Flagship Pioneering

VP/SVP Total Rewards & People Operations

Flagship Pioneering$300K — $400K *
Business Services
11 - 15 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 15+ years of experience in Total Rewards, with a focus on compensation strategy and team leadership.
  • Deep expertise in compensation design and private-company equity structures.
  • Strong familiarity with non-traditional compensation approaches, such as profits interests and carried interest.
  • Experience leading benefits strategy across health, retirement, and ancillary programs.
  • Proven ability to operate successfully in dynamic, high-growth environments, particularly private equity or venture-backed organizations.
  • Strong executive presence with effective influence and presentation skills to senior leaders.
  • Experience with global workforce management and navigating matrixed organizations.

Responsibilities

  • Lead the design and evolution of Flagship's global Total Rewards philosophy across various reward programs.
  • Architect compensation strategies that align with business priorities and financial objectives.
  • Develop salary structures and equity guidelines to maintain market competitiveness.
  • Guide annual compensation planning processes in partnership with HR and Finance.
  • Oversee equity strategy, ensuring robust governance and effective operational execution for incentive programs.
  • Manage benefits strategy to ensure competitive and sustainable offerings in alignment with organizational values.
  • Oversee key People Operations functions to improve scalability and compliance.

Benefits

  • Healthcare coverage including annual incentive programs and retirement benefits.
  • A broad range of other employee benefits tailored to support workforce needs.
  • Opportunities for both short-term and long-term incentive compensation.
Full Job Description
Position Overview

Flagship Pioneering is seeking an experienced and strategic Vice President or Senior Vice President, Total Rewards and People Operations to lead the design, management, and evolution of Total Rewards programs and key people infrastructure across our ecosystem. The scope of this role spans compensation, executive compensation, equity, benefits, people operations, and people analytics for Flagship and its portfolio of companies.

This is a highly visible leadership role requiring deep expertise in compensation strategy and private-company equity, as well as the ability to operate effectively across a complex, fast-paced, and highly matrixed environment. The ideal candidate will bring strong executive presence, sound judgment, and the ability to translate business strategy into scalable people programs that support growth, innovation, and organizational effectiveness.

This leader will oversee an established team across Compensation, Benefits, People Operations, and People Analytics, and will be expected to shape a modern, market-relevant Total Rewards philosophy, refine equity and incentive structures, advance benefits strategy, and drive people insights that support executive decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

Total Rewards Strategy and Leadership
  • Lead the strategy, design, and ongoing evolution of Flagship's global Total Rewards philosophy across compensation, executive compensation, equity, benefits, and other reward programs.
  • Serve as the principal architect of rewards strategy, recommending program direction to senior leadership and ensuring alignment with business priorities, talent strategy, and financial objectives.
  • Develop and refine salary structures, incentive frameworks, equity guidelines, and market positioning approaches across a global footprint.
  • Oversee job architecture and leveling governance in support of internal equity, talent management, and scalable compensation decision-making.
  • Guide annual compensation planning processes, including merit, bonus, promotion, and other pay actions, in partnership with HR, Finance, and business leadership.
  • Partner closely with Talent Acquisition and HR Business Partners on executive and broad-based offer strategy, market competitiveness, and internal equity.
  • Lead the continued evolution of executive compensation and broad-based equity strategy across Flagship and applicable portfolio companies.

Equity and Incentive Design
  • Provide strategic leadership for complex equity and long-term incentive programs, including private-company equity structures and alternative long-term incentive constructs.
  • Oversee equity strategy, governance, and operational execution through the team, ensuring strong program design and scalable administration.
  • Partner with senior leadership on the design and refinement of incentive and ownership frameworks that support attraction, retention, and long-term value creation.
  • Bring familiarity with innovative and non-traditional compensation approaches, including profits interests, carried interest, and related long-term incentive structures.

Benefits Strategy
  • Lead benefits strategy across health and welfare, retirement, leave, and ancillary programs, ensuring programs remain competitive, sustainable, and aligned with organizational values and workforce needs.
  • Partner with the Benefits leader and external advisors to evaluate plan design, funding, market trends, vendor performance, and evolving regulatory requirements.
  • Support harmonization and modernization of benefits strategy where appropriate across a diverse and growing ecosystem.

