Finance associate director, sales compensation mi (intelligence & execution)

About the Role:

Grade Level (for internal use): 12

The Role: The Associate Director, Sales Compensation (Intelligence & Execution) will serve as the global owner for sales compensation operations, accountable for the accuracy, governance, and financial integrity of commission payments across the end-to-end process. This high-accountability role requires sound financial judgment, advanced analytical capability, strong control discipline, and the resilience to lead through complex, high-pressure monthly payroll cycles, overseeing compensation modeling, stress testing, monthly commission calculations, payroll processing, SOX controls, dispute resolution, clawbacks, recoveries, and plan effectiveness analytics.

The successful candidate will combine strategic foresight with operational excellence, acting as both an operational leader and compliance governor for the commission function. By partnering closely with Sales, Finance, Payroll, Legal, People Partners, and Compliance teams, this individual will ensure sales compensation processes remain accurate, transparent, scalable, and governed by strong financial controls.

Responsibilities and Impact:

This role is a key control and governance leader within global sales compensation operations. By combining financial modeling, process discipline, stakeholder partnership, and strong audit readiness, the Finance Manager helps ensure commission payments are accurate, timely, transparent, and aligned with company policy and financial controls. The role directly supports seller trust, expense predictability, regulatory compliance, and scalable compensation operations.

• Build and execute high-level and detailed scenario modeling and stress-testing frameworks to forecast total plan spend and assess the financial impact of plan adjustments, structural redesigns, or macroeconomic shifts.
• Generate and refine global payout estimates and compensation decision models to support budget alignment.
• Analyze plan effectiveness metrics and partner with Sales leadership to design plan optimization strategies and support annual target-setting frameworks.
• Lead final validation and control overview for global commission payroll processing runs, providing final review and sign-off before submission.
• Evaluate and authorize large payments, non-standard payouts, custom executive incentives, and other high-value commission exceptions.
• Review and approve custom withholding, recovery, non-recoverable draw, guarantee, and clawback protocols in partnership with Payroll, Legal, People Partners, and Compliance teams.
• Sign off on monthly Audit and SOX controls, ensuring internal controls over financial reporting are properly maintained, documented, and audit-ready.
• Perform ongoing risk evaluations related to deal cancellations, retroactive adjustments, clawbacks, unauthorized overrides, and data integrity or security risks.
• Conduct variance analyses, automated sanity testing, and targeted spot-checks to ensure commission calculation accuracy and data integrity.
• Partner with Legal and People Partners to support resolution of sensitive compensation disputes and high-value sales compensation grievances, payout disputes with objectivity and diplomacy.
• Review, evaluate, and approve calculation overrides, custom exception requests, and commission structures tied to Reductions in Force.
• Translate complex commission formulas, crediting rules, and payout outcomes into clear, step-by-step explanations for sales representatives, managers, and senior leaders.

Compensation/Benefits Information:

(This section is only applicable to US candidates) S&P Global states that the anticipated base salary range for this position is $104,435 to $182,604. Final base salary for this role will be based on the individual’s geographic location, as well as experience level, skill set, training, licenses and certifications. In addition to base compensation, this role is eligible for an annual incentive plan. This role is eligible to receive additional S&P Global benefits.

What We’re Looking For:

Basic Required Qualifications:

7+ years of relevant experience in sales compensation operations, finance governance, audit, sales operations, corporate financial modeling, or corporate incentive strategy, preferably within a global or multi-national environment.

