Leaf Home

Senior Director, Sales Compensation

Leaf Home • $150K — $180K *
Hudson, OH 44236In-Person
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Today
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Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in sales compensation or related field
  • Proven experience designing complex sales incentive plans
  • Strong background in commission-intensive sales environments
  • Advanced financial modeling and analytical skills
  • Ability to influence senior executives effectively

Responsibilities

  • Lead the design and evolution of sales compensation programs
  • Translate business objectives into incentive structures
  • Conduct analysis on compensation cost relative to revenue and profitability
  • Ensure compliance with compensation governance and legal requirements
  • Establish a disciplined governance process for incentive plans

Benefits

  • Occasional overnight travel required
  • Normal office environment with climate control
  • Flexible hours may be needed
  • Ability to work without sponsorship for visa status
Full Job Description
Position Summary:

The Senior Director, Sales Compensation is responsible for the strategy, design, governance, analytics, and effectiveness of the company's sales compensation programs.

This leader will serve as the company's subject-matter expert on sales compensation, partnering closely with Sales, Finance, Human Resources, Operations, and senior leadership to ensure incentive programs drive the right behaviors, reward performance, support profitable growth, and remain competitive in the marketplace.

The role does not lead the sales organization. Instead, it serves as a strategic partner to Sales leadership, bringing deep expertise in incentive design and sales economics to help translate business strategy into compensation programs that are motivating, understandable, financially sound, and operationally executable.

The successful candidate will combine deep technical sales compensation expertise with strong business judgment and the ability to influence senior commercial leaders.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Lead the design and ongoing evolution of all sales compensation programs across the organization.
  • Translate business objectives into incentive structures that drive desired sales behaviors and business outcomes.
  • Design plans incorporating base salary, commissions, quotas, thresholds, accelerators, decelerators, bonuses, product incentives, contests, guarantees, draws, and other variable compensation mechanisms.
  • Determine appropriate pay mix, performance measures, leverage, payout curves, thresholds, targets, accelerators, and maximum payout opportunities.
  • Ensure incentive plans appropriately balance:
    • Revenue growth
    • Gross margin and profitability
    • Conversion
    • Average ticket
    • Product and service mix
    • Customer quality and retention
    • Sales productivity
    • Customer experience
  • Simplify compensation programs where unnecessary complexity has accumulated while preserving appropriate differentiation for different sales roles and business models
  • Develop sophisticated financial models to understand the cost and behavioral implications of proposed incentive-plan changes.
  • Model payout distributions across various performance scenarios before implementing plan changes.
  • Conduct sensitivity analyses to understand how changes in performance, pricing, margin, mix, conversion, or productivity affect incentive payouts.
  • Analyze compensation cost as a percentage of revenue, gross profit, and contribution margin.
  • Evaluate whether incentive plans provide appropriate differentiation between low, average, high, and exceptional performers.
  • Identify excessive payouts, insufficient upside, performance cliffs, windfalls, unintended consequences, and other design issues.
  • Partner with Finance to forecast incentive expense and evaluate the ROI of sales compensation investments.
  • Develop a comprehensive framework for measuring the effectiveness of sales incentive programs.
  • Conduct regular analysis of actual performance and payouts against plan objectives.
  • Evaluate whether incentive plans are producing the behaviors and business outcomes they were designed to create.
  • Analyze performance and compensation relationships across representatives, teams, markets, products, channels, and business units.
  • Identify potential plan gaming, unintended incentives, excessive discounting, poor-quality sales, or other behaviors created by compensation design.
  • Recommend changes based on quantitative analysis and business results.
  • Establish dashboards and reporting that give senior leadership visibility into incentive effectiveness and economics.
  • Establish a disciplined governance process for the design, approval, implementation, and modification of sales compensation programs.
  • Create clear standards regarding when separate incentive plans are appropriate versus when roles should participate in common plans.
  • Establish policies governing:
    • Plan eligibility
    • Crediting
    • Split credit
    • Cancellations and rescissions
    • Chargebacks
    • Returns and rework
    • Guarantees and draws
    • New-hire treatment
    • Leaves and transfers
    • Exceptions
    • Disputes and appeals
    • Plan changes
  • Create an annual sales compensation planning calendar aligned with the company's strategic and financial planning processes.
  • Maintain clear documentation of all plans, policies, calculations, and approvals.
  • Ensure compensation programs comply with applicable legal, regulatory, and company requirements.
  • Ensure incentive plans can be accurately and efficiently administered.
  • Partner with HR, Finance, Payroll, IT, and Sales Operations to ensure accurate calculation and timely payment of incentives.
  • Establish controls and audit processes to improve accuracy and reduce payment errors.
  • Identify opportunities to automate compensation administration and reduce manual processes.
  • Evaluate sales compensation technology and systems as appropriate.
  • Ensure sales representatives and leaders have visibility into performance, earnings, and how compensation is calculated.
  • Serve as the primary sales compensation advisor to the Chief Sales Officer and senior business leaders.
  • Partner with Sales leadership to understand business strategy, sales roles, customer acquisition models, and desired selling behaviors.
  • Challenge proposed compensation changes when they create unnecessary cost, complexity, or unintended incentives.
  • Partner with Finance to ensure plans deliver appropriate economic returns.
  • Partner with HR on market competitiveness, job architecture, total compensation, and compensation governance.
  • Provide senior leadership with objective recommendations regarding incentive-plan changes rather than simply administering plans requested by the business.
  • Conduct periodic comprehensive reviews of the company's sales incentive portfolio.
  • Identify opportunities to eliminate redundant or ineffective plans.
  • Reduce unnecessary complexity and improve consistency across businesses and markets.
  • Develop common compensation design principles while recognizing legitimate differences among sales roles and channels.
  • Lead major redesigns of incentive programs when business strategy, market conditions, or sales models change.
  • Develop implementation and communication strategies for significant compensation changes.

