Director of Compensation & Benefits

Heart Land is a fast-growing family of commercial landscape companies across the country. We’re seeking a pragmatic, analytical, and operationally grounded Director of Compensation & Benefits to help us scale with precision and care. This is a high-impact “player-coach” role focused on incentive program administration, compensation modeling, and benefits strategy—touching thousands of employees across 25+ local brands.

The Director of Compensation & Benefits is based in downtown Kansas City, primarily in-office with hybrid capability, and reports directly to the VP of Human Resources, Risk & Safety.

• Administer and evolve field-aligned incentive programs for roles like Operations Managers, Account Managers, and Business Developers.
• Lead governance, documentation, payout files, and calendar-driven execution.
• Translate performance metrics into reliable, scalable tools and models.
• Forecast, model, and scenario-plan incentive structures with Finance and Business Intelligence.
• Support M&A transitions, merit cycles, and compensation changes across a dynamic, growing footprint.

• Keep a pulse on the market for high-impact roles.
• Help HR partners navigate pay compression, competitiveness, and structure with clarity.
• Build tools for scalable wage guidance across OpCos.

• Lead benefits administration through the Employee & Benefits Specialist.
• Direct renewal, vendor coordination, compliance, and employee advocacy.
• Optimize communication and clarity to improve engagement and utilization.
• Support cost containment and compliance (e.g., ACA, 5500, audit readiness).

• Evaluate and harmonize pay and benefits plans during acquisition cycles.
• Provide structured, sensitive guidance for OpCo leaders and HR teams navigating change.

• Clean, on-time incentive payouts with minimal escalations.
• Clear, documented, and scalable tools for leaders to follow.
• Benefits that run smoothly, stay compliant, and serve employee needs.
• Data integrity and payout accuracy you can bet the business on.

• Love building operational clarity from ambiguity.
• Want to own programs that directly impact the field—fast, growing, and people‑first.
• Know how to partner across Finance, HR, and Ops without getting lost in the noise.
• Value precision and process, but keep it simple and scalable.

• 8+ years in comp, finance, or incentives—ideally with field-heavy or multi-site orgs.
• Deep Excel/modeling capability and experience with incentive governance.
• High EQ and credibility with both execs and operators.
• Experience in growth, change, and possibly M&A.
• Bachelor's in HR, Finance, or related field.

• CCP or similar certification
• Experience managing benefits vendors or optimizing cost
• Private-equity-backed or high-growth environment exposure

At Heart Land, we believe in being Human, Exceptional, Accountable, Respectful, and Trusted. Our team is guided centrally but executed locally. Here, you’ll have the autonomy to build systems that scale—while staying rooted in what matters most: people.