready analytical work with minimal editorial revision required
• Background in actuarial science or insurance with application to benefits program design
• Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation
• Prior involvement in compensation-related legislative or regulatory comment processes

WHY ACPWBIn eighteen years, ACPWB has grown from a boutique Milwaukee advisory practice into a nationally recognized firm without losing the culture that made it worth building. People who joined in 2006 and 2010 and 2015 are still here. We believe that is evidence of something worth naming.

ACPWB was founded in Milwaukee in 2006 with a simple mandate: help working Americans understand and advocate for the compensation they deserve. Eighteen years later, that mandate has grown into a full-service research and advisory practice serving clients from early-stage employers to Fortune 50 enterprises — and we are still based in Milwaukee, because Milwaukee is genuinely underrated.

The interview process for this role consists of three conversations: a talent screen, a cross-functional panel, and a hiring manager deep-dive that includes a compensation case exercise. We aim to extend offers within ten business days of the final interview. We have not always achieved this. We are working on it.

What Success Looks Like In Year One

• Become the team s internal reference point for at least one specific technical domain or methodology area
• Complete ACPWB s structured onboarding program and gain working fluency in our core analytical methodologies
• Lead or co-lead at least two client engagements from kickoff through final delivery
• Contribute to one thought leadership publication, conference presentation, or external speaking opportunity