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Senior Director, Total Rewards at NPR in Washington, DC
Job Description
OVERVIEW
A thriving, mission-driven multimedia organization, NPR produces award-winning news, information, and music programming in partnership with hundreds of independent public radio stations across the nation. The NPR audience values information, creativity, curiosity, and social responsibility – and our employees do too. We are innovators and leaders in diverse fields, from journalism and digital media to IT and development. Every day, our employees and member stations touch the lives of millions worldwide.
Across our organization, we’re building a workplace where collaboration is essential, diverse voices are heard, and inclusion is the key to our success. We are committed to doing the right thing in our journalism and in every role at NPR. This means that integrity, adherence to our ethical standards, and compliance with legal obligations are fundamental responsibilities for every employee at NPR.
Intro to Position
The Senior Director, Total Rewards leads, modernizes and directs the operational foundations of benefits and compensation programs at NPR, responsible for developing and driving a total rewards strategy that supports a culture of high performance to attract, reward, and retain top talent. Reporting to the SVP People and serving as a critical strategic partner to Finance, Legal, and broader NPR leadership, this position establishes total rewards as a pillar of NPR’s employer brand –redefining benefits, compensation, and systems to position NPR as an employer of choice. This role requires a unique balance of high-level strategic design, high-touch operational execution, and understanding.
The Senior Director of Total Rewards will bring deep expertise in compensation and benefits administration, strong knowledge of retirement plans, and will serve as a key partner to the HRIS/People Systems team to ensure that systems, data, eligibility rules, benefits deductions, reporting, and related processes accurately support total rewards programs. This role requires strong technical knowledge, keen attention to detail, and the ability to identify, audit, and help improve legacy processes and systems issues.
The ideal candidate will bring a strong understanding of benefits, operations, retirement plan administration, compensation and HR systems. They must be comfortable driving change, strengthening controls, improving processes and working cross-functionally with HRIS, Payroll, Finance, Legal, external vendors, auditors and senior organizational leadership.
Responsibilities
Transformation Leadership & Strategic HR Alignment
- Functional Modernization: Drive the strategic transformation of Total Rewards and HRIS functions to align with NPR’s enterprise-wide organizational evolution, establishing scalable operating models, modern digital workflows, and progressive employee programs.
- Leadership Partnership & Change Leadership: Partner closely with the SVP, People, HR People Partners, Finance, and leadership to align total rewards and systems strategy with overarching business goals and facilitate seamless organizational change.
Benefits
- Benefits Strategy & Innovation: Lead the overall benefits strategy, incorporating a data-driven approach to recommendations and implementation of changes and improvements to our programs to maintain competitive advantage and meet the needs of the organization
- Benefits & Retirement Program Administration: Provide strategic direction and oversight for all of the organization’s comprehensive benefits offerings, leave programs, and retirement plans, ensuring compliance testing, plan document accuracy, and successful audits.
- Vendor & Broker Management: Oversee relationship management with health and benefit providers, third-party benefits advisors, and brokers. Direct the administration of benefit enrollment processes and leave programs.
- Administration Issue Resolution: Proactively identify, troubleshoot, and resolve complex benefits and retirement plan administration issues, successfully correcting legacy errors, resolving vendor data discrepancies, closing process controls gaps, and resolving systems configuration concerns.
Compensation
- Compensation Framework & Analytics: Develop and drive a unified compensation strategy aligned with broader HR objectives, utilizing robust data-driven analytics and modeling to evaluate market conditions, manage pay equity frameworks, and guide evidence-based salary decisions.
- Annual Cycles & Budget Ownership: Direct the annual compensation planning process and own overall fiscal responsibilities for total rewards and systems budgets, partnering closely with Finance to manage resources cost-effectively.
- Project Execution & Communications: Lead complex compensation and benefits projects from initial concept through design, modeling, and successful organization-wide implementation. Partner closely with the SVP of People, HR Business Partners, and additional stakeholders to ensure that total rewards programs are seamlessly integrated into broader HR and organizational strategies; author transparent communication materials and deliver structured training for leadership and staff on NPR's total rewards philosophy.
- Ensure compliance with legal requirements and governance related to compensation and benefits programs.
Systems, Audits, & Data Compliance
- People Systems Leadership: Direct the HRIS/People Systems team and establish the enterprise roadmap for UKG and integrated HR tools; ensure total rewards programs are accurately configured, administered, reported, and maintained within UKG; collaborate directly on system configuration, eligibility rules, and code setup to identify inaccuracies and improve data controls.
