Sr. Director, Global Sales Compensation

Sr. Director, Global Sales Compensation

This role is based in our San Francisco or Mountain View location.

At LinkedIn, our approach to flexible work is centered on trust and optimized for culture, connection, clarity, and the evolving needs of our business. The work location of this role is hybrid, meaning it will be performed both from home and from a LinkedIn office on select days, as determined by the business needs of the team.

We are looking for a leader to run the LinkedIn Global Sales Compensation team as the Sr. Director of Global Sales Compensation. This person will be responsible for our sales incentives programs at LinkedIn, which includes sales compensation design, policy, governance, training, communications, reporting & analysis, operations & administration, and systems tooling & integrations.

In this role, you will lead a team of subject matter experts in their respective areas and partner with senior leadership across Sales, GTM Ops, Legal, HR, Finance, and Engineering to design, build, administer, report, and performance manage our sales incentives programs. Success in this role requires detailed understanding of Sales commercial models (e.g. B2B SaaS, Online Advertising), experience with design and execution of sales incentives programs to deliver on growth through Sales commercial models, and expertise in working cross-functionally across an organization with specific understanding of how to partner and influence senior stakeholders.

The ideal candidate is an innovative thinker, grounded in data-driven analyses and solutions; a systems thinker to connect the dots across different technologies / processes / policies; a clear communicator who can develop and gain buy-in for recommendations from the Global Sales Compensation organization that drives growth at LinkedIn through our Sales incentives programs. The expectation is for this leader to be a visionary and lead in a challenging and extremely fast-paced environment, while also having the grace and willingness to change direction when circumstances demand.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Design

• Lead the global sales compensation function, overseeing plan design, policies, governance, incentive programs (including SPIFFs, pilots, and mid-year planning), training, communications, and reporting.
• Align compensation strategy with LinkedIn's go-to-market objectives, ensuring scalability, adaptability, and long-term business impact.
• Stay ahead of industry trends and incorporate best practices to innovate in sales compensation design and execution.
• Demonstrate strong commercial acumen, ensuring compensation decisions drive growth while balancing operational and financial outcomes.

Stakeholder Influence & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Partner with Sales, Finance, Sales Operations, HR, and Engineering leaders to ensure compensation design and operations enable business growth and operational excellence.
• Represent the sales compensation function in cross-functional technology initiatives, including CRM deployments, ERP, and Territory Planning tools, ensuring accurate data flow and alignment with business rules.
• Engage directly with Microsoft's incentive governance committee to ensure LinkedIn's plans and controls meet risk, compliance, and operational standards.
• Communicate complex compensation strategies clearly across stakeholders, leveraging data-driven insights to influence and inspire confidence.

Execution & Operational Excellence

• Build scalable, AI-ready systems and tools to manage participant data, inquiries, reporting, and automation to drive accuracy, efficiency, and user experience.
• Ensure compliance with internal policies, regulatory requirements, labor laws, and financial reporting standards.
• Adapt to shifting business priorities with resilience and agility while maintaining high standards of execution.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing global team, fostering a culture of excellence, inclusiveness, and continuous growth.
• Provide mentorship and create opportunities for professional development, while modeling LinkedIn's values of diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Inspire a team mindset that positions sales compensation as a strategic enabler of business growth rather than a back-office function.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• 12+ years of experience in Sales Compensation, Sales Operations, Finance, Management Consulting or related field OR equivalent experience
• 6+ years of people management experience
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Business Analytics, Finance, or related field

Preferred Requirements:

• 8+ years of experience in the technology industry.
• Proficiency in Microsoft 365 tools, including Power BI, Power Automate, Visio, Project, SharePoint, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CoPilot, and Viva.
• Willingness to travel occasionally.
• Strategic thinker with proven experience in change management within a fast-paced, technology-centric organization.
• Self-starter with a proactive, "get things done" mentality, capable of focusing on system-wide solutions rather than sub-system fixes.
• Strong ability to logically and efficiently structure solutions to ambiguous problems, conduct impact analysis, identify key insights, and recommend actionable plans.
• Growth mindset with the ability to act as a change agent, driving improvements across the compensation ecosystem.
• Advanced analytical and modeling skills, with the ability to interpret and analyze data and present findings concisely to leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively and positively influence cross-functional leaders and stakeholders involved in the incentive compensation management process, including Sales leadership, GTM Ops, Finance, Human Resources, and Legal.
• Ability to partner with all business levels to make informed decisions and deliver solutions that meet desired outcomes.
• Robust planning and time management skills, adept at managing multiple deliverables within tight timelines.
• Excellent people and interpersonal skills, with the capability to assertively support a dynamic sales organization.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Suggested Skills:

• Strategic Thinking
• Decision-Making
• Financial Acumen