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Cognite is seeking a Compensation & Benefits Director to serve as the global owner of compensation philosophy, strategy, and operational governance. This is a high-impact, business-critical role at the intersection of strategy, financial rigor, and employee experience.
Cognite operates at the forefront of industrial digitalization, building AI and data solutions that solve high-impact problems. The company has a global footprint spanning the US (Phoenix, Houston, and multistate presence), Norway, India (Bangalore), Japan, Western Europe, and the UAE, with continued growth through new entities and global hiring.
You will evolve compensation and benefits frameworks that reinforce performance culture, attract and retain world-class talent, and scale with Cognite's growth. You are a hands-on subject matter expert and genuine team player—equally comfortable shaping long-term strategy and rolling up your sleeves to execute. You will report directly to the VP, People Operations & Rewards, while serving as subject matter expert to the CHRO and CFO.
Key responsibilities include:
**Global Compensation Strategy & Architecture:** Own and evolve Cognite's global compensation philosophy and strategy, ensuring alignment with business growth, talent strategy, and shareholder value creation. Architect scalable compensation frameworks across base salary, annual bonus, equity, and long-term incentive programs. Evolve compensation structures for new and existing geographies, ensuring market competitiveness, regulatory compliance, and alignment with local market dynamics. Drive performance differentiation through compensation design, linking directly to Cognite's performance frameworks and career architecture. Monitor global market trends, emerging compensation practices, and evolving pay transparency regulations. Ensure compensation governance frameworks are robust, auditable, and scalable across all geographies—appropriate for a company building toward public-company readiness. Prepare clear, structured materials for Board and Compensation Committee reviews.
**Equity, Incentives & Performance Alignment:** Design and continuously refine annual bonus structures and incentive frameworks across technical, commercial, and leadership populations. Partner with HRBP, business operations, Finance, and executive leadership to ensure incentive models and commission structures align with global compensation strategy. Develop compensation models tied to career architecture, creating clear progression pathways and meaningful reward differentiation across levels and functions.
**Operational Excellence & Compensation Execution:** Own end-to-end operational execution of global compensation programs: annual review cycles, bonus processing, equity planning, and promotion-related adjustments. Manage and scale automated compensation processes leveraging platforms such as Pave, Radford, and Cognite's HRIS to ensure efficiency, accuracy, and governance. Partner with Finance Partners to align compensation planning with headcount budgets and financial forecasts. Ensure all compensation processes, records, and decisions meet compliant auditability standards.