- Data Auditing & Internal Controls: Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs), data validation routines, and process audit trails to proactively identify and resolve issues in legacy total rewards processes.
- Total Rewards Compliance Leadership: Lead benefits, compensation, and systems compliance activities across the organization, ensuring compliance with any relevant federal, state, and local laws, including total reward regulations (e.g., ACA, Form 5500, and ERISA reporting).
- Data Integrity & Reporting: Ensure total rewards data and reporting are accurate, timely, and useful for leadership decision-making, employee communications, and audit inquiries.
Team Leadership & Development
People Management: Direct, mentor, and coach the internal Total Rewards teams, establishing a culture of accountability, high accuracy, professional growth, and proactive customer service.
The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list of required responsibilities, duties and skills. Other duties may be assigned, and this job description can be modified at any time.
Minimum Qualifications
- Professional Leadership & Strategy: 12 + years of progressive leadership experience across Total Rewards and HR Technology, with at least 6 years directly managing multidisciplinary HR teams.
- Strategic Benefits Ownership: Proven track record designing and executing holistic benefit, retirement, and wellness strategies that enhance the employee value proposition in complex organizations.
- Advanced HRIS Expertise: Proven experience managing, configuring, or optimizing enterprise-grade HRIS platforms, with specific, advanced expertise utilizing UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) modules.
- Team Leadership & Development: Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a high-performing team in a complex, collaborative organization
- Benefits & Retirement Plan Administration: Comprehensive understanding of ERISA fiduciary duties, nondiscrimination testing, retirement plan audits, Form 5500 reporting, and working directly with plan recordkeepers and trustees across 401 (k) and 403b plans.
- ERISA Fiduciary & Compliance Fluency: Robust knowledge of ERISA fiduciary responsibilities, nondiscrimination testing, plan audits, Form 5500 reporting, and retirement plan compliance; proven experience working directly with retirement plan recordkeepers, trustees, and investment advisors.
- Analytical Auditing & Issue Resolution: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to use data to drive decisions, audit complex datasets, and resolve data discrepancies, process and control gaps, and legacy system issues.
- Compensation Practice Mastery: Strong understanding of compensation practices, including salary bands, market pricing, pay equity, incentive programs, and compensation governance.
- Advisory Communication & Vendor Negotiation: Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills, with the ability to provide strategic advice and counsel to senior leadership and negotiate effectively with insurance and benefit vendors.
Preferred Qualifications
- Industry Certifications: Active professional designations such as CCP or CMS, SPHR or SHRM-CP or CEBS preferred
- Collective Bargaining Experience: Experience developing and administering benefits and compensation programs in a unionized environment
- Retirement Plan Compliance Testing: Experience supporting retirement plan audits, plan corrections, compliance testing, and plan governance
Key Competencies
- Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to accuracy
- Ability to understand how total rewards programs are operationalized through People Systems, Payroll, and vendor systems.
- High degree of accountability, ownership, and follow-through
- Ability to build credibility with the People Team, Finance, Legal, external vendors and senior leadership
Education Requirements
Bachelor's degree or equivalent in work experience.
Work Location & Requirements
Hybrid Permitted: This is a hybrid permitted role. The employee will be required to be in the Washington, D.C. office at least 2 days a week. The employee must also reside in the D.C. Metropolitan Area.
Job Type
This is a full-time, exempt position.
Compensation
Salary Range: The U.S.-based anticipated salary range for this opportunity is $192,000 - $230,000 plus benefits. The range displayed reflects the minimum and maximum salaries NPR expects to provide for new hires for the position across all US locations
NPR Benefits: NPR provides comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents. Regular, full-time employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week are eligible to enroll in NPR’s benefits options. Benefits include access to health and wellness, paid time off, and financial well-being. Plan options include medical, dental, vision, life/ accidental death and dismemberment, long-term disability, short-term disability, and voluntary retirement savings to all eligible NPR employees.
Does this sound like you? If so, we want to hear from you.
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NPR is an Equal Opportunity Employer. NPR is committed to being an inclusive workplace that welcomes diverse and unique perspectives, all working toward the same goal – to create a more informed public. Qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, age, religion, religious belief, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, lactation, and reproductive health decisions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, gender non-conforming status, intersex status, sexual stereotypes, nationality, citizenship status, personal appearance, marital status, family status, family responsibilities, military status, veteran status, mental and physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, genetic characteristics of yourself or a family member, political views and affiliation, unemployment status, protective order status, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, or any other basis prohibited under applicable law.
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