Senior Director, Total Rewards
Apptronik
Salary undisclosed
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Description
Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.
We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.
Senior Director, Total Rewards
Full-Time | People Operations | Sunnyvale, CA (Hybrid)
JOB SUMMARY
Apptronik is building robots that will change how humanity works — and we’re building the people function to match. As our Director, Total Rewards, you’ll be a founding architect of how we attract, reward, and retain world-class talent in one of the most competitive markets on the planet. You’ll own compensation and benefits strategy end-to-end, partnering with Finance, Legal, and People Partners, and reporting to the VP, People Operations. Level will be calibrated to your experience and what you’re ready to own from day one.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:
Compensation Design & Management
- Own job architecture, leveling frameworks, and salary structures across engineering, business, and operations functions
- Lead compensation cycles (merit, equity refresh, promotions), including modeling, calibration, and manager communications
- Conduct regular market benchmarking using Radford or comparable surveys; maintain salary bands and refresh annually
- Partner with Talent Acquisition on offer strategy, competitive positioning, and real-time compensation intelligence
Equity Compensation
- Partner with Legal and Finance on equity mechanics, liquidity events, and board materials; build education resources that help employees understand and value their ownership
Benefits & Well-being
- Own the full benefits lifecycle — broker relationships, annual renewal, plan design, cost modeling, and employee communication; serve as the escalation point for complex claims and coverage questions
- Evaluate and evolve the benefits portfolio to remain competitive in the tech and robotics talent market
- Oversee leave of absence administration and ensure compliance with applicable federal and state regulations
Compliance & Governance
- Ensure programs comply with FLSA, ACA, ERISA, and applicable state laws; maintain plan documents, SPDs, and governance documentation
Analytics & Systems
- Build dashboards and conduct pay equity analyses that give leadership clear visibility into total rewards spend and support a fair, data-informed workplace
SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS
- Total Rewards Depth: 12+ years in compensation, total rewards, or a related people operations role, ideally in a high-growth or tech environment. Breadth across comp strategy, equity, and benefits matters more than any single credential.
- Analytical Mindset: You build models, identify trends, and translate complex data into clear insights for Finance, Legal, and Board-level audiences.
- Builder’s Instinct: You bring structure to ambiguity and take ownership through to execution — no playbook required.
- Clear Communicator: You handle sensitive data with discretion and translate complex comp concepts into plain language for employees, managers, and executives alike.
- CHIPC Values: You naturally embody our core values (Curiosity, Humility, Integrity, Passion, and Creativity) — how we make decisions every day.
EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:
- 12+ years in compensation, total rewards, or a combined people operations role
- Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- CCP, CEBS, or PHR/SPHR certification is a plus, not a requirement
- Experience in a venture-backed or high-growth company strongly preferred; transferable depth from other dynamic environments welcome
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate
Apptronik is an equal opportunity employer. We actively work to build a team that reflects the full range of backgrounds, identities, and perspectives — and we strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply, even if you don’t check every box.
*This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.
Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
Benefits
- Own job architecture, leveling frameworks, and salary structures across engineering, business, and operations functions
- Lead compensation cycles (merit, equity refresh, promotions), including modeling, calibration, and manager communications
- Conduct regular market benchmarking using Radford or comparable surveys; maintain salary bands and refresh annually
- Partner with Talent Acquisition on offer strategy, competitive positioning, and real-time compensation intelligence
- Partner with Legal and Finance on equity mechanics, liquidity events, and board materials; build education resources that help employees understand and value their ownership
- Own the full benefits lifecycle — broker relationships, annual renewal, plan design, cost modeling, and employee communication; serve as the escalation point for complex claims and coverage questions
- Evaluate and evolve the benefits portfolio to remain competitive in the tech and robotics talent market
- Oversee leave of absence administration and ensure compliance with applicable federal and state regulations
- Ensure programs comply with FLSA, ACA, ERISA, and applicable state laws; maintain plan documents, SPDs, and governance documentation
- Build dashboards and conduct pay equity analyses that give leadership clear visibility into total rewards spend and support a fair, data-informed workplace
- Total Rewards Depth: 12+ years in compensation, total rewards, or a related people operations role, ideally in a high-growth or tech environment. Breadth across comp strategy, equity, and benefits matters more than any single credential.
- Analytical Mindset: You build models, identify trends, and translate complex data into clear insights for Finance, Legal, and Board-level audiences.
- Builder’s Instinct: You bring structure to ambiguity and take ownership through to execution — no playbook required.
- Clear Communicator: You handle sensitive data with discretion and translate complex comp concepts into plain language for employees, managers, and executives alike.
- CHIPC Values: You naturally embody our core values ( C uriosity, H umility, I ntegrity, P assion, and C reativity) — how we make decisions every day.
- 12+ years in compensation, total rewards, or a combined people operations role
- Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- CCP, CEBS, or PHR/SPHR certification is a plus, not a requirement
- Experience in a venture-backed or high-growth company strongly preferred; transferable depth from other dynamic environments welcome
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
- Hearing and speech to communicate
About this role
Apptronik is building the people function from the ground up to match the scale and ambition of its robotics business, and this role sits at the center of that effort. As Senior Director of Total Rewards, you'll own compensation strategy, equity mechanics, benefits design, and pay equity analytics across a fast-growing, venture-backed organization competing for top talent in one of the most expensive markets. You'll report to the VP of People Operations, partner directly with Finance, Legal, and Talent Acquisition, and have real influence over how the company attracts and retains world-class engineers and operators.
This is a founding architect role, which means you'll be building frameworks and structures rather than inheriting them. You'll design job leveling and salary bands, run compensation cycles with rigor and transparency, manage broker relationships and benefits renewals, ensure compliance across FLSA, ACA, and ERISA, and use data to surface pay equity insights to leadership. The work spans the full total rewards spectrum—there's no single credential or specialty that matters more than depth across compensation, equity, and benefits, paired with the analytical chops to model scenarios and communicate trade-offs clearly to executives and boards.
You'll thrive here if you have 12+ years in compensation or total rewards (ideally in tech or high-growth environments), a builder's instinct for creating structure in ambiguity, and the ability to translate complex concepts into plain language for employees and managers alike. The role is hybrid in Austin, full-time, and requires someone who can move from strategy to execution without a playbook—and who values curiosity, integrity, and humility as much as the work itself.
How this employer is doing
solid
- H1B: Sponsors Visas
- Recently Raised Funding
- Sponsors Visas
In the news
Humanoid robot startup Apptronik has now raised $935M at a $5B+ valuation, TechCrunch
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Pay for this role
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