Associate Director-Classification & Compensation

About Us

Georgia Tech prides itself on its technological resources, collaborations, high-quality student body, and its commitment to building an outstanding and diverse community of learning, discovery, and creation. We strongly encourage applicants whose values align with our institutional values, as outlined in our strategic plan. These values include academic excellence, diversity of thought and experience, inquiry and innovation, collaboration and community, and ethical behavior and stewardship. Georgia Tech has policies to promote a healthy work-life balance and is aware that attracting faculty may require meeting the needs of two careers.

About Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech is a top-ranked public research university situated in the heart of Atlanta, a diverse and vibrant city with numerous economic and cultural strengths. The Institute serves more than 45,000 students through top-ranked undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs in engineering, computing, science, business, design, and liberal arts. Georgia Tech's faculty attracted more than $1.4 billion in research awards this past year in fields ranging from biomedical technology to artificial intelligence, energy, sustainability, semiconductors, neuroscience, and national security. Georgia Tech ranks among the nation's top 20 universities for research and development spending and No. 1 among institutions without a medical school.

Georgia Tech's Mission and Values

Georgia Tech's mission is to develop leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute has nine key values that are foundational to everything we do:

1. Students are our top priority.
2. We strive for excellence.
3. We thrive on diversity.
4. We celebrate collaboration.
5. We champion innovation.
6. We safeguard freedom of inquiry and expression.
7. We nurture the wellbeing of our community.
8. We act ethically.
9. We are responsible stewards.

Over the next decade, Georgia Tech will become an example of inclusive innovation, a leading technological research university of unmatched scale, relentlessly committed to serving the public good; breaking new ground in addressing the biggest local, national, and global challenges and opportunities of our time; making technology broadly accessible; and developing exceptional, principled leaders from all backgrounds ready to produce novel ideas and create solutions with real human impact.

Department Information

Georgia Tech Human Resources (GTHR) serves the Institute and its more than 14,000 employees through strategic counsel, employee engagement, and essential human capital management operations. As the people's unit, GTHR is engaged throughout the employee's lifetime at Georgia Tech. Our team works with sensitive employee information and assists in the management of complex employee issues. Professionalism and confidence are of the utmost importance within our team.

What we do:

• Process payroll and maintain employment data for approximately 14,000 active faculty, staff, and students
• Strive to attract, recruit, and retain the best talent in the marketplace.
• Provide immigration, labor, and tax support required for foreign national faculty and staff to work at Georgia Tech and support employees performing services overseas.
• Leverage a market-driven compensation structure to attract and retain employees.
• Advise employees and managers regarding work performance and conflict management.

Compensation and Classification Department

Define and maintain job structures by evaluating roles to ensure accurate job titles, levels, and classifications aligned with organizational needs, governance requirements, and market context. Establish and manage market-driven salary structures that support talent attraction and retention while maintaining internal consistency and alignment with Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia requirements. Support talent attraction and retention by applying competitive, sustainable, and data-informed compensation practices. Monitor parity and compression to identify pay concerns and inform data-driven recommendations. Advise leaders, managers, and employees on job classification and compensation practices.

Job Summary

The Associate Director of Classification and Compensation provides leadership and expertise for the Institute's classification, compensation, and related technology programs. Supports administration and continuous improvement of job architecture, career leveling, position classification, compensation programs, salary structures, and governance practices. Ensures processes are compliant, consistent, data-informed, and aligned with institutional priorities.

Leads classification and job architecture efforts while overseeing compensation administration, salary structures, workforce planning, systems coordination, analytics, reporting, and process improvement. Partners with HR technology stakeholders to support data integrity, operational efficiency, reporting, and system effectiveness.

Leads staff, establishes priorities and standards, and provides guidance on organizational design, position management, compensation, compliance, and system optimization. Exercises independent judgment and serves as a resource on complex classification, compensation, and technology matters.

Responsible for setting employee goals. Assessing performance. Providing feedback, and making pay recommendations. Typically interacts consistently with staff. Typically advises and counsels staff. Supervises staff.

Responsibilities

Job Duty 1 -
Provide functional leadership and oversight for the Institute's classification function, including job evaluation, position review, career level determination, job documentation standards, job family alignment, organizational design consultation, and governance practices that support a consistent and sustainable job architecture framework.

Job Duty 2 -
Develop, implement, maintain, and recommend improvements to classification and compensation policies, procedures, standards, controls, and decision frameworks to support institutional objectives, regulatory compliance, operational consistency, transparency, and audit readiness.

