Head of Total Rewards
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Head of Total Rewards
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Federally funded robot space missions developer
New ideas are all around us, but only a few will change the world. That’s our focus at JPL. We ask the biggest questions, then search the universe for answers—literally. We build upon ideas that have guided generations, then share our discoveries to inspire generations to come. Your mission—your opportunity—is to seek out the answers that bring us one step closer. If you’re driven to discover, create, and inspire something that lasts a lifetime and beyond, you’re ready for JPL.
Located in Pasadena, California, JPL has a campus-like environment situated on 177 acres in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and offers a work environment unlike any other: we inspire passion, foster innovation, build collaboration, and reward excellence.
Why Join JPL?
You thrive on digging into complex challenges and creating innovative solutions to drive positive results for people at all stages of their career and all levels of the organization.
You excel at using data to provide insights, guide decision making, design strategy and steer effective action.
You’re passionately curious, eager to collaborate with a unique and dynamic team and want to strive side-by-side with some of the greatest minds in the world to build the future.
The compensation, benefits, and leaves and accommodations teams are critical to making JPL’s audacious vision a reality, and you will be a key part of the overall strategy as we build and enable the best workforce to deliver JPL’s and NASA’s mission.
The Head of Total Rewards role is an opportunity to be part of JPL’s evolving strategy and objective to design, develop and implement an innovative, flexible compensation program that works within an FFRDC environment. At JPL, Total Rewards programs are core to our dynamic, data oriented, and intellectual, workforce. You will consult with executives to understand the wants and needs of the organization and share insights into compensation best practices to drive, create and find new solutions, influence an evolving culture, and help JPL achieve their world changing missions.
If you’re a forward thinking, determined, analytical, and persuasive leader with the ability to drive positive change and effective execution in a federally funded institution, JPL may be the perfect place to grow your career.
Key Elements of Your Position
Reporting to the Head of Human Resources, you will manage a team which includes compensation specialists, benefits specialists, and support staff. The team counsels, advises, and supports employees at all levels on all aspects of benefits, health and welfare (including retirement), and compensation programs and strategies.
While leading these centers of expertise, you will manage compensation plan design, stay current with evolving compensation, benefits, wellness, and rewards trends and laws, oversee vendor relationships, and execute special projects.
This position is critical to formulating and championing compensation strategies and that are competitive and cost effective. In addition, this position supports organizational capability by attracting, motivating, rewarding and retaining top talent.
Your Responsibilities
Strategy
Provide thought leadership and define total strategy, including model, metrics, methodology, and processes.
Proactively identify current and future total rewards needs and partner with the Head of Human Resources and executive leadership.
Innovate and build total rewards model using science and data to identify improvements, opportunities for standardization and solutions to solve identified issues.
Translate complex and ambiguous people and business concerns into analysis requirements and strategic initiatives.
Influencing short- and long-term total rewards strategy including assessing best practices, monitoring key legislative activity, updating, and communicating plan design, and effectively communicating total rewards benefits and costs.
Proactively evaluate compensation market survey data to identify trends and make strategic recommendations.
Work closely with JPL and Caltech leadership on all healthcare and benefits related programs and be responsible for the operation and administration of the Caltech Benefits Program at JPL.
Establish consultative partnerships to support the institutional benefits strategy.
Lead total rewards initiatives and projects including cross-functional HR and Lab-wide teams.
Stay current on trends and practices to ensure solutions are progressive, cost-effective and competitive.
Partner with other COEs to ensure integrated total rewards solutions aligned to deliver targeted results.
Research and benchmark industry best practices and find areas of applicability for JPL.
Leads the analysis, design and development of complex, advanced, and unique policies, procedures, practices and programs for total rewards.
Develops vendor performance standards and factors and negotiates percentage of premium at risk for noncompliance.
Stakeholders/Partnerships
Consult with executive leaders and stakeholders to understand and support people strategy across a compensation, benefits, wellness, and rewards portfolio and provide recommendations to ensure competitiveness, drive engagement, align to business goals and support HR’s roadmap.
Participate in strategic benefit discussions with Caltech and advises executive management at JPL.
Develop proposals and presentations to educate and persuade executive level decision-makers on appropriate solutions based on achieving objectives and business goals.
Serve as a total rewards representative to JPL and Institute committees.
Partner with Caltech and/or ERISA attorney as total rewards SME for JPL.
Consult with external partners (associations, NASA HQ, and other institutions) on compensation, classification, and program designs including advising executive leadership on potential impacts to JPL’s strategic goals.
Represent JPL’s interests and perspective to the Caltech Benefits Committee.
Regulations/Audits/Data
Ensure the JPL’s compensation, benefits, wellness, and rewards programs follow all regulatory requirements.
Serve as the total rewards lead overseeing all audits, related materials and formal audit responses including providing key data and/or calculations.
Stay knowledgeable on current and emerging regulations and legislation impacting total rewards and implements changes as needed to ensure continued compliance.
Make final recommendations for data reporting changes and system enhancements and provide systems requirements to HRIS.
Effectively demonstrate a consultative partnership for exceptionally complex, advanced, and unique issues including modeling “what if” scenarios, calculating comparative data, final pay, and more.
