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Salary: USD 200,000 - 260,000 / annual
Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America by combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing for aerospace and defense companies. The company recently raised $1.37B in Series D funding at a $7.87B valuation and is rapidly expanding manufacturing capabilities and scaling its Factory-as-a-Service platform.
As Compensation Manager, you will own Hadrian's compensation strategy and build the framework that supports hiring, growth, and retention across a diverse workforce spanning hourly production, salaried, go-to-market, and executive roles. You'll be equal parts strategist and practitioner, setting compensation philosophy, building job architecture and pay structures, running compensation cycles, and creating tools that enable Business Leaders, Recruiting, and Finance to make fast, confident pay decisions.
Key responsibilities include:
- Develop and own Hadrian's compensation strategy and philosophy, building a competitive, scalable framework covering hourly production, salaried, GTM, and executive roles
- Build and maintain job architecture and career frameworks, including leveling, job families, and skills-based pay structures
- Conduct market benchmarking and modeling using appropriate peer groups across aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, and AI/tech sectors
- Set cadence for refreshing compensation bands and own the process end-to-end, including as new sites open in different labor markets
- Own annual and off-cycle compensation planning, including merit, promotion, and equity refresh cycles
- Partner with Recruiting on offer decisioning, providing guidance and tools for competitive, defensible offers
- Advise on sales and GTM compensation design, including OTE structuring, and partner on executive compensation and equity frameworks
- Build models, dashboards, and reporting on pay equity, offer competitiveness, and retention risk
- Translate compensation data into actionable stories for executives and hiring managers
Requirements:
- 6+ years of compensation experience with real ownership of program design and compensation cycles (not purely analytical)
- Strong command of compensation fundamentals: job matching, market pricing, leveling, job architecture, and cyclical programs
- Experience building compensation programs for both hourly and salaried populations, including shift differentials, overtime, and multi-state pay compliance
- Track record of building benchmarking approaches and peer groups; judgment to know when standard playbooks don't apply
- Deep Excel or Google Sheets fluency (modeling, lookups, INDEX/MATCH) and ability to turn messy data into business insights
- Fluency in sales compensation, including OTE design and bonus structuring
- Experience designing and managing equity programs with understanding of private vs. public company frameworks
- Excellent communication skills; ability to explain complex compensation models simply to senior leaders and first-time hiring managers
- Comfort operating in fast-paced, high-growth environments while building structure in real time
Preferred qualifications:
- Compensation experience across both manufacturing and tech companies
- Experience building skills-based pay structures, career frameworks, or job architecture from the ground up
- Creative, outside-the-box approach to compensation strategy; experience designing programs that lead the market in spaces without established playbooks
- Executive compensation experience, especially in pre-IPO or rapid-scaling environments
- Background in aerospace, defense, or other regulated industries
- Experience with HRIS and compensation planning tools like Rippling or Pave
Note: ITAR compliance required—must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, or eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.