Job Duty 3 -
Serve as a subject matter resource on complex classification matters, organizational structure reviews, position design, FLSA determinations, workforce planning initiatives, classification appeals, position description quality, and related compliance considerations.

Job Duty 4 -
Lead and support compensation program activities, including market pricing, job matching, salary structure maintenance, pay range analysis, compensation analysis, parity/compression reviews, pay recommendations, salary action review, and leadership consultation to support talent attraction, retention, fiscal stewardship, and workforce effectiveness.

Job Duty 5 -
Partner with HR technology stakeholders to support classification and compensation programs, systems, and processes. Lead and support business process optimization, reporting and analytics, data integrity, compliance reviews, user experience enhancements, and continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen operational effectiveness and service delivery.

Job Duty 6 -
Lead data analytics, workforce reporting, position management analysis, classification trend reviews, compensation metrics, salary structure analytics, dashboards, and decision support materials that inform planning, resource allocation, organizational decision-making, and annual compensation cycle readiness.

Job Duty 7 -
Develop and deliver education, communication, consultation, and change management resources for leaders, managers, Human Resources professionals, and employees regarding classification methodology, compensation practices, career levels, salary structures, salary administration guidelines, and technology-enabled processes.

Job Duty 8 -
Lead projects and continuous improvement initiatives related to classification modernization, job architecture, compensation administration, salary structure updates, process redesign, technology optimization, service delivery, and operational effectiveness through project management, stakeholder engagement, and measurable outcomes.

Job Duty 9 -
Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team through performance management, goal setting, delegation, quality review, mentoring, capability development, and feedback while fostering collaboration, accountability, inclusion, and service excellence.

Job Duty 10 -
Other Duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements
Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Experience
6+ years of progressively responsible experience in classification, compensation, human resources, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, HR operations, or related functions, including 3+ years of supervisory experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Core Preferred Skills

Compensation Program Administration & Implementation

• Strong knowledge of compensation principles, salary structures, market pricing, pay administration, salary placement, and compensation practices.
• Experience administering market adjustments, merit programs, promotional increases, salary reviews, incentives, and awards.
• Ability to apply established compensation philosophy, policies, and guidelines consistently across a complex organization.
• Strong working knowledge of compa-ratio, range penetration, market positioning, salary compression, internal equity, and pay competitiveness.
• Ability to identify situations requiring policy interpretation or escalation to senior compensation leadership.

Classification & Job Architecture

• Strong experience with job evaluation, position classification, job leveling, career frameworks, and job architecture.
• Ability to evaluate duties, organizational scope, complexity, decision-making authority, supervisory responsibility, and impact when determining appropriate classification.
• Experience applying established job-family, subfamily, career-stream, level, and job-profile frameworks.
• Ability to review proposed positions and organizational changes for consistency with established classification standards.
• Experience supporting the maintenance and implementation of job catalogs and career frameworks.

Market Pricing & Compensation Analytics

• Strong experience interpreting salary surveys and external labor-market data, including benchmark-job matching and market pricing.
• Ability to analyze individual and population-level compensation data for market competitiveness, compression, internal equity, and salary-placement concerns.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, lookups, formulas, large datasets, reconciliation, and data-quality review.
• Ability to develop compensation models, summarize findings, and present clear recommendations to compensation leadership and HR partners.
• Strong attention to data accuracy, validation, documentation, and reproducibility.

Pay Equity, Compliance & Controls

• Working knowledge of FLSA classification, wage-and-hour requirements, equal-pay requirements, and compensation-related compliance.
• Experience conducting or supporting internal-equity and pay-equity reviews.
• Ability to identify potentially inconsistent compensation or classification actions and elevate concerns appropriately.
• Strong documentation practices supporting auditability, consistency, and defensible decision-making.
• Ability to manage sensitive compensation information with discretion.

Consultation & Client Support

• Strong consultation skills with HR business partners, managers, administrative leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Ability to explain compensation and classification decisions clearly and consistently.
• Ability to professionally challenge unsupported salary, title, or classification requests using data, policy, and established standards.
• Strong written communication, facilitation, and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships while maintaining appropriate compensation and classification standards.

