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Principal Total Rewards Partner

Palo Alto, California

About Workato

Workato transforms technology complexity into business opportunity. As the leader in enterprise orchestration, Workato helps businesses globally streamline operations by connecting data, processes, applications, and experiences. Its AI-powered platform enables teams to navigate complex workflows in real-time, driving efficiency and agility.

Trusted by a community of 400,000 global customers, Workato empowers organizations of every size to unlock new value and lead in today’s fast-changing world. Learn how Workato helps businesses of all sizes achieve more at workato.com.

Why join us?

Ultimately, Workato believes in fostering a flexible, trust-oriented culture that empowers everyone to take full ownership of their roles. We are driven by innovation and looking for team players who want to actively build our company. 

But, we also believe in balancing productivity with self-care. That’s why we offer all of our employees a vibrant and dynamic work environment along with a multitude of benefits they can enjoy inside and outside of their work lives. 

If this sounds right up your alley, please submit an application. We look forward to getting to know you!

Also, feel free to check out why:

  • Business Insider named us an “enterprise startup to bet your career on”

  • Forbes’ Cloud 100 recognized us as one of the top 100 private cloud companies in the world

  • Deloitte Tech Fast 500 ranked us as the 17th fastest growing tech company in the Bay Area, and 96th in North America

  • Quartz ranked us the #1 best company for remote workers

Responsibilities

We are looking for an exceptional Principal Total Rewards Partner to join our growing team. In this role, the Principal Total Rewards Partner serves as a key strategic advisor within the People team, with significant influence over the direction and execution of the company’s compensation philosophy. In this high-impact role, you will shape and evolve compensation strategy to attract and retain top talent while driving equity and transparency across the organization. Leveraging deep expertise in market analysis and compensation design, you'll deliver data-driven insights that inform executive decision-making and business planning. This role requires close partnership with HR and business leaders to champion compensation initiatives, influence organizational thinking, and ensure alignment with business objectives and market trends. Your ability to guide, challenge, and elevate the conversation around pay will be instrumental in influencing the overall roadmap and advancing the company’s Total Rewards strategy. You will also be responsible to:

Total Rewards Programs

  • Lead the design, implementation, and continuous optimization of compensation programs—including base salary, variable incentives, and equity—ensuring alignment with business strategy, market competitiveness, and internal equity.

  • Conduct job evaluations, compensation benchmarking, and market analysis to inform competitive pay structures that reflect the company’s position as a market leader and employer of choice.

  • Strategically manage and evolve the company’s job architecture, ensuring roles, titles, and levels reflect organizational structure and career progression pathways across all functions.

  • Oversee and enhance equity administration processes, including stock option tracking, board consent audits, option burn-rate analysis, and stock pool planning in collaboration with Legal and Finance-to support long-term incentive strategies that align with shareholder and employee value.

  • Lead the end-to-end quarterly bonus process in partnership with Talent Management ensuring accurate calculations, timely payouts and transparent communication in support of the company’s pay-for-performance culture.  

  • Forge strong, trust-based partnerships with People Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, Finance, and other senior stakeholders to champion Total Rewards strategies that drive business outcomes.

  • Coach, train and empower People Business Partners to effectively lead compensation conversations with managers by providing strategic guidance, tools and frameworks that reinforce the company’s compensation philosophy and promote consistent, equitable, and market-aligned decision-making.

  • Act as a strategic advisor and subject matter expert on compensation-related issues, providing consultative support and innovative market-aligned solutions that influence decision-making at all levels of the organization.

  • Provide thought leadership on company-wide compensation initiatives by contributing to cross-functional projects that require a deep understanding of the broader business strategy, organizational goals, and the intersection of compensation with talent, performance, and financial outcomes.

Analytics & Systems

  • Design and maintain dynamic yet simple to interpret reports, dashboards and key metrics that deliver actionable insights, while proactively ensuring data accuracy, consistency, and integrity to support informed decision-making.

  • Synthesize and present advanced compensation analytics and insights to senior leadership, shaping decisions that influence talent strategy, workforce planning, and overall business performance.

  • Maintain and optimize the HRIS and Compensation Management System to accurately reflect job architecture, pay structures, and compensation programs enabling robust reporting and analytics to support strategic workforce and compensation insights.

  • Drive automation and process optimization within compensation as well as the intersection of compensation with People team functions including Talent Acquisition, People Business Partners, Talent Management and People Operations to improve efficiency, collaboration, and user experience.

  • Continuously monitor and analyze market and industry compensation trends, regulatory changes, and emerging practices to ensure the company’s compensation strategies remain competitive, compliant, and aligned with evolving business needs.

Requirements

Qualifications / Experience / Technical Skills

  • Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university in HR, Business, Economics, Finance or related field required

  • A minimum of 12+ years of hands-on compensation related experience required including exposure to global compensation in a start-up and/or SAAS environment.

  • Expert user of Microsoft Excel including experience building analyses and models.

  • Experience with Radford surveys on a global scale as well as tech related compensation surveys.

  • Thorough knowledge of compensation-related laws and regulations.

  • Deep understanding of equity in a pre-IPO high tech environment.

  • Experience in a fast paced, high growth SAAS/technology environment preferred.

  • Experience with Workday HRIS preferred.

  • Certified Compensation Professional preferred.

Soft Skills / Personal Characteristics

  • Expert organizational and planning skills with superb attention to detail.

  • Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills.

  • Advanced strategic alignment and planning skills - ability to connect long-term business goals with shorter-term roadmap and actionable plans. 

  • Advanced consulting, advising, and influencing skills - ability to use expertise to provide guidance without mandating a course of action.

  • High degree of action and results orientation.

  • Strong sense of accountability and self-awareness.

For California applicants, the pay for this role begins at $177,000 plus variable, benefits, perks and equity.

(REQ ID: 2162)

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