Compensation & Equity Expert (Total Rewards)

Compensation & Equity Expert (Total Rewards)

Remote | Independent Contractor | $104,000–$416,000 annualized ($50–$200/hour)

About the Role

Bring your Total Rewards expertise to help shape compensation and equity programs for a rapidly scaling organization.

This is a flexible consulting opportunity for experienced compensation and equity professionals who have built programs, frameworks, and systems in real-world environments. You’ll contribute practical expertise to live compensation and equity questions, helping inform decisions around pay structures, job architecture, incentives, and employee equity.

You do not need experience across every area of Total Rewards. Deep expertise in compensation design and architecture, equity program management, or both is sufficient.

Core Areas of Expertise

Compensation Design & Architecture

You may be a strong fit if you have experience:

• Building salary bands, leveling frameworks, and job architectures from the ground up.
• Owning annual compensation cycles, including merit planning, promotions, bonuses, and equity refreshes.
• Conducting compensation benchmarking against relevant peer groups and presenting recommendations to senior leadership.
• Designing incentive programs that are straightforward, credible, and aligned with business objectives.
• Developing compensation structures that support growth while maintaining internal consistency and market competitiveness.

Equity Program Management

You may also be a strong fit if you have experience:

• Designing stock option and RSU programs, including grant guidelines, equity pool planning, vesting structures, and refresh strategies.
• Managing or advising on 409A valuations, equity plan governance, and grant administration within venture-backed organizations.
• Building equity models and communication frameworks that help candidates and employees understand the value and mechanics of their equity.
• Developing practical approaches to equity allocation, administration, and employee communication.

Expertise in either compensation or equity is sufficient; experience across both areas is highly valuable.

Additional Experience That’s Valuable

While not required, experience in the following areas can strengthen your application:

• Compensation philosophy and benchmarking methodology.
• Pay equity and pay transparency.
• Compensation programs for global or contractor workforces at scale.
• Benefits program design.
• HRIS and compensation technology.
• Executive compensation.
• Compensation and equity plan governance.
• Equity planning and management through IPO readiness.

What You’ll Do

• Provide expert perspective on live compensation and equity questions.
• Evaluate current approaches and identify practical opportunities for improvement.
• Apply your experience to compensation structures, job architecture, incentive programs, or equity frameworks.
• Explain complex Total Rewards considerations clearly and practically.
• Participate in focused, paid discussions addressing specific business questions.
• Share relevant industry practices, frameworks, and lessons learned from your professional experience.

Engagement Details

• Compensation: $50–$200/hour
• Annualized Equivalent: $104,000–$416,000
• Engagement Type: Independent contractor
• Work Arrangement: Fully remote
• Schedule: Flexible
• Engagement Length: Typically a few hours at a time, scoped to a specific question
• Start: Based on project needs

Annualized compensation is calculated using 2,080 hours per year for comparison purposes only. Actual earnings will depend on the number of hours and engagements completed.

Paid Expert Conversations

The application process begins with a short screening process. If your experience is a strong match, you may be invited to participate in a paid conversation focused on a live compensation or equity question. You’ll be compensated for the conversation regardless of whether additional work follows.

Every submission is reviewed.

Why This Opportunity?

• Apply your Total Rewards expertise to real-world compensation and equity challenges.
• Work flexibly and contribute on a focused, project-by-project basis.
• Influence compensation and equity frameworks during an important stage of organizational growth.
• Share expertise with teams working at the intersection of people strategy and emerging AI.
• Receive competitive compensation for specialized professional knowledge.
• Choose engagements that align with your specific area of expertise.

Contract & Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• Work is fully remote and can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects may be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on business needs and performance.
• You will not be required to access confidential or proprietary information belonging to any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are made weekly via Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• H-1B and STEM OPT candidates cannot be supported at this time.

Equal Opportunity

All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to legally protected characteristics. Reasonable accommodations are available upon request.