Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom - Non Location Specific
Job ID: 760610
Division: Human Resources
Designing and implementing compensation and benefits programs that support Microsoft’s strategic goals in 12 locations across Western Europe (WE) (Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Austria, Finland, Portugal and Ireland).
Team/Department Mission
This position acts as the senior lead for Compensation and Benefits in the Area and acts as a consultant to HR, senior and line managers. Each challenge and opportunity is unique and requires expertise and judgment in making decisions - many of which have long-term legal and cost impact to the subsidiary and/or Corporate.
This role is a member of the WE HR Leadership team as well as the International Compensation and Benefits Leadership team. Ultimately this position is responsible for providing long term competitive advantage to Microsoft in terms of candidate attraction and employee retention through leading edge Compensation and Benefit programs. This position will lead a team of virtual team members and acts as coach and mentor to the team.
Key Accountabilities
Responsibilities:
- Responsible for Western Europe Compensation and Benefits Program development, implementation and improvement.
- Partner with the corporate and local HR teams to share knowledge and develop local plans to implement global compensation and benefits initiatives.
- Acts as the Compensation & Benefits lead for Annual review process, Worldwide Remuneration Planning (WRP), Benefits plan design and Sales Incentive Comp Plan design processes for the Area.
- Partner with Corporate Analysis Team (CAT) to ensure local competitive market data is analyzed annually, results interpreted accurately and strategic action plan is built.
- Identifies market trends and develops proposals to ensure that MS remains competitive in light of those trends.
- Responsible for sales and services incentive compensation within the WE Area, including understanding and evangelizing the details of the plans, communicating plans to managers and HR teams, consolidating feedback from business leaders during the planning process, partnering with Incentive Compensation organization on incentive plan design, and implementing within the Area.
- Support the sales contest approval process as required and work with Finance.
- Ensure cost, compliance and competitive positions in the local markets regarding Compensation & Benefits. This position acts as a consultant to HR and executive management on benefit related issues and programs for the Area.
- Identify areas of long-term strategic development with the compensation and benefits environment, build business cases and support their implementation.
- Research issues and develop compensation and benefits solutions to key business challenges.
- Working with Senior Managers to build a detailed understanding of the compensation and benefits environment in line with business strategy.
- Develop and deliver communication and feedback mechanisms to ensure employee and manager knowledge of Compensation and Benefits programs is at a high level.
- Establish and maintain a close partnership with Regional Finance team in the areas of budgeting, sales planning process, and setting up and managing processes around exception request for compensation.
- Review of regulatory/statutory provisions and make program changes to ensure compliance.
- Become an external representative to the community and industry by attending compensation and benefits forums to gain knowledge of best practices and the competitive landscape in compensation and benefits.
- Recommend creative solutions for complex compensation and benefits issues in the Area. Accountable at the Area level for approval of compensation and benefit program implementation decisions in accordance to governance model. Develops proposals and presentations for global and corporate leadership.
- Comprehensive knowledge of current employment legislation and “Employer of Choice’ Compensation and Benefits Practices.
- Responsible for conducting Area training on compensation programs and practices.
- Conducts job evaluations using market data and internal evaluation. Makes recommendations regarding appropriate compensation levels and incentive plan eligibility. Participates in salary surveys. Conducts custom surveys with key industry contacts as needed.
- Work alongside virtual HR C&B team
Essential Experience
- This role requires very strong cross-team collaboration, executive presence and organizational agility. It must drive coordination and accountability to key stakeholders across the broader business
- Demonstrated Compensation Benefits experience in a large multinational environment
- Familiarity with sales incentive compensation in an environment that has a strong sales focus is a plus
- The candidate may have worked in different industries and/or consultancy.
- High-tech background is not required and international experience does not have to cover the entire Western Europe region
Technical/Functional Skills
- Microsoft® Office Excel® and Microsoft Office PowerPoint® skills required
- Delivering presentations in front of international and senior audiences
- An understanding of job evaluation principles would be beneficial
Personal Attributes/Interpersonal Skills
- Excellent communication skills
- Responsive with ability to work to tight deadlines and Manage expectations well
- Can work independently with self-initiative in virtual environment
- Can work in a complex matrix structure
- Strong analytical skills
- Documented success in multi-country environment
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree, Masters Degree or equivalent desired
Special Requirements/Additional Information e.g. Language Skills
- Fluent English with additional language skills an advantage
- Must be willing to travel across the region
Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer and supports workforce diversity
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