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About the Role

Zendesk is seeking a Vice President, Total Rewards to lead HR strategy for compensation, benefits, accommodations, and HR compliance. This role will define and execute a holistic total rewards strategy, set enterprise standards, and enable scalable delivery through service teams, automation, and AI to attract, retain, and reward top global talent. The position is crucial for modernizing HR's delivery of Total Rewards using analytics, automation, and AI, and will involve preparing and presenting risk and rewards briefings to executive leadership and the Board.

Responsibilities

Design and govern competitive compensation, equity, and benefits programs (base, variable, sales comp) informed by benchmarking, pay-equity analysis, and cost modeling.
Partner with Executive Leadership to design and administer executive compensation programs, including base pay, short- and long-term incentives, bonuses, and commissions.
Drive the adoption of AI and analytics tools to automate compensation analysis, surface pay equity insights, model scenario impacts, and reduce manual processes.
Simplify and reduce complexity in total rewards operations by rationalizing policies, eliminating redundant processes, establishing clear governance, and scaling support into the Employee Services team.
Own executive presentations and board materials on total rewards strategy, benchmarking results, and gap remediation progress.
Mentor and develop a high-performance Total Rewards team.

Requirements

12+ years of progressive HR experience with deep Total Rewards and Executive compensation expertise; at least 7 years in senior/global leadership or equivalent scope.
Proven experience designing and operating enterprise compensation, equity, and benefits programs at global and complex SaaS/technology or comparable companies.
Experience implementing or leading selection/governance of HR automation and AI-enabled solutions.
Data-driven operator comfortable with people analytics, HRIS, and compensation/benefits platforms.
Collaborative executive with demonstrated ability to influence and partner with cross-functional partners (Legal, Finance, TA, Technology) and communicate with senior leadership.
Experience creating board materials and presenting succinctly to C-suite and Boards.
Experience leading within private, PE-backed firms and public companies.
Strong track record managing multi-jurisdictional compliance issues.
AI literacy is required; candidates should be comfortable using AI tools to automate and scale HR workflows, evaluate AI vendors, model risk (privacy, bias, auditability), and define governance and safe use policies for AI in HR.
Prior experience implementing AI-augmented HR processes or a clear plan to operationalize AI at scale is expected.

Skills

Compensation
Equity
Benefits
Executive Compensation
HR Compliance
AI
Automation
Analytics
People Analytics
HRIS
Sales Compensation
Benchmarking
Pay Equity Analysis
Cost Modeling
Executive Presentations
Board Materials
Team Mentorship
AI Literacy
Vendor Evaluation
Risk Modeling
Governance
Benefits Negotiations
Global Equity Programs

Location

Work Type

Hybrid
Remote

Experience Level

Senior/Global Leadership

Salary/Compensations

$283,000.00-$425,000.00

Benefits

Bonus
Related incentives

About the Company

Zendesk software was built to bring a sense of calm to the chaotic world of customer service. Today we power billions of conversations with brands you know and love.
Zendesk believes in offering our people a fulfilling and inclusive experience.
Our hybrid way of working, enables us to purposefully come together in person, at one of our many Zendesk offices around the world, to connect, collaborate and learn whilst also giving our people the flexibility to work remotely for part of the week.
Zendesk is on a mission to simplify the complexity of business and make it easy for companies and customers to create connections.
Our customer experience software unlocks the power of billions of interactions, enabling businesses to build rich, meaningful relationships with their customers.
Our offices reflect the global cities we call home, and have spaces for collaboration, quiet, and events.
With our hybrid approach, you’ll experience flexibility and connection, collaboration, and learning with your team.

Equal Opportunity

As part of our commitment to fairness and transparency, we inform all applicants that artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision systems may be used to screen or evaluate applications for this position, in accordance with Company guidelines and applicable law.
Zendesk is an equal opportunity employer, and we’re proud of our ongoing efforts to foster global diversity, equity, & inclusion in the workplace.
Individuals seeking employment and employees at Zendesk are considered without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
We are an AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer.
If you are based in the United States and would like more information about your EEO rights under the law, please click here.
Zendesk endeavors to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and disabled veterans pursuant to applicable federal and state law.
If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to submit this application, complete any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participate in the employee selection process, please send an e-mail to peopleandplaces@zendesk.com with your specific accommodation request.