Director, People Operations & Rewards

Vita Coco is the leading coconut water brand in the world, built on a simple idea: bring better-for-you, natural hydration to more people. Since starting in 2004,we’vegrown into a global business with teams in New York, London, and Singapore, andwe’renow publicly traded on NASDAQ under COCO.

As a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp,we’recommitted to supporting farming communities, sourcing responsibly, and building products that are better for people and the planet. We move fast, stay scrappy, and care deeply about doing the right thing.

We’renow looking for someone who’sexcited to join a growing, purpose-driven company and help shape what comes next.

• Human First: We lead with inclusivity, transparency, and empathy.

• Nothing is Impossible: We experiment, learn, and keep moving forward.

• United by Our Will to Win: We stay aligned, work collaboratively, and push toward shared goals.

• Part of Something Bigger: We’recommitted to uplifting the communities we’reconnected to locally and globally

The Director of People Operations & Total Rewards is a strategic and operational leader responsible for building and scaling best-in-class people operations across compensation, benefits, payroll, HRIS, compliance, and people data. This role ensures Vita Coco’s people infrastructure is accurate, compliant, scalable, and employee-centered while supporting our growth as a global public company.

You will partner closely with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team to design and execute benefits and payroll strategies, strengthen internal controls, and deliver reliable people data that informs business decisions. This role manages the People Operations Manager and People Coordinator and reports to the Global VP of People.

We’d love our newest coconut to join us in person in NYC, but if you’re a great match for the role, we’d be happy to explore remote work together.

• Lead U.S. market benchmarking and pay analysis using external surveys and internal data to ensure competitive and equitable compensation programs

• Design and oversee end-to-end U.S. compensation processes, including annual merit cycles, bonus planning, promotions, off-cycle adjustments, and pay equity reviews

• Play a key role in shaping and evolving Vita Coco’s compensation philosophy, frameworks, and governance

• Own benefits strategy and vendor management, including renewals, plan design, and employee experience enhancements

• Ensure compensation and benefits programs are compliant, scalable, and aligned with public-company standards

• Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing

• Serve as system owner for global HRIS (UKG), ensuring system configuration, data integrity, and optimization

• Lead UKG enhancements, integrations, testing, and process automation

• Maintain SOX-aligned controls for payroll, equity, compensation, and people data

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local, and international employment laws and regulations

• Partner with Legal on audits, filings, and regulatory reporting (e.g., proxy statement, equity disclosures, wage and hour)

• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively update policies and practices

• Establish data governance, documentation, and quality standards

• Build dashboards and reporting for headcount, turnover, compensation, payroll, and benefits

• Provide actionable insights to People and business leaders

• Build scalable processes, documentation, and SOPs

• Lead cross-functional projects with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team

• Manage vendors and contracts related to payroll, benefits, and HR systems

• Mentor and develop team members, fostering a…