Sales Incentive Manager

|Current USA TODAY Co. Employees- Please ensure you are using our abbreviated process on the internal Careers site by logging into Dayforce through MyApps|USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a diversified media company with expansive reach at the national and local level dedicated to empowering and enriching communities. We seek to inspire, inform, and connect audiences as a sustainable, growth focused media and digital marketing solutions company. Through our trusted brands, including the USA TODAY NETWORK, comprised of the national publication, USA TODAY, and local media organizations, including our network of local properties, in the United States, and Newsquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom, we provide essential journalism, local content, and digital experiences to audiences and businesses. We deliver high-quality, trusted content with a commitment to balanced, unbiased journalism, where and when consumers want to engage. Our digital marketing solutions brand, LocaliQ, supports small and medium-sized businesses with innovative digital marketing products and solutions. USA TODAY Co. open roles are featured on various external job boards. When applying to a position at USA TODAY Co., you should be completing an application on USA TODAY Co. Careers via Dayforce. Job postings directing you to complete an application on other external sites may not be valid. If you are a California resident, you acknowledge that by applying for a job with us, this California Job Applicant Privacy Notice will apply to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information. To connect with us, visit www.usatodayco.comThe Sales Incentive Manager is the end-to-end owner of the company’s sales incentive programs within the People Resources Team Compensation function. This individual contributor role is responsible for designing, modeling, administering, governing, and optimizing sales incentive plans that align seller behavior with business strategy and revenue goals. The role partners closely with Sales Leadership, Finance, HR, and Payroll teams to ensure plans are effective, scalable, understandable, and operationally sound.This is a highly analytical and cross-functional role that combines sales compensation strategy, financial modeling, plan governance, process execution, stakeholder support, and continuous improvement. This role is not for payroll or commission processing; it is a strategic business partner role focused on plan design, effectiveness, and business impact.The ideal candidate is a hands-on owner who can move seamlessly between strategy and execution: designing plans, modeling cost and behavior outcomes, documenting policies, partnering cross-functionally, and improving the sales incentive operating model over time.Key Responsibilities Sales incentive plan strategy and design • Lead the design and ongoing refinement of sales incentive plans, ensuring alignment with company objectives and desired seller behaviors. • Develop plan components such as measures, weights, thresholds, accelerators, payout mechanics, and special incentives. • Evaluate proposed plan changes through scenario modeling and business impact analysis before implementation. • Analyze plan effectiveness by evaluating seller behavior, attainment distribution, pay-for-performance alignment, and ROI on incentive spend. • Provide recommendations for leadership based on plan performance trends and business outcomes.Manage the full incentive plan lifecycle • Own the annual incentive planning cycle and support in-year plan updates as business needs evolve. • Translate business strategy into practical, supportable compensation plans that can be operationalized with available systems, data, and processes. • Maintain plan documentation, policy rules, governance standards, and exception management processes to ensure clarity and consistency.Administer plan governance and operational execution • Partner with key stakeholders to ensure accurate and timely implementation, and operational execution of sales incentive plans. • Establish strong governance over source data, plan rules, exception handling, policy interpretation, and audit readiness. • Partner with Finance on investigating and resolving compensation issues, disputes, and discrepancies in a timely and fair manner.Reporting, dashboards, and stakeholder communication • Develop dashboards on Xactly and PowerBI, regular reporting, and executive-ready materials on plan performance, commission expense, attainment, and incentive outcomes. • Clearly communicate plan design, changes, and policy interpretations to Sales, Finance, HR, and business leadership. • Serve as a trusted subject matter expert on sales incentive plan design, governance, and administration.Cross-functional partnership and continuous improvement • Partner with Sales Leadership, Finance, and HR teams to align incentive plans to company strategy and operational realities. • Improve processes, controls, workflows, and system capabilities to increase efficiency, transparency, and scalability. • Conduct market benchmarking and external research to keep plans competitive and aligned with industry practice. Qualifications • Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, Economics, HR, or a related field. • Professional certification in sales compensation is a plus (e.g., Certified Compensation Professional (CCP®), Aon Certified Sales Compensation Expert, AIHR Sales Compensation Certificate) • 5–8+ years of experience in sales compensation, incentive compensation, revenue operations, finance, or sales operations with direct responsibility for incentive plan design and/or administration. • Experience with incentive compensation platforms and related reporting / planning tools such as Salesforce and Xactly. • Strong experience with financial modeling, forecasting, and scenario analysis. • Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and operate successfully in a fast-paced environment. • Excellent analytical, problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills. • High attention to detail and strong judgment in plan interpretation, policy application, and issue resolution.#LI-REMOTE#LI-NR2The annualized base salary for this role will range between $110,000 and $130.000.  Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications and experience. Note: variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on therole, may be applicable.USA TODAY Co., Inc. is a proud equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a diverse workforce. As such, we will consider all qualified applicants for employment and do not discriminate in connection with employment decisions on the basis of an applicant or employee’s race, color, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, citizenship status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age, marital status, personal appearance (including height and weight), sexual orientation, family responsibilities, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy status (including childbirth, breastfeeding or related medical conditions), education, genetic characteristics or information, political affiliation, military or veteran status or other classifications protected by applicable federal, state and local laws in the jurisdictions where USA TODAY Co. employs employees. In addition, USA TODAY Co., Inc. will provide applicants who require a reasonable accommodation, as a result of an applicant’s disability or religion, to complete this employment application and/or any other process in connection with an individuals’ application for employment with USA TODAY Co., Inc. Applicants who require such accommodation should contact USA TODAY Co., Inc.’s Recruitment Department at [email protected]. Applicants must be authorized to work in the applicable location. Applications from outside these regions will be removed from our system after submission.