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Aiven is a global data and AI platform company with over 400 employees, built on popular open-source technologies like Apache Kafka, PostgreSQL, ClickHouse, and OpenSearch. This role owns Sales Compensation operations across all revenue teams (SMB, Mid-Market, Enterprise, Sales Engineers, ISRs, and Partnerships) spanning EMEA, AMER, and APAC regions.
You will design, build, and operate variable compensation plans for quota-carrying reps and overlay roles, ensuring alignment with GTM strategy and financial targets. Key responsibilities include:
**Compensation Plan Design & Governance**: Design and cost variable compensation plans; model plan costs and payout scenarios using AI tooling for scenario analysis; own plan documentation, rep-facing comp letters, and FAQs; write and maintain the sales compensation policy including plan terms, eligibility, draws/guarantees, windfall/clawback provisions, and dispute procedures.
**Quota & Crediting Operations**: Implement quotas, targets, and crediting rules across the commissions platform and Salesforce; own crediting logic for expansions, amendments, multi-year deals, proration, and FX; partner with RevOps and Deal Desk on crediting alignment; use AI-assisted checks to test crediting rules before changes reach payouts.
**Commission Calculation & Payments**: Run monthly and quarterly commission calculations, reconciliation, and dispute resolution with AI-assisted anomaly detection; own payroll handoff processes; maintain audit readiness and internal controls with clear documentation of AI usage and human review.
**Reporting & Analytics**: Build reliable reporting on attainment, payouts, and plan effectiveness; surface insights on plan performance using AI to analyze patterns and test proposed changes; provide reps and managers with AI-assisted self-serve answers to routine comp questions.
**Cross-Functional Collaboration**: Partner with Sales leadership, RevOps, Finance/FP&A, Payroll, People, and Legal on compensation governance; serve as expert on comp mechanics; support internal controls and audit requests.
**AI-Native Ways of Working**: Build and maintain AI-assisted workflows, templates, and prompts for scenario modeling, comp letters, reconciliation, dispute triage, and reporting; apply sound judgment on AI appropriateness in controlled financial processes; verify all AI output before payouts; document workflows for team adoption.
**Requirements:**
Must-haves:
- 4-8+ years in Sales Compensation, Incentive Compensation, RevOps, Sales Ops, or Finance within high-growth B2B SaaS
- Proven plan design expertise including quota-carrying and overlay roles, accelerators, and SPIFFs
- Hands-on experience building and running compensation plans for consumption-based business models
- Experience authoring clear, legally sound sales compensation policy documents
- Fluency in SaaS commercial concepts: bookings/ARR, consumption/usage revenue, expansions, amendments, multi-year deals, proration, FX
- Hands-on commissions operations experience: reconciliation, dispute handling, approvals, payroll handoff, audit readiness under tight monthly close timelines
- Advanced spreadsheet skills in Excel or Google Sheets (pivot tables, complex formulas, data cleaning, modeling)
- Comfort with Salesforce (or similar CRM) and commissions platforms such as Xactly, Qobra, CaptivateIQ, Varicent, or Everstage
- Strong stakeholder communication skills; ability to explain comp mechanics clearly to reps and executives
- High integrity and discretion with sensitive compensation data
Nice-to-haves:
- SOX and internal controls experience with commissions accounting or accruals
- BI or reporting tool experience
- Automation skills with SQL, dbt, or scripting
