Specialist, Compensation at Atlanta Hawks
Job Description
Who are we:
A professional basketball team and state-of-the-art arena/entertainment venue that specializes in creating memorable experiences for each guest we interact with. Some of our favorite things are live sports, concerts, comedy shows, family shows, and most any other world-class event you can think of, and we’re looking for someone who shares the same interests. We live for the fast-paced world of sports & live entertainment, and as such, we work hard, run fast, execute flawlessly, and party it up when it all comes together. Lastly, we strive to deliver wonderful experiences that create lasting memories, and we prefer to surround ourselves with those who are the best at what they do.
Who are you:
An enthusiastic lover of sports, live entertainment, and people. You have true passion for engaging in meaningful interactions and creating memorable experiences for all guests. You strive to be helpful, engaging, and knowledgeable of all things Atlanta Hawks and State Farm Arena. You enjoy being a part of an exciting and dynamic group, and you’re committed to continuously enhancing the productivity and effectiveness of your team. Lastly, you enjoy working hard and celebrating hard, and you’d be shocked if guests weren’t positively impacted by their interactions with you.
Job Summary: The Specialist, Compensation is responsible for the strategic design, implementation, administration, and continuous improvement of the organization’s compensation programs. This role oversees broad-based compensation, job architecture, salary grades, market pricing, sales compensation and commission plan administration, annual compensation cycles, and compensation budgeting and analysis. The Specialist, Compensation partners closely with business leaders, Finance, Payroll, IT, and Revenue teams to ensure compensation programs are competitive, equitable, operationally effective, and aligned with organizational goals. This role also leads compensation analysis and projections, supports organizational design through job description and grading work, and helps streamline and remodel compensation and commission plans as the business evolves.
Compensation Strategy, Program Design, and Administration
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Design, implement, and administer compensation programs, including base pay, short-term incentive plans, annual compensation planning, and salary structure administration aligned with the companies compensation strategy.
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Create and maintain job architecture, salary grades, and pay ranges to support internal equity, market competitiveness, and organizational growth.
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Lead organizational pricing and maintenance of roles, job families, grades, and related compensation structures.
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Partner with business leaders to develop, review, and refine job descriptions to ensure appropriate leveling, scope, and market alignment.
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Conduct market pricing for roles using compensation survey tools and market data sources, including Payscale and the Regional Sports Survey
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Create and administer compensation plans for both existing employees during the yearly cycle and for new hires joining throughout the year.
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Provide compensation guidance to leaders and People and Culture partners on offers, promotions, transfers, reorganizations, market adjustments, and other pay actions.
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Develop compensation guidelines, policies, and governance practices to ensure consistent application across the organization.
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Develop and evolve pay for performance programs by management level
Sales Compensation and Commission Administration
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Administer commission and incentive compensation programs, including support for employees participating in complex sales compensation plans.
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Bring hands-on experience with commissions and complex sales plans, including plan interpretation, payout validation, and issue resolution.
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Partner with Revenue and business leaders to assess, redesign, and streamline compensation and commission sales plans while continuing to meet business objectives.
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Process commission payouts in partnership with Payroll, ensuring calculations, approvals, and payments are completed accurately and on time.
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Work closely with Payroll, IT, and Revenue teams to support systems, workflows, data integrity, reporting, and ongoing administration of commission programs.
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Review commission plan effectiveness and recommend plan remodeling where needed to improve efficiency, transparency, scalability, and performance alignment.
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Maintain documentation, controls, and audit trails related to commission plans, calculations, exceptions, and changes.
Compensation Analysis, Budgeting, and Annual Cycle Management
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Lead compensation analysis and projections, including modeling for merit increases, promotions, organizational changes, new hires, and market adjustments.
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Partner with Finance to develop and manage compensation budgets and forecasts.
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