Senior Manager, Sales Incentives & Goals
At Vanguard, we are transforming our distribution ecosystem—and aligning incentives to drive performance is a critical part of that journey. As the Senior Manager, Sales Incentives & Goals for our Financial Advisor Services (FAS) business, you will design and govern the frameworks that motivate our sales teams, ensuring clarity, fairness, and alignment with strategic priorities.
This role reports to the Head of Distribution Strategy & Planning and leads a team responsible for:
Annual Goal Setting: Establishing sales targets by segment, territory, and role
Incentive Plan Design: Creating incentive structures that reward behaviors aligned to strategic outcomes
Payouts & Governance: Managing payout processes, compliance, and governance routines
With over $4 trillion in assets under management across our intermediary channel, Vanguard’s FAS division is a market leader. This role is critical to ensuring our sales force is motivated and rewarded in ways that drive growth, deepen advisor relationships, and reinforce Vanguard’s mission.
Responsibilities
Design Incentive Strategy: Develop annual incentive plans that balance simplicity, competitiveness, and alignment with strategic priorities.
Set Clear Goals: Define annual sales targets by segment, territory, and role—anchored in capacity models, historical performance, and growth objectives.
Govern with Discipline: Establish governance routines for plan approval, payout accuracy, and compliance with regulatory and internal standards.
Partner Cross-Functionally: Work with Finance, HR, Legal, and Distribution leadership to ensure incentive plans are financially sound, legally compliant, and operationally executable.
Measure and Optimize: Monitor incentive effectiveness and goal attainment; recommend adjustments based on performance insights and market benchmarks.
The Ideal Candidate
You are a strategic thinker with deep expertise in sales incentives design and governance. You understand the dynamics of advisor-facing distribution teams and know how to create incentive structures that drive the right behaviors.
You will bring:
10+ years of experience in sales compensation strategy, incentive design, or distribution planning
Proven ability to design and govern incentive plans for complex, multi-channel sales organizations
Strong analytical skills and experience with capacity modeling, goal setting, and payout accuracy
Familiarity with regulatory requirements and compliance standards for incentive programs
Executive presence and ability to influence across Finance, HR, Legal, and Distribution leadership
Special Factors
Sponsorship
Vanguard is not offering visa sponsorship for this position.About Vanguard
At Vanguard, we don't just have a mission—we're on a mission.
To work for the long-term financial wellbeing of our clients. To lead through product and services that transform our clients' lives. To learn and develop our skills as individuals and as a team. From Malvern to Melbourne, our mission drives us forward and inspires us to be our best.
How We Work
Vanguard has implemented a hybrid working model for the majority of our crew members, designed to capture the benefits of enhanced flexibility while enabling in-person learning, collaboration, and connection. We believe our mission-driven and highly collaborative culture is a critical enabler to support long-term client outcomes and enrich the employee experience.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of experience in sales compensation strategy, incentive design, or distribution planning
- Proven ability to design and govern incentive plans for complex, multi-channel sales organizations
- Strong analytical skills and experience with capacity modeling, goal setting, and payout accuracy
- Familiarity with regulatory requirements and compliance standards for incentive programs
- Executive presence and ability to influence across Finance, HR, Legal, and Distribution leadership
Vanguard Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Vanguard and has not been reviewed or approved by Vanguard.
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Retirement Support — Retirement support appears unusually strong through a 401(k) design that includes a match plus an additional employer contribution, which can materially lift long-term total rewards. HSA seeding and an enhanced employer match further strengthen the savings-and-benefits value of the package.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Wellbeing and lifestyle support is reinforced by a sizable annual FlexFund stipend that can be applied across many day-to-day categories such as fitness, childcare, and other personal expenses. On-site or virtual clinics and fitness options add practical health and wellness convenience.
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Affordable Benefits — Healthcare and related benefits are positioned as comparatively affordable via heavily subsidized medical plans and broad coverage options. This affordability can offset moderate base pay for employees who place higher value on out-of-pocket cost reductions.
Vanguard Insights
What We Do
We are a community of 30 million who think – and feel – differently about investing. Together, we’re changing the way the world invests. Since our founding in 1975, helping our investors achieve their goals is our sole reason for existence. With no other parties to answer to and therefore no conflicting loyalties, we make every decision—like keeping investing costs as low as possible—with only your needs in mind. Vanguard is one of the world's largest investment companies, offering a large selection of high-quality low-cost mutual funds, ETFs, advice, and related services. Individual and institutional investors, financial professionals, and plan sponsors can benefit from the size, stability, and experience Vanguard offers. As of April 30, 2019, we managed more than $5.6 trillion in global assets. In addition, we have 189 funds in the United States and 225 funds in global markets. For Commenting Guidelines & Important information, visit here: http://vanguard.com/linkedin Vanguard Marketing Corporation, Distributor.