Experience and Minimum Qualifications:

  • 10+ years of progressive experience in sales compensation, sales effectiveness, compensation consulting, commercial finance, or related disciplines.
  • Significant experience personally designing complex sales incentive plans.
  • Experience supporting large, distributed, commission-intensive sales organizations strongly preferred.
  • Experience in home improvement, home services, roofing, HVAC, solar, telecommunications, insurance, financial services, automotive, or another high-volume commissioned sales environment preferred.
  • Advanced financial and analytical capabilities, including sophisticated Excel and financial modeling skills.
  • Experience with sales compensation administration platforms and CRM/data environments preferred.
  • Demonstrated ability to influence senior Sales, Finance, and HR executives.
  • Experience leading significant sales compensation redesigns and change-management efforts.
  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
  • Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status).

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, Abilities or Certifications:

  • Deep technical expertise in sales compensation principles, including:
    • Pay mix
    • Quotas and performance measures
    • Thresholds and accelerators
    • Payout curves
    • Commission structures
    • Crediting
    • Plan leverage
    • Performance distribution
    • Cost modeling
    • Plan governance

Travel Requirements:

  • Occasional overnight travel is required (1-10%)

Overtime/Additional Hours Requirements:

  • Additional and non-standard hours may be required (exempt).

Physical Requirements:

  • Normal office environment.
  • Performs indoor work in a climate-controlled environment.
  • Sedentary work. Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time.

About Leaf Home

Leaf Home is a trusted partner in providing homeowners and their families safety, enjoyment, convenience, and peace of mind through innovative, professionally installed solutions that protect the condition and grow the value of their homes.

Leaf Home Careers

There has never been a better time to explore the job opportunities at Leaf Home, a leader in home enhancement solutions. Leaf Home is actively seeking professionals eager to drive innovation and lead in an industry ripe for transformation.

Work You’ll Do

Join Leaf Home's top-tier team to assist homeowners across the nation in upgrading their living spaces. At the intersection of technology, customer service, and home safety, Leaf Home stands as a beacon of growth and leadership in the home solutions sector. Transform the home improvement industry with the brightest minds at Leaf Home, where the focus is on delivering superior products and unmatched service. Leaf Home offers a unique position in the marketplace, combining industry expertise with digital innovation to lead the way in home safety solutions. Engage with a diverse team of business and technology advisors who help navigate the journey of home enhancement, ensuring every homeowner finds the perfect solution for their needs. Collaborate with over 1,000 dedicated professionals who are committed to making home maintenance easier, safer, and more intuitive.

Introducing the Leaf Home Professional Growth and Development Program

This program is designed to foster the professional growth of its team members, helping them master their skills in digital transformation and customer engagement through targeted training and leadership development.

Do Innovative Work

Be part of the largest network of home improvement experts—professionals dedicated to redefining the homeowner experience through innovation, expertise, and a commitment to excellence.

Drive Innovation and Leadership

Deliver targeted solutions that enhance the safety and functionality of homes across the country. Leaf Home prides itself on a depth and breadth of knowledge and innovation that is unparalleled in the industry.

Be Part of a Great Team

Work on a wide range of projects utilizing cutting-edge technology and benefit from the unparalleled capabilities, scale, and solution development that only Leaf Home can offer.

Future-Proof Your Career

Advance your career with limitless opportunities at Leaf Home. Ambition is the only limit to how far team members can go, supported by comprehensive training, development programs, and certification support.

Explore Leaf Home's Impact

From transforming residential safety standards to enhancing customer service protocols, Leaf Home is at the forefront of the home solutions industry. The company's commitment to excellence and innovation has positioned it as a leader in the market.

The Leaf Home Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

Leaf Home's dedication to diversity and inclusion ensures a welcoming environment for all team members. Through diversity training and a culture that celebrates unique perspectives, Leaf Home fosters an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.

Stay Connected

Join the Team

Search open positions that match your skills and interests. Leaf Home looks for passionate, curious, creative, and solution-driven team players. SEARCH LEAF HOME JOBS

Keep Up to Date

Stay ahead with career tips, insider perspectives, and industry-leading insights you can put to use today—all from the people who shape Leaf Home.

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Learn more about Leaf Home
Size
1,001 employees
Industry
Real Estate & Construction
* Ladders Estimates

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