Technical & Behavioral Capabilities

• Sales Compensation Expertise: Strong understanding of complex sales compensation plan mechanics, including quotas, accelerators, thresholds, caps, splits, crediting rules, draws, guarantees, clawbacks, recoveries, adjustments, SPIFFs, and executive incentive structures.
• Enterprise Commission Architecture: High-level administrative and structural knowledge of enterprise calculation platforms such as Xactly, Varicent, Anaplan, SAP Commissions, or similar systems.
• Deep understanding of system-wide interactions between rate tables, crediting rules, splits, formulas, and calculation logic.
• Mathematical & Data Modeling: Advanced proficiency of advanced Excel and data modeling, including nested logic, dynamic arrays, Power Query, large dataset reconciliation, variance analysis, scenario modeling, stress testing, and payout forecasting.
• Script-based reconciliation tools such as VBA or Python/Pandas are a strong advantage.
• Automation & Reconciliation: Practical experience with script-based reconciliation or automation tools. Knowledge of VBA, Python/Pandas, SQL, Alteryx, or equivalent methods is a significant advantage for reconciling large dataset pipelines and identifying calculation or data integrity issues.
• Risk Management & Controls: Ability to identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks related to overpayments, underpayments, cancellations, retroactive adjustments, unauthorized overrides, data integrity issues, data security risks, and non-standard payment exceptions.
• Audit & SOX/ICFR Controls: Demonstrated ability to support SOX and internal controls over financial reporting, including maintaining audit-ready documentation, approvals, and evidence for commission processing.
• Operational & Leadership Excellence Operational Resilience: High emotional intelligence, composure, and ability to operate effectively during deadline-driven payroll cycles without compromising accuracy, control standards, or employee experience.
• Disciplined Process Adherence: Commitment to maintaining standardized operational checklists, SOPs, and governance workflows to ensure repeatable and auditable payout cycles.
• Strategic Advisory & Influence: Ability to deliver clear, data-backed recommendations to Sales executives, HR leaders, and Finance directors on commission governance, plan effectiveness, and risk mitigation.
• Dispute Resolution & Negotiation: Ability to manage high-value or sensitive sales compensation grievances, payout disputes, calculation overrides, and exception requests with objectivity, diplomacy, confidentiality, and sound judgment.
• Time & Deadline Management: Exceptional self-organization to balance daily query resolutions, ad-hoc dispute investigations, and strategic modeling alongside fixed monthly payroll cutoff dates.

Right to Work Requirements for US location:

This role is limited to persons with indefinite right to work in the United States.

What’s In It For You?

Our Mission: Advancing Essential Intelligence. Our People: We're more than 35,000 strong worldwide—so we're able to understand nuances while having a broad perspective. Our team is driven by curiosity and a shared belief that Essential Intelligence can help build a more prosperous future for us all. From finding new ways to measure sustainability to analyzing energy transition across the supply chain to building workflow solutions that make it easy to tap into insight and apply it. We are changing the way people see things and empowering them to make an impact on the world we live in. We’re committed to a more equitable future and to helping our customers find new, sustainable ways of doing business. Join us and help create the critical insights that truly make a difference.

Our Values:

Integrity, Discovery, Partnership Throughout our history, the world's leading organizations have relied on us for the Essential Intelligence they need to make confident decisions about the road ahead. We start with a foundation of integrity in all we do, bring a spirit of discovery to our work, and collaborate in close partnership with each other and our customers to achieve shared goals.

Benefits:

We take care of you, so you can take care of business. We care about our people. That’s why we provide everything you—and your career—need to thrive at S&P Global. Our benefits include:

• Health & Wellness: Health care coverage designed for the mind and body.
• Flexible Downtime: Generous time off helps keep you energized for your time on.
• Continuous Learning: Access a wealth of resources to grow your career and learn valuable new skills.
• Invest in Your Future: Secure your financial future through competitive pay, retirement planning, a continuing education program with a company-matched student loan contribution, and financial wellness programs.
• Family Friendly Perks: It’s not just about you. S&P Global has perks for your partners and little ones, too, with some best-in class benefits for families.
• Beyond the Basics: From retail discounts to referral incentive awards—small perks can make a big difference.

For more information on benefits by country visit: https://spgbenefits.com/benefit-summaries

Global Hiring and Opportunity at S&P Global:

At S&P Global, we are committed to fostering a connected and engaged workplace where all individuals have access to opportunities based on their skills, experience, and contributions. Our hiring practices emphasize fairness, transparency, and merit, ensuring that we attract and retain top talent. By valuing different perspectives and promoting a culture of respect and collaboration, we drive innovation and power global markets.

Recruitment Fraud Alert:

If you receive an email from a spglobalind.com domain or any other regionally based domains, it is a scam and should be reported to reportfraud@spglobal.com. S&P Global never requires any candidate to pay money for job applications, interviews, offer letters, “pre-employment training” or for equipment/delivery of equipment. Stay informed and protect yourself from recruitment fraud by reviewing our guidelines, fraudulent domains, and how to report suspicious activity here.

Equal Opportunity Employer

S&P Global is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race/ethnicity, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military veteran status, unemployment status, or any other status protected by law. Only electronic job submissions will be considered for employment. If you need an accommodation during the application process due to a disability, please send an email to: EEO.Compliance@spglobal.com and your request will be forwarded to the appropriate person.

US Candidates Only: Know Your Rights: Workplace discrimination is illegal