Job Description
The Sales Compensation Program Manager is a mid-to-senior individual contributor role within the Sales Administration function, responsible for the end-to-end governance, design support, and operational management of Victaulic's sales compensation program. Working closely with Sales Leadership, Finance, and HR, this role serves as the internal subject matter expert on compensation plan mechanics, program effectiveness, and incentive administration. This role serves as the primary conduit and trusted advisor to sales leaders, ensuring the program is understood, running effectively, and delivering the intended results in the field
Responsibilities and Duties
Compensation Governance & Program Management
- Build and maintain the enterprise compensation governance framework, ensuring plan standardization, approval controls, and policy compliance across all business units.
- Manage the full lifecycle of sales compensation plan initiatives — from design input through system implementation, communication, and ongoing administration.
- Advises senior sales leaders on the setting, assessment, and modification of Target Incentives (TIs), ensuring alignment between payout levels, performance expectations, and overall program cost.
- Own the Terms and Conditions of the sales compensation plan, ensuring accuracy, accessibility, and alignment with approved plan design.
Sales Strategy & Planning Support
- Partner with Design and Sales/Ops functional leaders to ensure compensation programs reflect best practices in segmentation, targeting, channel strategy, and resource deployment.
- Support quota-setting processes, including feasibility modeling and quota deployment across the sales markets and geographies.
- Maintain the metric library and ensure consistency in how performance metrics are defined, tracked, and communicated to the field.
Program Effectiveness & Reporting
- Lead plan effectiveness assessments, producing analysis and recommendations for plan changes or new program initiatives in partnership with Sales Leadership.
- Deliver ongoing operations reporting, including performance dashboards, payout summaries, and ad hoc analyses supporting business decisions.
- Conduct market pay and practice benchmarking to ensure Victaulic's programs remain competitive and aligned to industry standards.
SPIFFs & Special Incentive Programs
- Manage the design, approval, rollout, measurement, and tracking of SPIFF programs and other short-term incentives to drive targeted seller behavior and support core compensation objectives.
- Ensure SPIFF requests are evaluated against established governance criteria and that outcomes are reported back to stakeholders.
Crediting, Payment, & Issue Resolution
- Oversee crediting and payment processing for the sales compensation plan, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and proper approvals.
- Manage quota and pay adjustment requests in coordination with Finance and HR, applying sound judgment on eligibility and precedent.
- Serve as the escalation point for issue and dispute management, resolving compensation discrepancies with professionalism and a clear audit trail.
Education, Experience, and Skills
- Bachelor's degree required; concentration in Business, Finance, or related field preferred
- Minimum of 4 years of experience in sales operations, compensation design, or program management; at least 2 years in a role with direct accountability for managing a sales compensation function or team
- Expert proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including financial modeling, scenario analysis, and advanced formula construction; proficiency in Word and PowerPoint required
- Hands-on experience with Incentive Compensation Management platforms (Callidus, Oracle Incentive Compensation, or equivalent)
- Proficiency with CRM platforms (Salesforce.com preferred) and reporting/analytics tools (Tableau, Power BI, or Qlik)
- Strong project management skills with a track record of leading large-scale, multi-stakeholder initiatives across a complex enterprise
- Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills; comfortable translating data into actionable business recommendations
- Advanced verbal and written communication skills with the ability to present confidently to senior leadership
- High attention to detail and strong organizational skills; able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment with minimal supervision
Victaulic is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EOE/M/F/Vets/Disabled) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, gender, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic data, or other legally protected status. (Background checks may be required as part of our pre-employment process).