Lead Total Rewards Partner

About Airwallex

Airwallex is the AI-native financial operating system for a real-time, intelligent economy. More than 676,000 businesses, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok, use us, directly or through our platform partners, to run their financial operations or build and monetize financial products of their own.

We started in Melbourne in 2015 to build the infrastructure global commerce runs on. We're the regulated backbone behind global payments: not by accident, but by design. A decade plus, 85+ licenses, and a financial infrastructure spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

We're co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with more than 2,300 people across 27 offices. We hire builders with founder-level energy, people who move fast with good judgment, dig in with real curiosity, and make calls from first principles rather than waiting to be told what to do. Read our operating principles to see it in full.

About the Team

The People & Talent team at Airwallex is dedicated to attracting and developing the brightest and most ambitious minds to drive our company forward. We are a global, vibrant, and dynamic team with a focus on creating a positive and inclusive work environment that fosters growth and innovation. Through innovative programs, strategic People & Talent initiatives, and a deep understanding of our organization's needs, we cultivate a collaborative and engaging environment that fuels Airwallex's continued growth and success.

What You'll Do

You'll be the first Total Rewards lead based in the Americas, owning our Compensation, Benefits and Equity programs end to end across the US and Canada, Brazil and Mexico. You'll set the regional rewards agenda and lead its execution, while partnering with the global Total Rewards team to shape how our programs are designed and evolve worldwide.

Airwallex is actively rebuilding and scaling its rewards programs, so this is a build role. You'll own the Americas compensation and benefits programs and cycles, ensuring our pay ranges and benefits offerings remain market-aligned, and serve as the senior Total Rewards voice for recruiters, managers, People Partners, and business leaders across the region. You'll work as part of a small, global team, partnering closely with colleagues in Singapore and China, with the opportunity to grow a team in the Americas as we scale.

This role is based in San Francisco.

Responsibilities

• Own Americas compensation strategy and execution: salary structures, pay differentials, market positioning, merit and bonus cycles, and offer decisions on our most senior and complex hires.

• Own the benefits lifecycle: plan design and strategy, partnering with the local People Ops team on annual renewals, broker and carrier negotiations.

• Partner with the global rewards team to manage company equity plan mechanics and plan governance.

• Lead Total Rewards initiatives end to end across the Americas and globally: scope the work, build the plan, align stakeholders, and communicate decisions clearly to leadership and employees.

• Lead the Americas workstreams of our IPO readiness program, in partnership with the global team.

• Own regional governance and compliance, including pay equity and pay transparency requirements across US states and Canada, and statutory rewards obligations in Brazil and Mexico.

• Use market data and benchmarking to ground decisions, influence senior stakeholders when decisions misalign with strategy, and translate complex analysis into clear recommendations for executives and employees.

• Build rewards capability across the region: coach People Partners, recruiters and managers to make confident pay decisions, and hire and develop team members as the region grows.

• Partner cross-functionally with TA, People Partners, Payroll, Finance, Legal, and exec leadership on compensation, org design, systems, equity budgets, compliance, and strategy.

Who You Are

We're looking for people who meet the minimum requirements for this role. The preferred qualifications are great to have, but are not mandatory.

Minimum Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in total rewards, compensation, or benefits, including significant experience supporting populations based in the Americas.

• Experience building or managing a complete rewards program (compensation, benefits, equity, etc) at a regional or global level

• Experience managing the benefits process end to end, including negotiating with brokers and insurance carriers to evaluate and renew plans.

• Strong compensation data analytics capability: own the annual market review cycle and influence company pay strategy and decisions at executive level.

• Proven ability to build your own models and projections.

• Working knowledge of US stock administration and equity compensation, including RSUs, vesting mechanics, and how to explain them plainly to a non-specialist.

• Experience at a late-stage private or pre-IPO company, or through the transition to public markets, particularly through changes to an equity program.

• Experience leading cross-functional projects with senior stakeholders, and mentoring or managing other rewards professionals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Multi-region rewards experience, especially where the global framework is set outside your own time zone.

• Familiarity with compensation and equity tooling such as Carta, BambooHR or Workday, and survey sources such as Radford or Compensia.

• Experience standing up a rewards function or team in a new region.

• Comfort operating with high standards, at a fast pace and under pressure, with evolving priorities and a bias toward building the thing rather than waiting for the playbook.

Applicant Safety Policy: Fraud and Third-Party Recruiters

To protect you from recruitment scams, please be aware that Airwallex will not ask for bank details, sensitive ID numbers (i.e. passport), or any form of payment during the application or interview process. All official communication will come from an @airwallex.com email address. Please apply only through careers.airwallex.com or our official LinkedIn page.

Airwallex does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firms/recruiters. Airwallex will not pay any fees to search firms/recruiters if a candidate is submitted by a search firm/recruiter unless an agreement has been entered into with respect to specific open position(s). Search firms/recruiters submitting resumes to Airwallex on an unsolicited basis shall be deemed to accept this condition, regardless of any other provision to the contrary.

Equal opportunity

Airwallex is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and anyone seeking employment at Airwallex is considered based on merit, qualifications, competence and talent. We don’t regard color, religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation, ancestry, citizenship, sex, marital or family status, disability, gender, or any other legally protected status when making our hiring decisions. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.