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What does a senior compensation analyst do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
What does a senior compensation analyst do

A senior compensation analyst is primarily in charge of developing and maintaining compensation programs for a company's employees. Their responsibilities revolve around performing extensive research and analysis to identify employee needs, understanding the extent of every workforce position, conducting surveys, improving existing programs, and learning the compensation programs of competitors. Furthermore, as a senior compensation analyst, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals and serve as a mentor to junior analysts, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

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Senior compensation analyst responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior compensation analyst resumes:

  • Manage retention program including calculating and paying out all retention amounts and monthly accruals.
  • Manage special projects, develop senior level presentations and handle communications on behalf of SVP
  • Update records for disability area including workers compensation and FMLA.
  • Project management of job evaluation and FLSA classification to support payroll consolidation of a high tech subsidiary.
  • Conduct job analysis / evaluation to determine appropriate FLSA classification and salary level according to compensation guidelines and policy.
  • Develop specifications and team with technology staff to implement performance measurement and merit processing system, including integration with HRIS.
  • Complete federal filings of IRS, EEOC, and DOL requirements i.e.
  • Represent the company in dealings with governmental agencies (DOL and IRS).
  • Coordinate the calculation and payout of annual bonuses base upon company and individual performance according to program guidelines.
  • Work with executive management, explaining incentive reports and to provide calculations of alternative agreements and recommending potential opportunities for revisions.
  • Establish incentive formula that appropriately leverage payouts in response to salary cap provision for retail branch employees.

Senior compensation analyst skills and personality traits

We calculated that 10% of Senior Compensation Analysts are proficient in Compensation Programs, Human Resources, and HRIS. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Communication skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Compensation Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Compensation Programs, 10%

    Advised HR Business Partners and Managers in the administration of current compensation programs to include analyzing and communicating pay administration programs.

  • Human Resources, 9%

    Provided compensation analysis and consultation services to all levels of management, Regional Human Resources, and Human Resources Business Partners.

  • HRIS, 6%

    Developed specifications and teamed with technology staff to implement performance measurement and merit processing system, including integration with HRIS.

  • FLSA, 4%

    Conducted job analysis / evaluation to determine appropriate FLSA classification and salary level according to compensation guidelines and policy.

  • Data Analysis, 4%

    Managed special projects as data analysis from proxy reports and annual reports from financial organizations.

  • Salary Surveys, 3%

    Compiled and analyzed salary surveys and obtain comprehensive market data to market price the positions and compare internally to company positions.

"compensation programs," "human resources," and "hris" are among the most common skills that senior compensation analysts use at work. You can find even more senior compensation analyst responsibilities below, including:

Analytical skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a senior compensation analyst to have is analytical skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists perform data and cost analyses to evaluate their organization’s policies." Senior compensation analysts often use analytical skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided guidance to hr business partners on compensation policies and data. "

Business skills. Many senior compensation analyst duties rely on business skills. "specialists must understand basic finance and accounting," so a senior compensation analyst will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways senior compensation analyst responsibilities rely on business skills: "created, maintained and revised compensation policies and practices, including base pay, exempt over-time and sales/business development incentive standards. "

Communication skills. This is an important skill for senior compensation analysts to perform their duties. For an example of how senior compensation analyst responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "specialists need to provide information about compensation and benefits in a way that is understandable to employees at all levels throughout their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a senior compensation analyst: "lead compensation communication efforts for regional and global programs regarding compensation policies and act as point-person for all compensation decisions. ".

Most common senior compensation analyst skills

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Compare different senior compensation analysts

Senior compensation analyst vs. Benefits & payroll administrator

The Benefits and Payroll Administrator manages the company's payroll, ensuring work benefits and employee documents are secure. The administrator also delivers employees' issues and concerns to the company's proper channels. This position also helps in the audit of the company and ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. This administrative position requires bookkeeping knowledge, a bachelor's degree, and experience in using spreadsheets and accounting software.

