Compensation Manager

CAIS is the pioneer in democratizing access to and education about alternative investments for independent financial advisors, empowering them to engage and transact with leading asset managers on a massive scale through a wide variety of alternative investment products and technology solutions. CAIS provides financial advisors with a broad selection of alternative investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real estate, digital assets, and structured notes. CAIS also delivers industry-leading technology, operational efficiency, and world-class client service throughout the pre-trade, trade, and post-trade experience. CAIS supports over 50,000 advisors who oversee more than $6 trillion in network assets.  

We’re seeking a proactive, data-driven, and strategic Compensation Manager to build and lead the compensation function for a high-growth, broker-dealer fintech firm as we scale beyond 350 employees. Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you’ll serve as our resident expert on all things pay—designing equitable, market-competitive programs that attract, motivate, and retain top talent while reinforcing the behaviors and values that fuel our success. You will architect global salary bands, modernize variable-pay and equity frameworks, and run the annual compensation cycle end-to-end in Workday Advanced Compensation, blending Aon Radford and other benchmarks to keep us ahead of the market. The ideal candidate will bring expertise across base, variable, and equity compensation; strong analytical capabilities; and an ability to influence stakeholders at all levels. This is a great opportunity for an experienced compensation manager to create impactful compensation programs that power the next chapter of CAIS' growth.  

Responsibilities 

• Salary Architecture & Pay Transparency: Build and maintain global salary bands; providing Talent Acquisition with plug-and-play salary ranges, equity guidelines, and total-comp targets for every requisition and offer.  
• Incentive Program Design: Audit and streamline existing incentive plans, partnering with business leaders to create scorecard-based variable pay and to evaluate new vehicles (LTIP, deferred comp, spot bonuses, awards, fund-linked comp)—balancing cost, risk, and motivation. 
• Annual Compensation Cycle: Lead the year-end compensation process end-to-end (eligibility, budget, modeling, manager worksheets, approvals, communications) in Workday Advanced Compensation.  
• Project & Automation Leadership: Lead compensation projects (new plans, system implementations) and drive process automation across the HR tech stack.  
• Pay Equity & Compliance: Conduct annual pay-equity analysis and ensure programs comply with federal, state, and international pay-transparency and wage-and-hour regulations. Support proxy/Form 4 filings, and safeguard sensitive data.  
• Benchmarking: Lead annual compensation survey data collection and submission; managing vendor relationships. Source and blend additional benchmarks (public filings, peer surveys, crowd-sourced data) with internal insights to produce a holistic market view.  
• Market Intelligence & Analytics: Create dashboards and board-quality presentations that translate compensation related data into insights and recommendations for program enhancements.   
• Data Governance & Job Architecture: Establish and maintain job codes and job families for new hires, internal transfers, and promotions. 
• Pay-for-Performance Culture: Partner with the CPO to link compensation to performance, behaviors, and CAIS values, and developing and delivering manager and employee communications, tools and trainings that reinforce the pay-for-performance philosophy.  

Qualifications 

• 7+ years of progressive experience in compensation or total rewards, including 2+ years running company-wide pay cycles. 
• Deep expertise with Workday Advanced Compensation; experience integrating ATS data (Greenhouse preferred). 
• Proven track record of creating salary bands and variable-pay programs in a high-growth, multi-function environment. 
• Strong command of market-pricing methodologies, statistics, and pay-equity analysis. 
• Familiarity with Aon Radford (or similar) survey process and vendor management. 
• Advanced Excel / Sheets modeling; data-visualization and storytelling skills. 
• Working knowledge of U.S. and international wage-and-hour, pay-transparency, and tax regulations. 
• CCP or similar compensation certification strongly preferred. 
• Excellent consulting, relationship-building, and change-management abilities; able to translate data into compelling, pragmatic recommendations. 
• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Finance, Business, or related field (or equivalent experience).  

Nice-to-Haves 

• Experience with pre-public equity programs and IPO-readiness support. 
• Familiarity with global compensation and benefits frameworks. 
• Background in benefits or total rewards (while not core to the role). 
• Understanding of complex sales incentive structures and operational execution (e.g., SPIFF design). 

CAIS is consistently recognized as a Best Place to Work, and our culture is at the heart of our success. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where employees can be their most authentic selves and feel inspired and supported to bring their voice forward to drive community, growth, and innovation. We are an equal opportunity employer, and do not discriminate on the basis of any protected attribute, including race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital or veteran status, pregnancy or disability, or any other basis protected under applicable law.  Learn more about our culture, benefits, and people at https://www.caisgroup.com/our-company/careers. 

CAIS’ compensation package includes a market competitive salary, a performance bonus, and exceptional benefits. If you are located in New York, New York, the base salary range for this role is $170,000 - $200,000. Actual compensation is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set, level of experience, and specific office location. 

CAIS offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes generously subsidized healthcare with 100% employer paid dental and vision insurance, an employer matched retirement plan, wellness programs, and generous PTO and parental leave. Additionally, CAIS offers a flexible, hybrid in-office model; for most roles, we do not require a minimum number of days in office per week. For more information on our benefits and career opportunities, please visit our website: https://www.caisgroup.com/our-company/careers.