Compensation Manager at Kikoff

San Francisco, California, United States -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

06 Aug, 26

Salary

225000.0

Posted On

08 May, 26

Experience

5 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Yes

Skills

Compensation Management, Equity Administration, Salary Benchmarking, Market Analysis, Pay Transparency Compliance, Financial Modeling, Excel, Carta, Radford, HRIS, FLSA Classification, Pay Equity Audits, IPO Readiness, Budget Reconciliation, Merit Cycle Administration, Total Rewards

Industry

Software Development

Description

Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI At Kikoff, our mission is to provide radically affordable financial tools to help consumers achieve financial security. We're a profitable, high growth FinTech unicorn serving millions of people, many of whom are building credit or navigating life paycheck to paycheck. With innovative technology and AI, we simplify credit building, reduce debt, and expand access to financial opportunities to those who need them the most. Founded in 2019, Kikoff is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by top-tier VC investors and NBA star Stephen Curry. Why Kikoff: This is a consumer fintech startup, and you will be working with serial entrepreneurs who have built strong consumer brands and innovative products. We value extreme ownership, clear communication, a strong sense of craftsmanship, and the desire to create lasting work and work relationships. Yes, you can build an exciting business AND have real-life real-customer impact. Compensation Manager Kikoff is looking for a Compensation Manager to own our cash and equity programs end-to-end as we scale toward IPO. You'll be the in-house comp expert who turns our compensation philosophy into the systems that run underneath every offer, merit cycle, promotion, and equity refresh — making sure the bands hold up, the grants land where they should, and the data is clean enough to defend to a comp committee. This role reports to the VP of People and works closely with People Analytics, the stock admin team on Carta, Recruiting on offers, Finance on comp budgets, and HRBPs on individual cases. This is a senior individual contributor role — no direct reports today — with a path to build a team as the function scales. What You'll Do Maintain Kikoff's salary structure end-to-end: Radford-benchmarked bands by job and level, geographic differentials, annual market refreshes, and the job matching that connects our roles to the underlying survey data Run the annual merit and promotion cycle — proration logic, manager allocation tools, calibration support, and final letter generation — and handle out-of-cycle adjustments through the year Execute the equity program day-to-day: new hire grant recommendations, refresh administration on our frontloaded vesting framework, grant table maintenance, and Carta operations Build comp materials and competitive intelligence for offer construction with Recruiting, including total compensation views for senior candidates Own pay transparency and compliance — pay range posting requirements (CO, NY, CA, and other jurisdictions), FLSA classification, and pay equity audits Drive IPO readiness work end-to-end in partnership with the VP of People — NEO benchmarking analysis, CD&A prep, ESPP and PSU plan design, and equity education for the broader team Build and maintain comp dashboards and reporting in partnership with People Analytics — burn rate, dilution, comp ratio against bands, pay equity, and refresh scenarios Serve as the comp expert on individual cases for HRBPs, recruiters, and managers — including the harder conversations where the framework has to drive the answer Partner with Finance on comp accruals, merit pool sizing, and budget reconciliation About You 5+ years of compensation experience at a tech company, including direct ownership of merit cycle administration, salary band maintenance, and equity grant operations Hands-on experience with Radford or another major tech comp survey, including job matching, market analysis, and band construction Strong fluency with equity mechanics — vesting schedules, refresh design, grant tables, ISO/NSO/RSU treatment, and the Carta workflows that operationalize all of it Pre-IPO experience is a strong plus, particularly with equity refresh redesign, ESPP or PSU plan design, or supporting NEO disclosure prep Strong analytical skills with deep Excel/Sheets fluency, comfort in HRIS comp modules, and ideally hands-on experience with Pave, Lattice, or comparable tooling Familiarity with pay transparency requirements across CO, NY, CA, and other jurisdictions A pragmatic communicator who can translate comp logic for non-comp audiences — managers building business cases, candidates negotiating offers, Managerership weighing trade-offs Strong judgment on when to follow the framework and when an exception is warranted; equally strong instinct for when an exception should become a framework change instead Comfortable in a lean environment where you'll partner with People Analytics, Recruiting, and Finance rather than have a team of your own — and where you're expected to do the work yourself rather than hand it off to consultants Kikoff: A FinTech Unicorn Powering Financial Progress with AI Kikoff is an AI-first fintech company on a mission to empower people to achieve financial security. As a profitable unicorn, we've helped over 2 million customers build credit and take control of their financial futures. Our products — including our top-rated credit builder, AI debt negotiator, and AI credit disputes tool — are the highest-rated in their categories on both iOS and Android. Backed by top-tier venture capital, Kikoff is growing fast and building toward IPO. Why Kikoff Joining Kikoff means working at a company where the mission is real and the impact is measurable. You'll work alongside a lean, high-caliber team that values ownership, candor, and speed. The problems are complex, the pace is fast, and the opportunity to shape how millions of people interact with financial products is rare. 🏥 Medical, dental, vision — Kikoff covers the full cost for employees, 50% for dependents 📈 Stock options 🛃 Visa sponsorship available Equal Employment Opportunity Statement: At Kikoff, we are committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or any other classification protected by applicable law. San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. NOTICE TO RECRUITING AGENCIES Kikoff does not accept unsolicited resumes from recruiting agencies or search firms. Any resume or candidate profile submitted without a signed agreement and approved job order will be considered the property of Kikoff, and no fee will be owed. Base Range $185,000—$225,000 USD Equal Employment Opportunity Statement Kikoff Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to complying with all federal, state, and local laws providing equal employment opportunities and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy, sex, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, citizenship, or any other legally protected class. Please reference the following for more information.

Responsibilities

Own the end-to-end cash and equity programs, including salary structures, merit cycles, and equity grant operations. Drive IPO readiness through benchmarking, plan design, and compliance with pay transparency laws.