People Operations
  • Oversee key People Operations functions, including onboarding, offboarding, employee lifecycle processes, policy administration, compliance workflows, service delivery, and operational process excellence.
  • Ensure people processes are scalable, well-governed, and designed to support a high-quality employee and manager experience.
  • Partner effectively across HR, Payroll, IT, Legal, and Finance to improve operational efficiency and strengthen people-related infrastructure.
  • Provide leadership on HR compliance, as well as compensation- and benefits-related compliance considerations, in partnership with internal and external experts as appropriate.

People Analytics
  • Lead the People Analytics agenda, with an emphasis on generating insights that support executive decision-making across workforce planning, hiring, retention, compensation, and organizational effectiveness.
  • Oversee dashboards, reporting, and analytical frameworks that inform leaders including the CEO and CFO.
  • Translate data and analysis into actionable recommendations in partnership with HR Business Partners and business leaders.
  • Advance a thoughtful, increasingly sophisticated analytics capability that supports better people decisions across Flagship and the broader ecosystem.

Portfolio Company Partnership
  • Advise and support portfolio company leaders on Total Rewards strategy, with involvement calibrated to company stage, maturity, and business need.
  • Tailor rewards frameworks and guidance for a range of company stages while maintaining sound governance and alignment with broader talent and value creation goals.
  • Present recommendations and insights to portfolio company leadership and boards as needed.

Leadership and Team Development
  • Lead, develop, and inspire a multi-functional team spanning Compensation, Benefits, People Operations, and People Analytics.
  • Foster strong collaboration across functional teams and help continue building a high-performing, service-oriented, and strategically focused organization.
  • Manage external consultants, brokers, survey providers, and other key vendors in support of rewards strategy and operational excellence.

Qualifications
  • 15+ years of progressive experience in Total Rewards, with significant depth in compensation strategy and experience leading broad, multi-functional teams.
  • Deep expertise in compensation design, market benchmarking, executive compensation, incentive strategy, and private-company equity.
  • Strong familiarity with alternative long-term incentive structures, including profits interests, carried interest, and other innovative ownership or reward constructs.
  • Experience leading or advising on benefits strategy, including health and welfare, retirement, leave, and ancillary offerings.
  • Experience overseeing or partnering closely with People Operations and People Analytics functions in complex organizations.
  • Demonstrated success operating in high-growth, founder-led, venture-backed, private equity, or similarly dynamic business environments.
  • Experience supporting global workforces and navigating matrixed organizations with multiple stakeholders and business models.
  • Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders, present compelling recommendations, and operate as a trusted advisor.
  • Proven ability to translate data and market insights into practical, business-relevant decisions and action plans.
  • Experience working with boards, founders, and senior executive stakeholders preferred.
  • Prior life sciences or biotechnology experience preferred, but not required.


Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Flagship Pioneering and its affiliated Flagship Lab companies (collectively, "FSP") do not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to FSP or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Flagship Pioneering's internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of FSP, and FSP will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

The salary range for this role is $300,000 - $400,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. This role is also eligible for short-term and long-term incentive compensation. Flagship Pioneering currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits, and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Flagship Pioneering's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.

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The salary range for this role is $300,000 - $400,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. Flagship Pioneering currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Flagship Pioneering's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.

About Flagship Pioneering

Flagship Pioneering is a life sciences innovation enterprise that conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category life sciences companies. The firm operates through its Flagship Labs unit, which is a dedicated innovation foundry that invents and launches transformative companies. Flagship Pioneering has created over 100 scientific ventures, resulting in over $34 billion in aggregate value, 500+ issued patents, and more than 50 clinical trials for novel therapeutic agents. The firm's portfolio includes companies in the fields of therapeutics, health technologies, and sustainability. Flagship Pioneering was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Learn more about Flagship Pioneering
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500 employees
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