We looked at the average senior compensation analyst salary and compared it with the wages of a benefits & payroll administrator. Generally speaking, benefits & payroll administrators are paid $35,134 lower than senior compensation analysts per year.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior compensation analyst and benefits & payroll administrator positions are skilled in human resources, hris, and eeo.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a senior compensation analyst are more likely to require skills like "compensation programs," "flsa," "data analysis," and "salary surveys." On the other hand, a job as a benefits & payroll administrator requires skills like "cobra," "payroll system," "open enrollment," and "adp payroll." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.

Benefits & payroll administrators tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $55,595. In contrast, senior compensation analysts make the biggest average salary, $89,997, in the real estate industry.On average, benefits & payroll administrators reach lower levels of education than senior compensation analysts. Benefits & payroll administrators are 14.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior compensation analyst vs. Employee benefits supervisor

An Employee Benefits Supervisor supervises, trains, and completes performance reviews for the staff they manage. They develop and update procedure manuals, analyze, note down company operations, and interact with company vendors, staff, officials, members, and other entities. They oversee all open enrollment aspects with the help of employee wellness and communications or marketing staff. They also manage vendor performance, review service agreements, lead staff calls, meetings, and lead vendor calls.

Employee benefits supervisor positions earn lower pay than senior compensation analyst roles. They earn a $35,424 lower salary than senior compensation analysts per year.A few skills overlap for senior compensation analysts and employee benefits supervisors. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "hris," "data analysis," and "eeo. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior compensation analyst responsibilities requires skills like "compensation programs," "human resources," "flsa," and "salary surveys." But an employee benefits supervisor might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "hr," "payroll," "customer service," and "cobra."

In general, employee benefits supervisors achieve lower levels of education than senior compensation analysts. They're 14.2% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior compensation analyst vs. Benefits advisor

A benefits advisor specializes in devising benefits programs and strategies for a workforce, ensuring they are well-compensated for their hard work. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify the needs of employees in a company, studying the benefit programs of competitors, and assessing the existing programs while putting the company's welfare into consideration. They must prepare reports and presentations for clients, provide cost-estimates and business plans, and evaluate risks, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.

An average benefits advisor eans a lower salary compared to the average salary of senior compensation analysts. The difference in salaries amounts to benefits advisors earning a $14,419 lower average salary than senior compensation analysts.

Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from senior compensation analyst resumes include skills like "compensation programs," "human resources," "hris," and "flsa," whereas a benefits advisor is more likely to list skills in "insurance benefits," "patients," "inbound calls," and "medicare advantage. "

Benefits advisors make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $79,775. On the other hand, senior compensation analysts are paid the highest salary in the real estate industry, with average annual pay of $89,997.benefits advisors typically earn lower educational levels compared to senior compensation analysts. Specifically, they're 13.7% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior compensation analyst vs. Payroll and benefits specialist

A payroll and benefits specialist's role is to oversee and manage a company's compensation procedures, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Their responsibilities typically include gathering and organizing timesheets, preparing and processing documentation, monitoring employee attendance and schedules, updating databases, preparing and processing invoices, and maintaining records of all transactions. Furthermore, as a payroll and benefits specialist, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with other staff to ensure accuracy in operations, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

Payroll and benefits specialists average a lower salary than the annual salary of senior compensation analysts. The difference is about $36,330 per year.According to resumes from senior compensation analysts and payroll and benefits specialists, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "human resources," "hris," and "flsa. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "compensation programs," "data analysis," "salary surveys," and "market data" are skills that commonly show up on senior compensation analyst resumes. On the other hand, payroll and benefits specialists use skills like customer service, adp workforce, payroll processing, and cobra on their resumes.The professional industry tends to pay the highest salaries for payroll and benefits specialists, with average annual pay of $52,370. Comparatively, the highest senior compensation analyst annual salary comes from the real estate industry.The average resume of payroll and benefits specialists showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to senior compensation analysts. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 16.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.3%.

Types of senior compensation analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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