Director, Compensation

Opportunity awaits those up to the challenge of developing transformative therapies across a broad range of debilitating diseases.

Summary:

Roles and Responsibilities:

Strategic Design & Framework Architecture

• Lead the creation and implementation of a unified Global Job Architecture. Align leveling and career frameworks across the US and international hubs to support workforce scaling and organizational clarity.
• Design and operationalize global salary structures. Utilize data-driven insights and Radford/Aon methodology to ensure competitive positioning in disparate and hyper-competitive biopharma talent markets.
• Own the end-to-end engineering of Incentive Programs. This includes the design, financial modeling, and communication strategy for Corporate Bonus and Sales Incentive Plans (in partnership with Commercial Operations).
• Support the evolution of compensation programs aligned with the company's current lifecycle stage, ensuring a distinct competitive advantage in total rewards.
• Partner across Total Rewards on the global equity education and communication strategy. Translate complex equity vehicles (RSUs, PSUs, Options) into clear, compelling narratives that ensure employees at all levels understand the potential value of their ownership and its link to company milestones.

Talent Acquisition & EVP Partnership

• Partner with the Talent Acquisition (TA) team to refine our Employer Value Proposition (EVP). Ensure our compensation narrative is a differentiator in the sourcing and attraction of top-tier scientific and commercial talent.
• Act as a strategic consultant to TA on complex candidate offers, providing data-driven guidance unique compensation packages while maintaining internal equity.
• Regularly equip the TA team with updated market insights and Radford trends to ensure our sourcing strategies remain agile in a shifting biopharma landscape.

Global Operations & Governance

• Establish and govern core compensation processes, including annual merit cycles and semi-annual promotion governance, to build transparency and accountability across the organization.
• Drive the Global Pay Equity and Transparency strategy. Ensure proactive compliance with US and international regulations, such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
• Lead global compensation projects from conception to implementation, including project plans, timelines, and change management activities to ensure seamless adoption.

Enterprise Partnership & Insights

• Build a symbiotic partnership with HR Business Partners. Develop tools, templates, and "consultative" guidance (e.g., Total Rewards statements, manager talking points) that enable HRBPs to drive strategic execution.
• Provide thought leadership to business leaders on all compensation matters, including salary management, total rewards philosophy, and creative support of strategic objectives.
• Lead compensation reporting and analytics. Provide the VP, Total Rewards and senior leadership with data-driven narratives regarding spend, market competitiveness, and the "pay-for-performance" link.
• Engage with key stakeholders across the company to build strong relationships and provide leadership advice on compensation strategies and competitive trends.

Leadership & Culture

• Provide direct leadership and mentorship to the Compensation Manager. Foster a high-performance environment that encourages technical growth, Radford mastery, and professional development.
• Serve as a culture advocate by reinforcing the link between performance outcomes and financial rewards, ensuring the "pay-for-performance" philosophy is lived across the enterprise.
• Evaluate and manage strategic external partners, including benchmarking vendors and compensation consultants, to ensure high-quality service and data integrity.

Education

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree strongly preferred (HR, Business, Mathematics, Economics, Finance, or related field).

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive compensation experience, specifically within a publicly traded life sciences environment. Deep understanding of clinical/R&D cycles and the unique talent needs of both Scientific and Commercial organizations.
• 3+ years of experience managing and developing direct reports. You have a proven ability to coach mid-level professionals, ensuring technical accuracy while fostering their strategic growth.
• Demonstrated success in building and managing job frameworks, salary structures, and incentive plans from the ground up.
• Proven experience managing complex equity portfolios within a public company, including deep familiarity with equity accounting, valuation, and the lifecycle of grant administration.
• A history of partnering with and advising executive teams, translating complex compensation data into actionable business strategies.
• Proven experience collaborating with Talent Acquisition to build compelling offer packages and EVP narratives that win in a competitive talent market.
• Serve as the enterprise expert on Radford/Aon survey data. Lead the annual market mapping and participate in specialized surveys to ensure competitive positioning for niche R&D, clinical, and commercial roles across all global jurisdictions.

Skills & Competencies

• Expert-level proficiency in MS Excel and Radford survey methodology; highly analytical with the ability to evaluate complex data to make informed recommendations.
• Skilled in leveraging HRIS (e.g., Workday) and benchmarking tools to automate processes and ensure data-driven governance
• Strong facilitation and storytelling skills; ability to advise, challenge, and influence colleagues at all levels of the organization.
• A committed mentor capable of elevating the technical and consultative skills of a direct report.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Office-based work environment

Travel Requirements

• 10%

Work Arrangements (Hybrid, Remote, Onsite, Field)

• Hybrid

Travel Requirements:

Education:

Pay Information:

Work Arrangement:

Benefits and Perks:

Apellis offers a comprehensive benefits package, including a 401(k) plan with company match, inclusive family building benefits, flexible time off, summer and winter shutdowns, paid family leave, disability and life insurance, and more! Visit https://apellis.com/careers/benefits/ to learn more.

Company Background:

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a global biopharmaceutical company leading the way in complement science to develop life-changing therapies for some of the most challenging diseases patients face. We ushered in the first new class of complement medicine in 15 years and now have two C3-targeting medicines approved to treat four serious diseases. Breakthroughs for patients include the first-ever therapy for geographic atrophy, a leading cause of blindness, and the first treatment for patients 12 and older with C3G or primary IC-MPGN, two severe, rare kidney diseases. We believe we have only begun to unlock the potential of targeting C3 across many serious diseases.

For more information, please visit http://apellis.comor follow us on LinkedIn andX.

EEO Statement:

Apellis is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state and local fair employment practices laws. Apellis strictly prohibits and does not tolerate discrimination against employees, applicants or any other covered persons because of race, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, sex (including pregnancy), gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, marital status, AIDS/HIV status, smoker/nonsmoker, and occupational pneumoconiosis or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state or local law.
For San Francisco postings: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Other Duties:

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.