Senior Compensation Manager Jobs in California

About Baseten

Baseten powers mission-critical inference for the world's most dynamic AI companies, like Cursor, Notion, OpenEvidence, Abridge, Clay, Gamma and Writer. By uniting applied AI research, flexible infrastructure, and seamless developer tooling, we enable companies operating at the frontier of AI to bring cutting-edge models into production. We're growing quickly and recently raised our $300M Series E, backed by investors including BOND, IVP, Spark Capital, Greylock, and Conviction. Join us and help build the platform engineers turn to to ship AI products.

THE ROLE

Baseten is building for talent density. We believe attracting and retaining exceptional people, and ensuring they feel recognized and valued for their impact, is core to becoming the best place to work. Compensation is a critical lever in that mission. As our Compensation Manager, you will own compensation programs company-wide. You’ll be a trusted advisor to senior leaders, shaping our compensation philosophy, leveling framework, and equity programs to ensure we remain competitive, principled, and performance-oriented as we scale. This role blends strategy and execution: designing clear, fair systems while moving quickly in a high-growth environment.

Responsibilities

- Own and evolve Baseten’s company-wide compensation strategy, philosophy, and programs.
- Collaborate with leadership and HRBP to create and evolve job architecture and leveling frameworks.
- Build and maintain compensation bands. Conduct regular market benchmarking to ensure comp bands and strategy remain competitive in a fast moving industry.
- Partner closely with Talent to design and approve competitive new hire offers, advising on negotiation strategy within our compensation principles.
- Lead bi-annual leveling and compensation review cycles to ensure market competitiveness and reward high performance across teams.
- Manage new hire equity grants in partnership with Finance and Legal. Design and administer a thoughtful equity refresher program for tenured employees.
- Oversee annual bonus planning and payouts, ensuring alignment with company performance and individual impact.
- Partner with HRBPs and managers on compensation decisions related to promotions, retention, recognition, and off-cycle adjustments.
- Select and optimize compensation tooling, ensuring data integrity, operational efficiency, and thoughtful use of automation.

Requirements

- 7+ years of experience in compensation or total rewards, ideally within high-growth technology companies (Series D through IPO stage preferred).
- Deep expertise in equity compensation, including stock options and RSUs, with experience designing and managing equity refresher programs.
- Strong analytical rigor with advanced proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets, HRIS systems, and benchmarking tools.
- Proven experience designing and evolving salary bands, leveling frameworks, bonus plans, and variable or incentive compensation programs.
- Comfortable leading companywide compensation and performance review cycles, including managing inputs from many stakeholders and calibrating across teams.
- Ability to operate as both a strategic advisor to senior leadership and a hands-on builder of scalable, principled compensation systems.
- High ownership and sound judgment in time-sensitive situations such as candidate negotiations, promotions, and retention decisions.
- Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate compensation philosophy and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
- Nice to have: Experience building and leading a team.
- Nice to have: Experience owning benefits strategy and evaluating vendors, including healthcare funding models and 401(k) plan design.

Benefits

- Competitive compensation, including meaningful equity.
- 100% coverage of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employee and dependents.
- Generous PTO policy including company wide Winter Break (our offices are closed from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day!).
- Paid parental leave.
- Company-facilitated 401(k).
- Exposure to a variety of ML startups, offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities.

Compensation Range: $180K - $230K

Apply now to embark on a rewarding journey in shaping the future of AI! If you are a motivated individual with a passion for machine learning and a desire to be part of a collaborative and forward-thinking team, we would love to hear from you.

At Baseten, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.