Job Description

Your Opportunity

At Schwab, you're empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us challenge the status quo and transform the finance industry together.

As a Senior Manager, Branch Compensation Strategy within Retail Field Operations, you will help shape and execute compensation strategies that support Schwab’s branch network and client-facing professionals. This role blends strategic thinking, data-driven decision making, program leadership and cross-functional influence to advance compensation strategies aligned to business objectives, employee experience and field performance. It centers on three priorities: Shaping compensation strategy and roadmap, delivering analytics and business cases and leading program execution, governance and change adoption.

You will partner closely with leaders across Field Operations, Human Resources, Compensation, Legal, Compliance, Technology, and Product teams to assess existing compensation programs, identify opportunities for improvement, and design scalable solutions that drive business outcomes. Success in this role requires the ability to influence without authority, communicate effectively with senior leaders, and lead complex initiatives from concept through implementation.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Compensation Planning

• Contribute to the development and execution of a multi-year compensation strategy and roadmap.
• Evaluate current compensation practices and identify opportunities to improve effectiveness, scalability, and employee experience.
• Assess market, business, and organizational trends to inform compensation recommendations.

Compensation Analytics & Insights

• Analyze compensation-related data to identify trends, opportunities, risks, and business impacts.
• Develop data-driven recommendations that support strategic decision making.
• Translate complex analyses into actionable insights for business leaders and stakeholders.

Program Leadership & Execution

• Develop decision-ready materials and support governance for compensation-related changes, including clear articulation of objectives, rationale, data insights, risks, tradeoffs, stakeholder impacts and implementation considerations.
• Lead compensation-related initiatives from ideation through implementation.
• Develop business cases, project plans, success measures, and implementation strategies.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and successful execution.

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Collaborate with partners across Compensation, HR, Legal, Compliance, Technology, Product, and Retail Field Leadership.
• Facilitate discussions to resolve complex issues and align stakeholders around solutions.
• Build trusted relationships across multiple functions and levels of leadership.

Change Management & Adoption

• Support communication and adoption of compensation program enhancements and strategy changes.
• Develop approaches that drive stakeholder understanding, engagement, and successful implementation.
• Navigate evolving business priorities and organizational change effectively.

Executive Communication

• Prepare and deliver presentations, recommendations, and analyses for senior leaders.
• Communicate complex concepts in a clear, concise, and compelling manner.
• Influence decisions through sound judgment, strong business acumen, and effective storytelling.

What you have

Minimum Qualifications

• 3+ years of program management or related experience, including setting strategic vision, developing business cases, and executing initiatives end-to-end.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex business problems, synthesize data, and develop practical, scalable solutions.
• Ability to lead complex strategy and execution work in partnership with other enterprises, with either compensation subject matter knowledge or the ability to quickly build compensation acumen.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional partners and influencing decisions through clear, effective communication.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, prioritize competing demands, and adapt to evolving business needs.
• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to partner effectively across multiple stakeholder groups.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within financial services, with exposure to compensation strategy, incentive plan design, or related programs.
• Familiarity with working alongside technology and product teams, including participation in platform, data, or system-related discussions.
• Exposure to tools such as Salesforce, Tableau, Microsoft Teams, Power BI, or similar systems supporting analytics, reporting, and collaboration.
• Experience supporting change management or driving adoption of new programs or initiatives across distributed teams.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Finance, Economics, Organizational Development, or a related field preferred.
• Professional certifications such as CCP, SHRM, PMP, or related credentials are a plus.

What Success Looks Like

• Defines clear strategies and translates them into actionable plans.
• Uses data and analytics to inform decisions and recommendations.
• Influences stakeholders and drives alignment across diverse teams.
• Demonstrates sound judgment when navigating ambiguity and competing priorities.
• Effectively leads large-scale initiatives from concept through execution.
• Communicates clearly and confidently with senior leaders and business partners.