Leadership
Monitor day-to-day activities and make recommendations and decisions for hiring, promotions, salary changes, performance appraisals, etc. of staff.
Manage and authorize total rewards budget and expenditures.
Manage employee communications options to effectively explain JPL’s compensation philosophy and total rewards.
Participate in cross-functional teams for topics overlapping total rewards issues, such as workforce strategies impacting retirees.
Partner with IT, Finance and Payroll teams on key compensation, benefits and health plan data.
Serve as a member of the Human Resources Leadership team.
Requirements
Develop an understanding of and appreciation for JPL’s culture, and mission, including total rewards program and how JPL works with Caltech.
Provide executive leadership with benefits and compensation consultation.
Review and analyze JPL’s total compensation model to identify gaps and make recommendations.
Drive total rewards analytics and metrics identification to enable assessment of business strategy and program effectiveness.
Lead Lab-wide and rewards initiatives such as incentive pay, variable pay, and other projects.
Build effective relationships across JPL and Caltech, both within and outside of Human Resources.
Participate in compensation industry benchmarking projects.
Contribute to in process initiatives such as contract renewals, compliance activities, new benefits rollouts and more.
Provide input and participate in ongoing benefits technology enhancements and configuration, including metrics tracking and data governance.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree required, with an advanced degree preferred, including significant coursework in finance, economics, statistics, mathematics, human resources and/or accounting.
At least 10 years progressive and varied experience in compensation, benefits, wellness and rewards spanning both retirement, health, and welfare benefits, including executive and international benefits.
At least 4 years of experience in management and budgeting.
Experience working in a large (5,000+) organization including managing sizable data interfaces and Center of Expertise roles and responsibilities.
Experience in executive compensation management consulting, finance, HR or accounting preferred.
Project management experience, with data analysis, financial modeling and presentation design including strong analytical capabilities and modeling skills with proven accuracy.
Successful track record in:
Compensation and benefit strategy development and delivery.
Executive compensation and benefit program design and delivery.
Leading cross functional and company-wide project teams.
Leading variable pay plan design and implementation.
Classification structure design and implementation.
Designing, implementing and delivering a rewards program.
Knowledge of Federal and state employment laws including DOL, IRS, FLSA, OFCCP, Wage and Hour, etc.
Experience managing vendor relationships and service level agreements including developing and managing SOWs and RFPs.
Critical thinking
Ability to work effectively with various leadership styles and within a dynamic and unique environment.
Preferred Qualifications
Success Factors
Leadership and Communication
Strong, clear communication style and ability to develop effective messaging and communicate across all levels including the Board, executives, and employees.
Lead with a growth mindset and focus on resiliency.
Ability to operate, adapt and lead in a complex, matrixed, and dynamically changing environment.
Relationship Building
Strategic and collaborative approach to relationship building and problem solving.
Effective relationship building skills across all levels as well as business partners and customers, including demonstrating active listening and influence capabilities.
Customer focused, with the ability to influence others, change perspectives and build acceptance.
Regulations/Audits/Data
Robust analytic capabilities to support decisions and strategy with data, as well as the ability to use analytics to communicate trends and benchmarks.
Driven to improve results with solid decision-making skills starting with defining problems, collecting data, establishing facts and deliver effective solutions.
Experience with international benefits plans and managing regulatory audits.
Understands business strategies, competitive challenges, and financial impacts, as well as strategic planning and decision-making skills.
JPL has a catalog of benefits and perks that span from the traditional to the unique. This includes a variety of health, dental, vision, wellbeing, and retirement plans, paid time off, learning, rideshare, childcare, flexible schedule, parental leave and many more. Our focus is on work-life balance, and living healthy, fulfilling lives as we Dare Mighty Things Together. For benefits eligible positions, benefits are effective the first day of the month coincident with or immediately following the employee’s start date.
For further benefits information click Benefits and Perks
The hiring range displayed below is specifically for those who will work in or reside in the location listed. In extending an offer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory considers factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s job related skills, experience, knowledge, and relevant education/training.
The typical full time equivalent annual hiring range for this job in Pasadena, California.
$171,808 - $218,920JPL is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, age, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy or perceived pregnancy, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status or any other characteristic or condition protected by Federal, state or local law.
In addition, JPL is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.
Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federal facility. Due to rules imposed by NASA, JPL will not accept applications from citizens of designated countries or those born in a designated country unless they are U.S. Citizens, Legal Permanent Residents of the U.S or have other protected status under 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). The Designated Countries List is available here.
Federally funded robot space missions developer
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federal research center managed by Caltech for NASA. It designs, builds, and operates robotic space missions for planetary exploration, Earth science, and space-based astronomy, along with technology development. JPL translates scientific ideas into real missions using specialized engineering, software, and mission operations conducted by cross-disciplinary teams, often in collaboration with NASA centers and other partners. Unlike many contractors, JPL functions as a government-run R&D center that directly plans and executes missions from concept through flight operations, ensuring national-space capabilities and scientific discovery stay aligned with NASA's goals. The lab’s aim is to turn bold science questions into working space missions and technologies that advance our understanding of the solar system and Earth, while upholding values of being bold, inclusive, and trusted.
Explore more opportunities at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory