Director, People Operations & Total Rewards

The Director of People Operations & Total Rewards is a strategic and operational leader responsible for building and scaling best-in-class people operations across compensation, benefits, payroll, HRIS, compliance, and people data. This role ensures Vita Coco’s people infrastructure is accurate, compliant, scalable, and employee-centered while supporting our growth as a global public company.

You will partner closely with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team to design and execute benefits and payroll strategies, strengthen internal controls, and deliver reliable people data that informs business decisions. This role manages the People Operations Manager and People Coordinator and reports to the Global VP of People.

Work Location: We’d love our newest coconut to join us in person in NYC, but if you’re a great match for the role, we’d be happy to explore remote work together.

Key Responsibilities

Total Rewards

• Lead U.S. market benchmarking and pay analysis using external surveys and internal data to ensure competitive and equitable compensation programs

• Design and oversee end-to-end U.S. compensation processes, including annual merit cycles, bonus planning, promotions, off-cycle adjustments, and pay equity reviews

• Play a key role in shaping and evolving Vita Coco’s compensation philosophy, frameworks, and governance

• Own benefits strategy and vendor management, including renewals, plan design, and employee experience enhancements

• Ensure compensation and benefits programs are compliant, scalable, and aligned with public-company standards

Payroll & HRIS (UKG)

• Ensure accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processing

• Serve as system owner for global HRIS (UKG), ensuring system configuration, data integrity, and optimization

• Lead UKG enhancements, integrations, testing, and process automation

Public Company Compliance

• Maintain SOX-aligned controls for payroll, equity, compensation, and people data

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, local, and international employment laws and regulations

• Partner with Legal on audits, filings, and regulatory reporting (e.g., proxy statement, equity disclosures, wage and hour)

• Monitor regulatory changes and proactively update policies and practices

People Data & Analytics

• Establish data governance, documentation, and quality standards

• Build dashboards and reporting for headcount, turnover, compensation, payroll, and benefits

• Provide actionable insights to People and business leaders

Operational Excellence & Leadership

• Build scalable processes, documentation, and SOPs

• Lead cross-functional projects with Finance, Legal, IT, and the Global People Team

• Manage vendors and contracts related to payroll, benefits, and HR systems

• Mentor and develop team members, fostering a high-performance operations culture

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in People Operations, HR Operations, or Total Rewards

• 5+ years leading compensation, payroll, and benefits programs

• Deep experience with payroll and compensation strategy in a public company

• Strong working knowledge of UKG HRIS (implementation or optimization experience preferred)

• Experience supporting multi-country / global workforces

• Strong knowledge of employment law and compliance frameworks

• Proven people leader

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience applying AI in HR to streamline workflows and improve the employee experience, with skills in HR process optimization and automation