Senior Compensation & Benefits Advisor, EU and Strategic Initiatives- UK or NL
Job Description, Responsibilities & Requirements
About the Position
Senior Compensation & Benefits Advisor, EU and Strategic Initiatives - UK or NL
Location: UK or NL (flexible remote work)
Employment Type: Full-Time
Starting Salary Range: NL: € 70,920; UK: £60,030 (commensurate with professional experience)
About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is powered by the belief that a better world is possible. We know our teams do their best work when they are diverse, and every team member feels that they belong. We welcome diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and skills so that we can be stronger and have a long-term impact.
About the Department
The People Team ensures that Mercy Corps has the people, strategies, and learning that will enable it to be a world-class, cutting-edge, humanitarian organization, creating transformational change in the world. We do this through the recruitment, retention, and development of the best global talent. Our aim is to drive strategic thinking and planning at all levels of the organization; create a robust body of research to guide us internally and externally and steward the organizational culture.
Responsibilities
Strategy, Planning & Continuous Improvement
- Champion and operationalize the organization’s People Strategy, ensuring alignment between pay practices and innovation objectives.
- Partner with leadership to define and execute a forward-looking total rewards and performance management strategy, linking compensation to financial, operational, and impact performance.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives by identifying gaps, inefficiencies, and opportunities across compensation and benefits programs and processes.
- Influence organizational and regional strategies through data-driven compensation insights that support growth, equity, and impact.
- Lead the design and implementation of scalable, globally consistent compensation and benefits frameworks and tools.
- Build and maintain strategic external partnerships.
Compensation, Benefits & Performance Advisory
- Familiar with different compensation structures and statutory benefits across Europe, bringing working knowledge and practical experience.
- Design, implement, and refine global salary structures, grading frameworks, and pay policies aligned with market competitiveness and organizational goals.
- Lead regular market benchmarking and salary analysis to ensure competitive, equitable, and compliant pay practices.
- Drive improvements in job evaluation, role architecture, and pay-for-performance methodologies.
- Integrate compensation frameworks with performance management systems, ensuring clear links between individual performance, growth outcomes, and reward.
- Develop and harmonize benefits strategies across European jurisdictions, ensuring competitiveness, compliance, and employee well-being.
- Stay on top of employment law in European countries with Mercy Corps presence, so the organization can proactively adapt.
- Provide strategic advisory support to leadership on compensation, performance calibration, workforce planning, and organizational design.
Strategic Improvement Projects
- Design and implement key improvement initiatives that align Mercy Corps’ compensation and benefits with the organization’s strategic direction.
- Partner with Mercy Corps Europe HR and Talent Acquisition to support strategies to attract and retain high-performing professionals across Europe from private sector and impact investing backgrounds.
- Develop performance-related pay principles and establish incentive structures to align with organizational growth and impact metrics.
- Support operationalizing the organization’s framework to global mobility to ensure compliance, employee retention, and equitable compensation decisions. Own and implement the organization’s global mobility workstream, including reviewing and advising on requests, with executive, HR, and legal input.
- Develop metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks to track performance, inform decisions, and support continuous improvement.
Communication, Influence & Stakeholder Engagement
- Communicate compensation and benefits initiatives clearly to internal stakeholders, strengthening understanding and engagement.
- Partner with innovations teams, HR, and leadership to ensure alignment between talent, performance, and reward strategies.
- Build internal capability through coaching and guidance on compensation, benefits, and performance management best practices.
- Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to position total rewards as a competitive advantage in attracting top-tier talent in private markets.
Personal Leadership & Organizational Values
- Demonstrate resilience, adaptability, and professionalism in complex and dynamic environments.
- Promote innovation by encouraging new approaches to problem-solving within organizational frameworks.
- Foster a high-performing, inclusive team culture focused on learning, accountability, and innovation.
- Uphold high ethical standards and model organizational values in all interactions.
Requirements
- 5+ years of experience managing total rewards or compensation and benefits programs at a private sector company, investment firm, or development bank.
- Familiar with different compensation structures and statutory benefits across Europe, bringing working knowledge and practical experience.
- Experience managing global programs and designing performance-related pay structures is highly preferred.
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field, preferred.
- English proficiency required.
- Project management skills including the ability to create and execute plans within established deadlines. Strong problem-solving skills, interpersonal skills, and written and verbal communication.
- Strong analytical skills and a thorough knowledge of compensation and benefit plan designs. Ability to understand how to leverage compensation and benefits programs to align with industry best practices.
We Offer
- Competitive salary
- Flexible remote work options
- Opportunity to contribute to meaningful humanitarian work
- Professional development opportunities
About the Company
Mercy Corps is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants, or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members.
Safeguarding & Ethics
Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants, or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC and have signed on to the Interagency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times. Team members are required to complete mandatory Code of Conduct e-learning courses upon hire and on an annual basis.
As an applicant, if you witness or experience any form of sexual misconduct during the recruitment process, please report this to Mercy Corps Integrity Hotline ([email protected]).