Vice President, Total Rewards

Job Description

Join us at Zendesk, where we’re on a mission to power exceptional service for every person on the planet. We’re accelerating that ambition by building products rooted in AI, automation, and intelligent customer experiences, because behind every interaction lies an opportunity to make a human connection.

We’re hiring a Vice President, Total Rewards to be the strategic leader across HR for compensation, benefits, accommodations, and HR compliance. In this role you’ll define and execute on a holistic total rewards strategy, set enterprise standards, and enable scalable delivery through service teams, automation and AI so Zendesk can attract, retain and reward the best talent globally. You will play a vital role in modernizing how HR delivers Total Rewards through analytics, automation and AI. You will also prepare and present high-level risk and rewards briefings to executive leadership and the Board as needed.

Role summary

Enterprise owner of Total Rewards standards accountable for global policy, program design, compliance posture, and a roadmap to scale these domains with automation and AI. Serves as an executive advisor and occasional Board presenter on people risk, pay strategy, and program impact.

What you’ll be doing

• 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 that drive company performance.
• Drive the adoption of AI and analytics tools to automate compensation analysis, surface pay equity insights, model scenario impacts, and reduce manual, error‑prone processes.
• Simplify and reduce complexity in total rewards operations — rationalizing policies, eliminating redundant processes, establishing clear governance and scaling support into our 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.

What you bring to the role

• 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 to measure and iterate program impact.
• 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.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience at a SaaS/AI/technology company or high‑growth enterprise.
• Experience with Workday.
• Experience managing benefits negotiations and renewals.
• Ownership of global equity programs and sales compensation programs.

AI literacy requirement

• AI literacy is required. Candidates should be comfortable using AI tools to automate and scale HR workflows, able to evaluate AI vendors and model risk (privacy, bias, auditability), and capable of defining 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.

The US annualized base salary range for this position is $283,000.00-$425,000.00. This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

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.