Job Summary:
The Senior Manager, Compensation supports the design, implementation, and administration of Panera Bread’s compensation programs, with a focus on bonus plan design, market pricing, survey participation and salary structure maintenance. This role ensures compensation practices are competitive, equitable, and aligned with business goals, while maintaining compliance with applicable laws and internal policies.
This position hybrid and requires three days a week in our Newton, MA offices.
Key Responsibilities:
- Bonus & Incentive Program Support
- Lead cross-functional projects and act as a strategic thought partner in the design and implementation of short-term incentive programs across corporate and field populations, ensuring alignment with business strategy and compliance requirements.
- Manage ongoing administration of incentive programs, including process optimization, communications, system updates and governance, while ensuring accurate execution and continuous improvement across cycles
- Partner with Finance and HR to support bonus planning and payout processes.
- Create and maintain documentation of bonus programs, focused on educating supporting program participants.
- Market Pricing & Benchmarking
- Manage market pricing and job evaluations to assess competitiveness of compensation programs, on an ongoing basis.
- Lead annual participation in salary surveys and analyze results to inform pay decisions and assess organizational compensation positioning.
- Maintain job matching and benchmarking data integrity.
- Salary Structure Maintenance
- Maintain salary structures and pay ranges for all above-cafe roles.
- Support annual salary increase cycles, including budget modeling and system readiness with a focus on Workday configuration.
- Monitor internal equity and provide recommendations for adjustments.
- Compliance & Process Management
- Ensure compensation practices comply with federal, state, and local regulations.
- Support audit and documentation efforts related to compensation programs.
- Assist in policy updates and process improvements.
- Stakeholder Collaboration
- Provide guidance to HR Business Partners and Talent Acquisition on compensation-related matters.
- Support compensation-related training and education for HR and business leaders.
- Collaborate with HRIS and Finance to ensure data accuracy and alignment.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, or related field; CCP certification a plus.
- 6–8 years of progressive compensation experience, ideally in a multi-unit retail, restaurant, or hospitality environment.
- Strong analytical skills and proficiency in Excel; experience with compensation systems (e.g., Workday, Payfactors, Aon Radford) preferred.
- Solid understanding of compensation principles and market analysis.
- Strong communication and organizational skills.
Competencies:
- Extremely strong analytical thinking and attention to detail
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, with overlapping timelines
- Highly developed collaboration and interpersonal skills, including effective written and verbal communication
Competitive Pay $119,634 to $167,488 annually
The actual pay offered will be determined by multiple factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s relevant experience, job-related knowledge, skills, and geographical location. Individual compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.
Newton Support CenterTop Skills
What We Do
Panera began in 1987 as St. Louis Bread Company, a humble community bakery founded with a sourdough starter from San Francisco and a dream of putting a loaf of bread in every arm. While our business has expanded well beyond St. Louis since then, that same sourdough starter is still used in our iconic sourdough bread and the craft of baking bread fresh each day remains at the heart of Panera Bread. Each day, our trained bakers fill our bakery shelves with delicious freshly baked cookies, pastries, bagels, and a range of breads from focaccia to classic baguettes.
We believe in serving delicious, freshly prepared, clean food made with carefully selected ingredients that we are proud to serve our own families. Our menu, crafted by chefs and bakers, features classic, comforting dishes, each with an intriguing twist.
We respect our planet and take measures to lessen our impacts. We believe in treating people with warmth, kindness, and respect, whether it’s a guest in our cafe or one of our associates. And we believe in helping our local communities, especially in times of need.
We’re also focused on improving quality and convenience. With investments in technology and operations, we offer omni-channel access to your Panera favorites – like mobile ordering, catering, and Rapid Pick-Up® for to-go orders, Curbside pick-up and delivery – all designed to make things easier for our guests.
Today, Panera operates as both Panera Bread® or Saint Louis Bread Co St. Louis Bread Company in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
Panera Bread is privately held by JAB Holding Company. Panera Bread is part of Panera Brands, one of the largest fast-casual restaurant platforms in the U.S., comprised of Panera Bread®, Caribou Coffee® and Einstein Bros.® Bagels.
