Sales Compensation, Operations Lead

Position Overview

The Sales Compensation, Operations Lead owns the integrity, governance, and end-to-end execution of all commission and incentive operations. This leader ensures commission plans are interpreted consistently, calculated accurately, and paid on time, with clear documentation and defensible application across the organization. The role serves as the control point between Sales and Finance, establishing confidence in incentive data, eliminating ambiguity, reducing disputes, and ensuring zero surprises on payout day. The Commission and Incentive Operations Lead drives operational rigor, enforces standards, and proactively identifies risk before it surfaces.

This is a high-visibility, controls-oriented functional leadership position requiring strong commercial judgment, advanced analytical capability, process discipline, and executive-level credibility. The individual must operate as a trusted advisor, capable of balancing policy integrity with practical business realities while maintaining audit readiness and organizational trust.

Work Arrangement: Remote

This role requires the individual to be based in Flexible across U.S. time zones.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end commission calculation, validation, and payout operations across all sales incentive plans.
• Ensure commissions are calculated accurately and delivered on time with zero surprises on payout day.
• Interpret Incentive Plan Documents (IPDs) and translate plan language into clear, defensible system logic.
• Lead annual and new hire IPD development, distribution, onboarding alignment, and version control management.
• Validate deal attribution, crediting, splits, overlays, accelerators, and timing logic.
• Apply commission plans consistently and resolve gray areas with sound judgment and documented precedent.
• Partner with Finance on monthly accruals, forecasting, reconciliation, and payout approvals.
• Deliver clean, reconciled commission files to Payroll and ensure alignment across CRM, ERP, and commission systems.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation of commission rules, exception handling, and calculation methodologies.
• Manage rep inquiries and disputes within defined SLAs, providing fast, consistent, and fact-based responses.
• Own exception review process and ensure all adjustments are documented, approved, and traceable.
• Identify recurring issues, data inconsistencies, or plan weaknesses and recommend structural improvements.
• Build and maintain reporting dashboards to provide leadership visibility into commissions, attainment, and trends.
• Eliminate shadow spreadsheets by strengthening system controls and standardizing processes.
• Establish and enforce internal controls to protect data integrity and ensure governance discipline.
• Demonstrate proactive time management to prioritize competing deadlines, especially during payout cycles.
• Communicate complex commission logic clearly and confidently to Sales, Finance, and Leadership stakeholders.
• Build trusted relationships with Sales, Finance, HR, and Revenue Operations partners.
• Provide leadership with clear, confident insights into commission performance and risk exposure.
• Perform other duties as assigned to support departmental and company objectives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, or equivalent experience.
• 6–8 years of experience in in Sales Operations, Revenue Operations, Commissions Operations, or Finance.
• Demonstrated experience owning commission calculation and payout processes in a high-growth or complex sales environment.
• Familiarity with commission platforms such as Xactly, CaptivateIQ, Spiff, or similar tools.
• Strong financial acumen with experience partnering closely with Finance on accruals and reconciliation.
• Exceptional Excel expertise with advanced modeling capabilities, complex nested formulas, pivot tables, large dataset reconciliation, and audit-ready validation controls.
• Experience managing Incentive Plan Document distribution and acknowledgment workflows through DocuSign or similar agreement management platforms.
• Advanced analytical skills with strong data fluency; experience with SQL or data querying tools preferred.
• Proven ability to interpret and operationalize complex compensation plans with consistency and accuracy.
• Demonstrated proactive time management with the ability to prioritize competing deadlines and manage high-pressure payout cycles.
• Clear, concise, and confident communication skills with the ability to explain complex commission logic to Sales, Finance, and executive stakeholders.
• High degree of ownership, accountability, and operational discipline.
• Ability to manage sensitive conversations and resolve disputes with professionalism and objectivity.
• Executive presence and the ability to build trust and credibility with senior leadership.
• Ability to travel up <10% as business needs require.
• Role requires the following physical capacity: Sedentary: primarily desk/computer work.
• Must be legally authorized to work in United States; Elite does not provide employment sponsorship for this position.

Benefits:

• Competitive Compensation Package ($121,000 - $135,000 base salary + variable component)
• Comprehensive Healthcare Coverage (Health, Dental, Vision)
• Retirement Savings Plan with an Employer Contribution
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Time Off
• Wellness Initiatives
• Employee Assistance Program
• Generous Global Parental Leave
• Calm, free premium subscription
• Employee Discount Program