Compensation Analyst

About WPP Media

WPP is the trusted growth partner for the world’s leading brands. With exceptional talent, trusted data and intelligence, and world-class partnerships – all united by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open – we help clients navigate change, capture opportunity, and deliver transformational growth.

WPP Media is WPP's AI-driven media operating unit, bringing together media, data, and partnerships to deliver creative personalisation at scale. Connected through WPP Open and powered by Open Intelligence, clients see exactly where, how, and why their media investment is working.

For more information, visit wppmedia.com .

Role Summary and Impact

As the Compensation Analyst for WPP Media North America, you will play a pivotal role in designing, implementing, and managing strategic reward programs that attract, retain , and motivate our diverse workforce across the US and Canada. This manager-level position requires a highly analytical and proactive individual who is not only adept at utilizing advanced analytical tools like Power BI but also possesses a deep understanding of compensation philosophy. You will act as a trusted advisor to HR Business Partners and business leaders, driving compensation initiatives, ensuring data integrity, and contributing significantly to the strategic direction of total rewards for WPP Media's 6,000+ employees in North America. This role demands a self-starter who can independently lead complex projects and translate compensation data into actionable business insights.

Responsibilities

Compensation Strategy Philosophy:

Lead the development, communication, and ongoing refinement of GroupM NA's compensation philosophy, ensuring strategic alignment with business objectives, market competitiveness, and talent attraction/retention goals.

Serve as a subject matter expert and strategic advisor to HR Business Partners and business leaders on complex compensation matters, including job evaluations, market pricing, pay equity, and incentive plan design.

Job Architecture Evaluation:

Drive the design, evaluation, and maintenance of comprehensive job architecture frameworks and job descriptions, ensuring consistency, clarity, and market alignment across the organization.

Conduct in-depth job evaluations, determine appropriate FLSA exemptions, and accurately level positions within established pay structures, providing well-reasoned justifications.

Develop and present complex compensation recommendations for new hires, promotions, organizational changes, and special pay actions to senior stakeholders.

Advanced Data Analytics Reporting (with Power BI Focus):

Design, develop, and maintain sophisticated compensation analytics, predictive models, dashboards, and reports using Power BI to provide actionable insights into compensation trends, costs, and program effectiveness.

Proactively identify data anomalies and implement robust data governance best practices to ensure the highest level of data integrity and analytical reliability across all compensation systems and reports.

Serve as a subject matter expert and lead for HRIS (e.g., Workday) compensation module configurations and optimization, driving the development of advanced reporting and predictive analytics capabilities, particularly within Power BI.

Compensation Program Management:

Manage and optimize the end-to-end annual compensation review processes (merit, variable pay, long-term incentives), ensuring seamless execution, adherence to budget, and alignment with the overarching compensation philosophy.

Develop comprehensive salary recommendations, detailed reports, and compelling presentations for senior leadership and business partners, articulating key insights, strategic implications, and potential risks/opportunities.

Market Intelligence Survey Administration:

Manage relationships with external compensation survey providers and strategically lead the participation in relevant market surveys.

Conduct in-depth analysis of market data to assess external competitiveness, identify pay trends, and proactively propose adjustments to base pay structures, incentive plans, and overall compensation programs to maintain a competitive edge.

Training Education:

Develop and deliver comprehensive compensation education plans and training sessions for HR, Recruitment, Managers, and Employees, fostering a deeper understanding of compensation programs, policies, and their strategic impact.

Skills and Experience

Undergraduate degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Management, Human Resources, or a related field.

5+ years of progressive experience in compensation analysis and program management, with at least 2 years demonstrating manager-level responsibilities or leading significant compensation projects.

Expert proficiency in Microsoft Excel for complex data manipulation, modeling, and analysis.

Advanced experience in data visualization and business intelligence tools, specifically Power BI, is es…