Compensation Lead
Plaid
Administration
San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted on May 6, 2025
We believe that the way people interact with their finances will drastically improve in the next few years. We’re dedicated to empowering this transformation by building the tools and experiences that thousands of developers use to create their own products. Plaid powers the tools millions of people rely on to live a healthier financial life. We work with thousands of companies like Venmo, SoFi, several of the Fortune 500, and many of the largest banks to make it easy for people to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they want to use. Plaid’s network covers 12,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, UK and Europe. Founded in 2013, the company is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, Washington D.C., London and Amsterdam.
The Compensation team designs, manages, and evolves Plaid’s compensation strategies to attract, retain, and motivate amazing talent. We make sure our compensation is fair inside the company and competitive in the market. We build compensation programs that connect directly to Plaid’s goals and employee experience. We use data and insights to make smart, equitable decisions. We keep our strategies aligned with Plaid’s future, always putting people first.
In this role, you will lead Plaid’s global compensation strategies and programs aimed to attract and retain top talent. You will serve as a trusted thought partner to leaders across the People team and the broader organization, including Plaid’s executive team. You’ll lead the ongoing improvement of compensation processes like review cycles, pay governance, and budget forecasting. You’ll own benchmarking efforts to ensure our compensation remains competitive, using both internal insights and external market data. You’ll also advise on executive compensation and support comp committee preparations. In addition to driving strategy, you’ll build and lead a high-performing Compensation team and collaborate closely with key partners across Finance, Talent, Systems, and across the C-suite.
Requirements:
- 10+ yrs in the Total Rewards and/or Compensation with at least 5+ years in a leadership role focused on growing and leading Compensation and/or Total Rewards team
- Experience leading high performing Compensation/Total Rewards teams (ability to hire + grow team); experience in both Public and Private sectors
- Demonstrated ability to influence different level stakeholders and thrives working in cross-functional teams; experience directly working with CEO and Executive teams
- Proven ability to evaluate, design and implement compensation programs based on both market assessment and business strategy
- Success in simplifying and articulating complex strategies and programs to audiences spanning from leadership to managers to employees
- Deep understanding of the current market including history of staying ahead of industry-standard methodologies and future trends
- Proven analytical skills, keen eye for detail, and have an in-depth knowledge of building and maintaining complex models
Responsibilities:
- Evaluate, design, implement, and communicate compensation strategy, programs, and policies that help attract and retain top talent
- Scale and mature global compensation programs and practices (cash, equity, variable, bonus, etc) as Plaid continues to grow
- Become a trusted thought partner and leader on compensation matters to partners within the People org and leadership across Plaid
- Continue to improve compensation practices (i.e., review cycles, budget forecasting, etc.), pay decisions, and governance
- Lead benchmarking workstreams to continue to position Plaid’s compensation competitively leveraging internal and external tools and resources
- Develop strong relationships with key partners across the business including our C-Suite, Finance, HR, Talent, and HRIS teams
- Advise on executive compensation and comp committee matters
- Build and lead a high performing Compensation team
Our mission at Plaid is to unlock financial freedom for everyone. To support that mission, we seek to build a diverse team of driven individuals who care deeply about making the financial ecosystem more equitable. We recognize that strong qualifications can come from both prior work experiences and lived experiences. We encourage you to apply to a role even if your experience doesn't fully match the job description. We are always looking for team members that will bring something unique to Plaid!
Plaid is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and values diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, religion or religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, military or veteran status, disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Plaid is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance with your application or interviews due to a disability, please let us know at [email protected].