The Role
Lead design and execution of Teach For America's total rewards portfolio, including compensation, benefits, vendor management, governance, and analytics. Partner with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to align rewards with talent strategy, ensure compliance, optimize vendor performance, and use data to drive continuous improvement and equitable, scalable programs.
Summary Generated by Built In
Role Title: Managing Director, Total RewardsReports To: Senior Managing Director, Total RewardsPriority Application Date: June 22, 2026 at 11:59pm ET. Resumes will be reviewed on a rolling basis after this deadline.Location: RemoteWHAT YOU’LL DOAt Teach For America, we are inspired by a single mission – one day, all children will have access to an excellent education. In pursuit of that mission, we have to evolve our ways of working, being and doing that will allow our People Team to become the agile HR team that is sustainably set up to support an ever-evolving organization that seeks to work in more agile and nimble ways and that fosters the growth and development of talented staff who are prepared to thrive and drive impact. As Managing Director, Total Rewards, you will lead Teach For America’s total rewards portfolio, ensuring compensation, benefits, and rewards practices attract, retain, and support exceptional talent while advancing mission priorities, equity, and staff experience. We are seeking a thoughtful and strategic total rewards leader who combines strong business acumen with operational excellence and a deep commitment to people-centered design. You thrive in environments that require balancing long-term strategy with practical execution and are energized by creating systems and programs that support both staff experience and organizational effectiveness. You bring strong judgment, analytical rigor, and an ability to translate complexity into clear, actionable solutions. You build trust quickly, navigate ambiguity effectively, and are comfortable influencing stakeholders across varying perspectives and levels of the organization. You enjoy identifying patterns, solving complex challenges, and creating scalable solutions that help organizations evolve.WHAT YOU’LL BE RESPONSIBLE FORReporting to the Senior Managing Director, Total Rewards, the Managing Director, Total Rewards leads the design, execution, and ongoing evolution of Teach For America’s total rewards portfolio, ensuring our rewards practices support organizational priorities, staff experience, and effective talent decisions across the enterprise. Key responsibilities include:
- Lead/operationalize total rewards strategy (25%). Translate enterprise priorities and talent strategy into clear, actionable total rewards programs and practices, including compensation philosophy, benefits offerings, and performance-aligned rewards. Partner with senior leaders and People Team colleagues to ensure programs support talent attraction, retention, and engagement while reinforcing consistency and equity. Prepare materials, analyses, and recommendations to support leadership understanding and decision-making on total rewards topics.
- Oversee compensation strategy, systems and practices (25%). Manage the design, implementation, and administration of compensation programs, including salary structures, benchmarking, pay practices, and performance-aligned compensation approaches. Ensure compensation decisions are aligned with internal equity, market competitiveness, and organizational guidelines. Analyze compensation data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and provide recommendations that inform decisions.
- Lead benefits strategy and external partnerships (25%). Lead benefits strategy, administration, and key external partnerships to ensure offerings remain competitive, sustainable, and responsive to staff and organizational needs. Oversee key benefits processes and steward relationships with brokers, carriers, and external partners to optimize service delivery, employee experience, vendor performance, and overall program effectiveness.
- Ensure compliance, governance, and system integrity (15%). Ensure total rewards systems comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations, as well as internal policies and standards. Maintain strong governance practices to promote consistency, transparency, and risk mitigation across compensation and benefits administration.
- Use data and insights to drive continuous improvement (10%). Leverage data, benchmarking, and stakeholder feedback to assess system effectiveness and inform program enhancements. Support the evolution of total rewards practices to meet changing workforce needs and organizational priorities.
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Total Rewards, Compensation, Benefits, Human Resources, or related functions, including leadership experience overseeing enterprise-wide programs, initiatives, or strategies.
- Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and administering compensation and benefits programs in complex or evolving organizational environments, including compensation strategy, incentive design, benchmarking, governance, and scalable program design.
- Strong knowledge of total rewards strategy and core practices, including compensation philosophy, salary structures, job architecture, market benchmarking, benefits programs, and applicable compensation and benefits regulations.
- Experience partnering with Finance, HR, Payroll, and senior leaders to align rewards strategy with workforce planning, operational execution, and organizational priorities.
- Strong analytical and business acumen, with the ability to synthesize workforce data, market insights, and trends into actionable recommendations and strategic decisions.
- Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and navigate ambiguity effectively
- Experience establishing governance structures, operational controls, and decision-making frameworks that ensure compensation and benefits programs are compliant, consistently applied, transparent, and effectively managed for risk.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated success influencing, building trust, and driving alignment across stakeholder groups and varying levels of leadership.
- Total rewards strategy and program design
- Compensation strategy, philosophy, and market benchmarking
- Benefits administration and vendor management
- Compensation analytics and workforce insights
- Compensation and benefits regulations and governance
- Strategic planning and organizational problem solving
- Cross functional partnership and stakeholder management
- Change management and communications
- Systems thinking and operational process improvement
- Data analysis and decision support
- Program leadership and enterprise execution
Skills Required
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Total Rewards, Compensation, Benefits, Human Resources, or related functions, including leadership experience overseeing enterprise-wide programs
- Experience designing, implementing, and administering compensation and benefits programs in complex or evolving organizational environments
- Strong knowledge of total rewards strategy and core practices, including compensation philosophy, salary structures, job architecture, market benchmarking, benefits programs, and applicable regulations
- Experience partnering with Finance, HR, Payroll, and senior leaders to align rewards strategy with workforce planning and organizational priorities
- Strong analytical and business acumen with ability to synthesize workforce data and market insights into actionable recommendations
- Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple priorities and navigate ambiguity
- Experience establishing governance structures, operational controls, and decision-making frameworks for compensation and benefits
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with demonstrated success influencing and building alignment across stakeholder groups
- Experience with benefits administration and vendor management
- Experience with compensation analytics and workforce insights
Am I A Good Fit?
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.
Success! Refresh the page to see how your skills align with this role.
The Company
What We Do
Teach For America is a bold and diverse movement of changemakers who confront educational inequity by teaching for at least two years and then working with unwavering commitment in every sector of society to create a nation free from this injustice. Together with partners throughout the educational ecosystem, our network of over 62,000 alumni and corps members are achieving the impossible, empowering lives, and helping shape the political, economic, and social future of our country