Team & Operational Leadership

• Experience providing technical direction, coaching, or day-to-day guidance to compensation and classification professionals.
• Ability to review complex work for accuracy, consistency, and adherence to established standards.
• Experience assigning or coordinating casework, monitoring service delivery, and managing competing priorities.
• Strong project-management skills with the ability to coordinate significant compensation and job-architecture initiatives.
• Ability to identify operational risks, resolve routine escalations, and bring well-developed recommendations to senior leadership.

Systems & Technology

• Experience using enterprise HRIS/HCM platforms such as Workday, PeopleSoft, Oracle, or a comparable system.
• Experience with compensation survey, market-pricing, and job-description management tools.
• Strong reporting, workflow, data-management, and quality-control capabilities.
• Ability to identify opportunities to improve compensation and classification processes through technology and automation.
• Experience supporting data conversion, system testing, system enhancements, or compensation-related technology implementations preferred.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Credentials and Experience
Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designation preferred, or demonstrated progress toward certification.
SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR certification preferred.
Progressive experience in compensation, classification, total rewards, or a closely related HR specialty.
Experience in higher education, the public sector, healthcare, or another large and complex organization preferred.
Experience working within a decentralized organization with multiple stakeholder groups.
Experience supporting significant job architecture, classification, market pricing, career framework, or compensation modernization initiatives.

Proposed Salary

Pay Range: $125,000- $150,000 annually, commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge of classification methodology, job evaluation, career leveling, position description standards, job family frameworks, and job architecture governance. Knowledge of compensation strategy, market pricing, salary structure design, pay range development, pay positioning, salary administration, pay guidelines, and workforce cost considerations. Knowledge of compensation survey methodology, job matching practices, market data interpretation, and the relationship between salary structures, internal alignment, and market competitiveness. Knowledge of FLSA concepts, documentation practices, internal controls, compliance considerations, and audit-ready decision records. Knowledge of HR technology platforms and how systems, data, workflows, and reporting support classification and compensation operations.

SKILLS
Skill in analyzing complex classification, compensation, organization design, and workforce data to develop clear, defensible recommendations. Skill in market pricing, compensation modeling, salary structure analysis, and developing or maintaining salary structures that support internal consistency, market competitiveness, and fiscal stewardship. Skill in consulting with leaders, managers, Human Resources partners, Finance, Talent Acquisition, Legal, and other stakeholders on complex and sensitive matters. Skill in translating technical classification, compensation, salary structure, and systems concepts into clear guidance, decision options, documentation, and executive-ready materials. Skill in project management, process improvement, change management, stakeholder engagement, and service delivery optimization. Skill in using technology, reporting tools, analytics, and AI-enabled analysis responsibly to improve accuracy, efficiency, and decision support.

ABILITIES
Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and balance institutional priorities, policy requirements, workforce impact, fiscal stewardship, and employee experience. Ability to develop practical compensation recommendations that balance market data, internal alignment, salary structure placement, budget considerations, and organizational needs. Ability to lead through ambiguity, manage competing priorities, and deliver high-quality outcomes in a fast-paced, complex environment. Ability to influence without relying solely on authority and build credibility with stakeholders at all levels of the organization. Ability to lead, coach, develop, and hold a team accountable while fostering collaboration, inclusion, accountability, and service excellence. Ability to identify operational risks, strengthen controls, improve processes, and support continuous improvement across classification, compensation, and systems-enabled workflows.

USG Core Values

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 25 institutions of higher education and learning as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. The Institute is committed to maintaining a fair and respectful environment for all. To that end, and in accordance with federal and state law, Board of Regents policy, and Institute policy, Georgia Tech provides equal opportunity to all faculty, staff, students, and all other members of the Georgia Tech community, including applicants for admission and/or employment, contractors, volunteers, and participants in institutional programs, activities, or services. Georgia Tech complies with all applicable laws and regulations governing equal opportunity in the workplace and in educational activities.

Equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of the University System of Georgia ("USG") and Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech prohibits discrimination, including discriminatory harassment, on the basis of an individual's race, ethnicity, ancestry, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetics, or veteran status in its programs, activities, employment, and admissions. Further, Georgia Tech prohibits citizenship status, immigration status, and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, and recruitment, except where such restrictions are required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order, or Attorney General directive, or where they are required by Federal, State, or local government contract.

Other Information

This is a supervisory position.
This position does not have any financial responsibilities.
This role is considered a position of trust.
This position does not require a purchasing card (P-Card).
This position does not require security clearance.

Location: Atlanta, GA

Background Check

A successful candidate must be able to pass a background check. Please visit: https://usg.policystat.com/policy/19298143/latest