Compensation & Equity Expert – Total Rewards

Weekday (YC W21)

. Serve as a Total Rewards practitioner for one of the company's clients .

Posted 9/18/2026contractRemote • United StatesMid-LevelSenior💰 $50 - $200 per hourWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in Total Rewards practices, focusing on compensation design, equity program management, and annual compensation cycles. Proficient in building salary bands, leveling frameworks, and communicating equity value to candidates and employees.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Compensation DesignEquity Program ManagementSalary Band Development409A ValuationsIncentive Structure Design

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Compensation ArchitectureEquity Refresh ManagementMerit PlanningBonus Program DesignOption Program DesignRSU Program ManagementGrant AdministrationCompensation ModelingBenchmarking MethodologyPay Equity Analysis

Soft Skills

Communication SkillsStakeholder ManagementDefensive Presentation Skills

Tools & Technologies

HRISCompensation Tooling

Industry Keywords

Total RewardsCompensation PhilosophyPay TransparencyGlobal Workforce CompensationExecutive CompensationPlan GovernanceVenture-Backed Company ExperienceIPO Readiness

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Serve as a Total Rewards practitioner for one of the company's clients
Focus on compensation design and architecture and/or equity program management
Build and manage salary bands, leveling frameworks, and job architecture
Own annual compensation cycles, including merit planning, promotions, bonuses, and equity refreshes
Design incentive structures
Design and manage option and RSU programs, grant guidelines, equity pools, vesting structures, and refresh philosophy
Support 409A valuations, plan governance, and grant administration
Build compensation and equity models and communications for candidates and employees

Requirements

What you’ll need

Built salary bands, leveling frameworks, and job architecture from the ground up
Owned an annual compensation cycle: merit planning, promotion decisions, bonus programs, equity refresh
Benchmarked against a peer set and defended it to a skeptical executive team
Designed incentive structures that were simple, credible, and changed behavior
Designed option and RSU programs, including grant guidelines, pool planning, vesting structures, and refresh philosophy
Worked through 409A valuations, plan governance, and grant administration at a venture-backed company
Built modeling and communication to help candidates and employees understand equity value
Compensation philosophy, benchmarking methodology, pay equity, and pay transparency are valuable
Compensation design for a global or contractor workforce at scale is valuable
Benefits program design, HRIS, and compensation tooling are valuable
Executive compensation, plan governance, or equity through IPO readiness are valuable