Compensation Specialist, HR​/Recruitment

Compensation Specialist

Reporting to the Director of Compensation, the Compensation Specialist serves as a key consultant and procedural resource, supporting a core human resource function and ensuring the integrity of the University's compensation and classification programs. This highly visible role requires a professional with a balanced background in both the analytical aspects of compensation and the practical, hands‑on application of HR policies and procedures.

The specialist actively partners with HR colleagues, supervisors, and leaders across the university to provide essential, custom recommendations and policy guidance related to pay and positioning as well as job architecture. The position requires fundamental elements of customer service, the ability to interpret and apply complex HR policies and accepted procedures, and to serve as a genuine business partner in maintaining an equitable and competitive compensation and classification system.

The incumbent serves as a knowledge resource, process advisor, and support specialist reviewing compensation and classification requests throughout the full life cycle.

• Review compensation and classification requests throughout the full life cycle; advise and support HR colleagues on analysis, recommendations, and policy application; maintain an equitable and competitive compensation and classification system.
• Provide consultative services to managers and employees; make administrative and procedural decisions and judgments on sensitive and confidential issues.
• Build and sustain successful relationships with peers and partners to accomplish business objectives.

• Knowledge: Prior working knowledge in one or more of the primary HR disciplines: employee relations, staffing/recruitment, benefits, compliance/regulatory matters; working knowledge of HR practices, principles, policies, procedures, best practices including Federal, State and local employment laws related to classification and compensation programs; working knowledge of effective customer service techniques.
• Skill: Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with accuracy and attention to detail; fully proficient skill in Excel (pivot tables, lookups, formulas, graphs); effective written and oral communication skills with a strong customer‑service focus.
• Ability: Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply policies and provide sound consultative services to managers and employees; ability to make administrative and procedural decisions and judgments on sensitive and confidential issues; ability to build and sustain successful relationships and gain alignment with peers and partners to accomplish business objectives.

• Some work experience in one or more of the primary HR disciplines – compensation, employee relations, staffing, benefits, compliance/regulatory, and organizational/employee professional development.
• Some prior working experience communicating complex information to technical and non‑technical audiences.

• Considerable knowledge of compensation programs, job analysis and evaluation, market pricing methodology, and/or compensation modeling/analytics.
• Working knowledge of Commonwealth of Virginia policies and practices.
• Working knowledge of state and/or university human resources information systems and automated recruitment systems such as PAPERS, PMIS, and Banner.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively use Power Pivot, Power
  
  BI, Tableau, or related visualization software.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Public Administration, Business Administration, or related field.
• Professional designation as a SHRM‑CP, SHRM‑SCP, PHR, or SPHR.
• Considerable work experience in one or more of the primary HR disciplines – compensation, employee relations, staffing, benefits, compliance/regulatory and organizational/employee professional development, as well as change management knowledge and project management experience.
• Some experience in salary administration and/or employee recruitment & selection, reviewing market data to make recommendations in pay rates.
• Some prior working experience utilizing report writing and/or data…