Total Rewards Specialist

About Us

We are a vertically integrated hardware and software company that designs, builds, and supports our technology end-to-end. Our workforce spans highly skilled factory workers, engineers, corporate staff, and remote teams across multiple U.S. states and international entities. We care deeply about designing equitable programs that reflect the diversity of our people and the complexity of our operations. We’re also a federal contractor with specialized compliance obligations.

The Opportunity

This person would be required to come into our office in San Mateo, CA 94402. We’re hiring a Total Rewards Specialist to own and evolve our global compensation, benefits, time off, leaves, recognition, rewards and perks programs. This role will shape how we support our employees around the world through meaningful, competitive, and compliant programs.

If you’re passionate about equitable total compensation, data-informed decision making, and modernizing total rewards strategies, this is a high-impact opportunity. You’ll join a collaborative, values-driven People Operations team and help scale systems and policies for a dynamic, dual-use company with both exempt and non-exempt workforces.

Key Responsibilities

Global Compensation & Recognition

• Manage and evolve compensation structures, salary bands, job leveling, and pay transparency practices.
• Own compensation benchmarking, market research, and participation in compensation surveys.
• Support global merit and promotion cycles, collaborating with Finance and business leaders.
• Develop and manage employee recognition and non-cash reward programs that reflect company values and reinforce performance.

Global Benefits Strategy & Administration

• Design, implement, and manage health  and supplementary benefits programs across the U.S. and international entities (currently India, Japan, Germany, Norway, Finland, and Poland, with expansion planned).
• Harmonize benefits across geographies and align programs with statutory obligations, local practices, and internal equity goals and the competitive landscape.  Own the implementation of a multi-year global strategy.
• Own the relationship with our benefits broker, ensuring accountability for renewals, escalations, and service delivery.
• Ensure global benefits compliance with ERISA, ACA, COBRA, and international equivalents.
• Run Open Enrollment and annual compliance activities.

Leave of Absence, Accommodations & Time Off

• Lead the administration of leave of absence (LOA) programs, including FMLA, CFRA, ADA, and equivalent international or statutory leaves.
• Manage global time-off policies and statutory holiday calendars, ensuring clarity and fairness across regions.
• Partner with external administrators and internal stakeholders to ensure compassionate, compliant, and smooth employee experiences.

Total Rewards Compliance & Operations

• Own all compliance and reporting related to benefits, compensation, and time off (including ERISA, non-discrimination testing,  COBRA, 5500 filings, ACA state reporting, and OFCCP alignment).
• Maintain accurate plan documents, policies, and employee communications.
• Evaluate and implement new tools, vendors, or AI solutions to enhance efficiency and accuracy in total rewards administration.
• Use data and metrics to inform decision-making and communicate program performance.
• Run Compensation and Bonus cycles, Benefit Plan Selection, Open Enrollment and other ad-hoc related programs, including data loads

Team Collaboration

• Serve as a strategic partner to HRBPs, Talent, Finance, and Legal to ensure alignment of total rewards with broader company goals.
• Adept at creating and maintaining business processes and workflows; recognizing gaps and changes as the business scales.  Partner with People Systems teams for complex system implementations to automate and streamline.
• Research and ongoing education related to changes in HR related laws and compliance in all regions where we operate. 
• Be flexible and collaborative, supporting cross-training and stepping in for other People Ops functions during team member absences.
• Provide thoughtful, tailored support to both office and factory-based employees.
• Mentor and train junior team members.

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years of hands-on experience in total rewards or a combination of benefits and compensation roles.
• Strong understanding of U.S. benefits, compensation structures, and regulatory requirements (ACA, ERISA, FLSA, etc.).
• Experience designing or managing global benefits programs and harmonizing them across countries.
• Data-savvy with a high level of comfort analyzing compensation and benefits data.
• Familiarity with leave of absence and time-off program administration in both U.S. and global contexts.
• Experience working with vendors and brokers, including negotiating renewals and implementing new programs.
• Working knowledge of AI and automation tools to streamline processes and enhance the employee experience.
• Strong communication skills and experience working with diverse employee populations.
• Ability to travel to our Hayward factory site as needed and work onsite at least 3 days per week in San Mateo, CA.
• We are a highly collaborative team that values curiosity, critical analysis, ongoing education, knowledge sharing, candidness, caring, humor, and a mindset of urgency, kindness & respect with good intent. We thrive in a fast-paced environment where launching, learning, and iterating is part of how we work. The successful candidate will add to our team and not detract.

Preferred

• Experience supporting exempt and non-exempt workers in a manufacturing or dual-use environment.
• Experience supporting globally distributed teams.
• Prior experience implementing total rewards technology or systems.
• Systems preferences: Workday, Pave, Traliant, Optum, WEX, various global benefit portals

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Occasional travel to factory site; ability to walk through production environments with PPE as required.

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.

Wage Notice (CA Compliance)

Pursuant to California law, we provide the base pay range for all roles. Compensation decisions are based on experience, skillset, and alignment with internal equity.

Compensation: At Skydio, our compensation packages for regular, full-time employees include competitive base salaries, equity in the form of stock options, and comprehensive benefits packages. Compensation will vary based on factors, including skill level, proficiencies, transferable knowledge, and experience. Relocation assistance may also be provided for eligible roles. The annual base salary range for this position is $120,000-190.000*. Fundamentally, we believe that equity is the key to long-term financial growth, and we ensure all regular, full-time employees have the opportunity to significantly benefit from the company's success. Regular, full-time employees are eligible to enroll in the Company’s group health insurance plans. Regular, full-time employees are eligible to receive the following benefits: Paid vacation time, sick leave, holiday pay and 401K savings plan. This position and all associated benefits are subject to applicable federal, state, and local laws, as well as the Company’s policies and eligibility criteria.

*Compensation for certain positions may vary based on the position’s location.

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