Compensation & Benefits Manager, EMEA

What to expect

Gates is seeking an experienced “Compensation & Benefits Manager” to support our C&B activities in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The position holder will oversee all Compensation & Benefits (C&B) matters in EMEA, supporting 16 countries and approximately 4,500 employees. This includes accountability over the design, development, implementation and management of market competitive compensation and benefits solutions for the region. Located in our EMEA HQ in Luxembourg, the position reports solid line to the Director, Global Compensation based in Denver and functionally to the HR VP of EMEA, based in Luxembourg.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

In alignment with the global and regional Gates C&B strategy, the selected candidate will be responsible for the following key areas:

• Provide day-to-day compensation and benefit support and advice to regional HR teams in the implementation, communication and administration of all compensation and benefit programs
• Lead the Annual Compensation Planning process including communications, bonus, and base pay review coordination.
• Administer the Promotion and Market Adjustment processes across relevant employee groups.
• As part of the budget planning process, lead the identification of options to ensure market competitiveness and make cost effective recommendations to senior regional leadership on pay structures, incentive plans, compensation policies, medical/life/accident insurance, pension schemes, and other ad-hoc incentive plans using internal benchmarks and external market data.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for coordinating benefits renewals across countries, working closely with external vendors and benefits brokers to ensure timely and cost-effective renewals aligned with local market practices and employee needs.
• Develop and deliver local compensation training programs tailored to HR and management needs.
• Participate in reviewing salary offers to new hires to ensure consistency and alignment with compensation guidelines.
• Provide input and support for onboarding orientation sessions for new hires, focusing on compensation-related content.
• Manage salary survey submissions in collaboration with external survey providers and internal stakeholders.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for general compensation queries from Local HR teams.
• Support CWB (Compensation Workbench) testing to ensure system functionality and accuracy.
• Execute the Quarterly Global Bonus Plan Audit, ensuring payouts are accurate and aligned with policy.
• Administer the Equity Plan processes, including annual vesting and new grants in coordination with global teams.
• Consolidate and coordinate approvals for Sales Incentive Plan payouts.

Keys to Success

• Leads others to solve complex problems; uses analytical thinking, tools and judgement to identify innovative solutions
• Interprets internal or external business issues and recommends best practices to improve products, processes or services
• Solves complex problems; takes a broad perspective to identify innovative solutions
• Works independently, with guidance in only the most complex situations
• Impacts the achievement of customer, operational, project or service objectives; work is guided by department objectives
• Communicates complex concepts; anticipates potential objections and influences others to adopt a different point of vie

Supervisory Responsibilities

• No Supervisory Responsibilities
• Requires specialized depth and/or breadth of expertise in own specialized area and general knowledge of related areas
• May lead functional teams or projects with moderate resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity

Requirements and Preferred Skills

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant area (Master's degree is preferred).
• 8 to 10 years professional experience, including minimum 5 years of compensation & benefits experience in a multi-country environment in Europe.
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail – demonstrated ability to use complex analysis to drive insights and decision making. 
• Excellent Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Good knowledge and understanding of regional factors influencing effective and cost-effective compensation and benefits solutions within the EMEA region.
• Experience with HRIS systems and working knowledge of Compensation Planning tools. Specific experience in Oracle or SAP is a plus.
• Fluency in English; other European language(s) are considered an asset.
• Proven ability to maintain confidentiality and ability to deal with sensitive information.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work within a matrix environment and across different levels.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build relationships and collaborate with stakeholders at all levels.
• Proactive and results-oriented, with the ability to work independently and handle multiple priorities

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