Director, Sales Compensation & Operations
Cognite
Full-time
On-site
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Sales Compensation
About Cognite
Embark on a transformative journey with Cognite, a global SaaS forerunner in leveraging AI and data to unravel complex business challenges through our cutting-edge offerings including Cognite Atlas AI, an industrial agent workbench, and the Cognite Data Fusion (CDF) platform. We were awarded the 2022 Technology Innovation Leader for Global Digital Industrial Platforms & Cognite was recognized as 2024 Microsoft Energy and Resources Partner of the Year. In the realm of industrial digital transformation, we stand at the forefront, reshaping the future of Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Pharma and other Manufacturing and Energy sectors. Join us in this venture where AI and data meet ingenuity, and together, we forge the path to a smarter, more connected industrial future.
Learn more about Cognite here
Our values
Impact: Cogniters strive to make an impact in all that they do. We are result-oriented, always asking ourselves.
Ownership: Cogniters embrace a culture of ownership. We go beyond our comfort zones to contribute to the greater good, fostering inclusivity and sharing responsibilities for challenges and success.
Relentless: Cogniters are relentless in their pursuit of innovation. We are determined and deliverable (never ruthless or reckless), facing challenges head-on and viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth.
Cognite is seeking a highly skilled Director, Sales Compensation & Revenue Operations to serve a critical dual function within the Revenue organization.
The primary focus of this role is to be the end-to-end global owner for Sales Compensation, leading the design, governance, and administration of all incentive plans.
The secondary, but crucial, function is to act as a core Revenue Operations partner, assisting the VP of RevOps in executing critical "controller" type duties, specifically around GTM resource planning, financial control, and field productivity analytics.
The ideal candidate is a proven Sales Compensation leader from a high-growth B2B enterprise SaaS environment who is seeking to expand their scope into broader GTM operational and financial governance. This role demands rigorous execution on compensation paired with the systems thinking and executive presence required to influence C-suite leaders and Regional Presidents.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic incentive design and governance - End-to-end owner of global sales incentive strategy and execution.
- Global compensation plan design & strategy: Lead the design, modeling, implementation, and administration of all commission, bonus, and incentive plans for all Revenue roles. Ensure direct alignment with Cognite's strategic profitability goals and market dynamics.
- Incentive Compensation Management (ICM): Lead the monthly commissions process. Champion automation and system governance within ICM tools (e.g. CaptivateIQ, QuotaPath) to ensure timely, highly accurate payouts, auditability, and compliance.
- Field partnership & conflict resolution: Act as an empathetic and credible partner to the sales field, proactively addressing compensation challenges, maintaining trust, and dispute resolution with fairness, clarity, and strong documentation.
- GTM resource planning support: Partner with the VP of RevOps to support the annual planning cycle, including modeling and validating the deployment of the Revenue organization's headcount and operating budget.
- Territory modeling: Execute and administer the global process for territory design and segmentation. Ensure equitable coverage, manage capacity, and maximize the ROI for Revenue resources.
- Sales productivity analytics: Serve as the analytical engine to drive continuous productivity improvements. Develop, manage, and leverage key Revenue metrics (e.g. ARR per FTE, sales ramp efficiency, time to first sale, quota attainment %) to measure performance and recommend data-driven adjustments.
- Strategic decision analysis: Conduct targeted, ad-hoc financial and operational analysis to guide executive decisions on resource allocation and major initiatives (e.g. pricing model changes, organizational restructuring).
- Cross-functional liaison: Serve as a key operational partner within Revenue to Finance (budget, commissions), HR and Talent Acquisition (headcount management), and Legal (plan compliance).
Revenue Operations execution and GTM financial support - This Director will be a working member of the RevOps team, taking ownership of critical operational processes that support the Revenue organization’s resource control and efficiency.
Required Qualifications and Skills
- Experience and technical expertise:
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Sales Compensation, Revenue Operations, Sales Operations, or GTM Finance within a complex, high-growth B2B Enterprise SaaS environment.
- Incentive compensation leadership: Proven experience owning and leading the entire Sales Compensation function (design, execution, administration, and technology governance). Expertise in managing international/global compensation and GTM structures is highly desirable.
- Tech stack: Direct experience managing and scaling ICM platforms (e.g. CaptivateIQ). Advanced proficiency in financial modeling, budgeting, and leveraging CRM/BI tools for data analysis (Salesforce, advanced Excel).
- Executive communication and influence: Exceptional ability to synthesize complex frameworks and data into clear, concise narratives for C-suite executives and Presidents with high credibility and influence.
- Operational rigor: Highly organized, detail-oriented, and process-driven—essential for managing complex, concurrent, and high-stakes processes (compensation, budgeting, headcount) with extreme accuracy.
- Intellectual curiosity: Demonstrated commitment to challenging assumptions, thinking systemically across functional silos, and identifying non-obvious solutions to complex GTM challenges.
- Experience in the Industrial software, AI/ML, or specialized B2B software space is highly desirable.
- In addition to Revenue Operations, a background in Finance or Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) is a plus.
Leadership and behavioral competencies
Desirable
Why choose Cognite? 🏆 🚀
* Join us in making a real and lasting impact in one of the most exciting and fastest-growing new software companies in the world.
* We have repeatedly demonstrated that digital transformation, when anchored on strong DataOps, drives business value and sustainability for clients and allows front-line workers, as well as domain experts, to make better decisions every single day.
* Built In 2024 Best Places to Work in Austin, TX and Houston, TX
A snapshot of our many perks and benefits as a Cogniter
* Competitive compensation
* 401(k) with employer matching
* Competitive health, dental, vision & disability coverages for employees and all dependents
* Unlimited PTO
* Paid Parental Leave Program
* Employee Referral Program
* Join a team of 60+ different nationalities 🌐 with Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) in focus 🤝.
* A highly modern and fun working environment with sublime culture across the organization, follow us on Instagram @cognitedata 📷 to know more
* Opportunity to work with and learn from some of the best people on some of the most ambitious projects found anywhere, across industries
* Join our HUB 🗣️ to be part of the conversation directly with Cogniters and our partners.
* Paid mobile phone and WiFI
All candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future company sponsorship for employment visa status.
Equal Opportunity
Cognite is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment at work and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive the same level of consideration for employment; everyone we hire will receive the same level of consideration for training, compensation, and promotion.
We ask for gender as part of our application because we want to ensure equal assessment in the recruitment process. Your answer will help us reach this commitment! However, the question about gender is optional and your choice not to answer will not affect the assessment of your application in any way.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.