Total Rewards & HR Operations Manager
at Descript
San Francisco, United States
About the Role
Join Descript's People team as our Total Rewards & HR Operations Manager, where you'll design competitive compensation programs while optimizing HR processes that enhance our employee experience. This dual-function role combines strategic compensation expertise with operational excellence to support our continued growth and talent retention, reporting directly to the Director, People Operations.
What You'll Do
Total Rewards & Compensation:
- Design and maintain competitive salary structures, equity programs, and incentive plans across all roles
- Conduct market benchmarking and pay equity analysis to ensure competitive positioning
- Lead annual compensation planning, merit cycles, and promotional adjustments
- Manage equity administration including grants, vesting schedules, and employee communications
- Oversee benefits strategy and vendor relationships for health, wellness, and retirement programs
- Develop total rewards communication strategies to maximize program value perception
- Ensure compliance with pay transparency laws and compensation regulations
HR Operations & Process Management:
- Streamline onboarding, performance management, and employee lifecycle processes
- Support talent acquisition with offer negotiations and compensation recommendations
- Lead organizational changes including promotions, transfers, and policy implementations
- Generate workforce analytics and reporting on compensation trends and retention metrics
- Maintain HRIS data integrity and support system improvements
- Collaborate with Finance and Talent Acquisition on headcount planning and budget forecasting
HR Support & Ticketing:
- Manage and respond to employee HR inquiries through our ticketing system, ensuring timely resolution and excellent service delivery
What We're Looking For
- 5+ years in total rewards, compensation analysis, or HR operations
- Ability to handle LOAs
- Ability to manage immigration processes
- Strong analytical skills with experience in compensation benchmarking and data analysis
- Knowledge of equity compensation, benefits administration, and regulatory compliance
- HRIS proficiency (Rippling or similar platforms)
- Excellent project management and stakeholder communication skills
- Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, Psychology, or related field
Bonus Points
- CCP certification or similar compensation credentials
- Startup or high-growth tech company experience
- Pay equity analysis and compensation consulting background
- Advanced Excel and data visualization skills
- M&A integration and compensation harmonization experience
Compensation: The base salary range for this role is $138K to $188K / year. Final offer amounts will carefully consider multiple factors, including prior experience, expertise, and location, and they may vary from the amount above base.
About Descript
Descript is building a simple, intuitive, fully-powered editing tool for video and audio — an editing tool built for the age of AI. We are a team of 150 — with a proven CEO and the backing of some of the world's greatest investors (OpenAI, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital).
Descript is the special company that's in possession of both product market fit and the raw materials (passionate user community, great product, large market) for growth, but is still early enough that each new employee has a measurable influence on the direction of the company.
Benefits include a generous healthcare package, catered lunches, and flexible vacation time. Our headquarters are located in the Mission District of San Francisco, CA. We're looking to hire people who are local and able to join us at the office when needed. We're flexible, and you're an adult—we don't expect or mandate that you're in the office every day. But we do believe there are valuable and serendipitous moments of discovery and collaboration that come from working together in person.
Descript is an equal opportunity workplace—we are dedicated to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. We believe in actively building a team rich in diverse backgrounds, experiences, and opinions to better allow our employees, products, and community to thrive.