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Human Resources | Director of Compensation / Benefits

Director of Compensation / Benefits

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Director of Compensation or Benefits is in charge of design, implementation, compliance, and evaluation of a company's compensation and benefits programs. Manages staff members of the compensation and benefits team. Advises senior management team on employee compensation topics.

Job Outlook

There were 302 Director of Compensation / Benefits job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 10861 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Compensation / Benefits Manager industry, which includes the Director of Compensation / Benefits career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Director of Compensation / Benefits jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $153,703.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $144,441.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Director of Compensation / Benefits postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $101,295.

Education and Experience

Posted Director of Compensation / Benefits jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree42.47%
Master's Degree18.03%
Doctoral Degree3.7%
Other4.56%

Posted Director of Compensation / Benefits jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years11.59%
3 to 5 years31.82%
6 to 8 years23.23%
9+ years33.36%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Director of Compensation / Benefits positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Leadership (38.24%)
  • Communication (35.72%)
  • Management (34.19%)
  • Problem Solving (16.64%)
  • Operations (16.2%)
  • Planning (14.49%)
  • Sales (14.46%)
  • Presentations (13.48%)
  • Customer Service (13.31%)
  • Microsoft Excel (12.34%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Compensation Strategy (19.12%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Accounting (18.96%)
  • Auditing (20.63%)
  • Finance (45.77%)
  • Human Resources Information System (HRIS) (19.91%)
  • Marketing (17.16%)
  • Project Management (33.41%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Benefits Strategies (8.84%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

  • Benefits Strategies (32.14%)
  • Compensation Strategy (69.51%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Director of Compensation / Benefits skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Director of Compensation
  • Director of Benefits
  • Director of Total Rewards
  • Director of Compensation and Benefits
  • Assistant Director of Nursing
  • Director of Employee Benefits
  • Director of Global Compensation
  • Director of Executive Compensation
  • Director of Global Benefits
  • Total Rewards Manager

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Director of Compensation / Benefits jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Elevance Health (203)
  • Archway Physician Recruitment (160)
  • Unum (156)
  • Willis Towers Watson (149)
  • Sodexo (146)
  • Britt Medical Search (112)
  • Humana (106)
  • Epsilon (105)
  • Grocery Outlet (97)
  • Hub International (71)

North Carolina

  • Archway Physician Recruitment (14)
  • Elevance Health (10)
  • BHI Energy (8)
  • KPMG (7)
  • Davidson County Schools (7)
  • FCS Incorporated (6)
  • Willis Towers Watson (6)
  • Novant Health (4)
  • Cornerstone Building Brands (4)
  • GPAC (4)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!