Total Rewards & People Experience Manager

Welcome to Jackrabbit Technologies.

Jackrabbit Technologies is the leading provider of software and services that help youth activity centers -- gymnastics, dance, cheer, swim, music, childcare, and others -- grow and operate efficiently. We are an entrepreneurial-minded, rapidly growing SaaS company that has been recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in North Carolina and one of North Carolina’s Top Industry-Driven Technology Companies. Jackrabbit Technologies’ SaaS solution powers over 7,000 clients in 35 countries around the world.

Our Culture Empowers YOU!

We hire people passionate about what they do, provide them with the tools to succeed, and then get out of their way! Living our vision, mission, and values, our people are what make Jackrabbit Technologies an awesome place to work. And that “awesome place” is virtual -- all of our employees enjoy the privilege of working remotely. We always have and always will. So, you must have reliable high-speed internet access. We are interested in speaking to qualified candidates who are authorized to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship. Jackrabbit is not able to sponsor employment visas for this position.

What You'll Do:

The Total Rewards & People Experience Manager is a senior, hands-on People & Culture professional responsible for designing, implementing, administering, and continuously improving programs that help Jackrabbit attract, reward, develop, support, and retain employees. This role combines deep Total Rewards expertise with broad HR management capability and serves as a trusted operational partner to employees, managers, and leaders across the organization.

The role has primary ownership for compensation, benefits, recognition, career development frameworks, work-life and wellbeing programs, leaves of absence, and workplace accommodations.

In addition to its Total Rewards specialty, this role functions as a hands-on HR Manager and day-to-day business partner, working closely with the Director, People & Culture to support employee relations, performance management, manager coaching, learning and development, onboarding and offboarding, employee experience, and HR operations. The Manager also serves as a knowledgeable backup for payroll and helps build durable People practices, systems, vendor relationships, and operating processes that can scale with Jackrabbit’s growth.

Success in this role requires someone who can move comfortably between program design and hands-on execution. This is a high-trust role requiring sound judgment, strong business partnership, attention to detail, and a genuine commitment to a thoughtful employee experience.

Key Responsibilities:

Total Rewards Strategy, Compensation & Job Architecture

• Partner with the Director, People & Culture and company leadership to develop and continuously evolve a Total Rewards approach that supports Jackrabbit’s business strategy, culture, talent needs, and financial priorities.
• Build and maintain Jackrabbit’s compensation infrastructure, including job architecture, salary grades, market-based salary ranges, leveling guidelines, and career ladder and lattice frameworks.
• Establish and maintain compensation governance for job evaluation, market benchmarking, new-hire offers, promotions, internal equity reviews, salary adjustments, and periodic range maintenance.
• Lead compensation benchmarking and market analysis and translate external data and internal workforce information into clear, data-informed recommendations.
• Support annual compensation processes, including merit planning and other approved pay programs, while partnering with Finance and leadership on cost, pay positioning, and internal equity.
• Maintain accurate compensation documentation, job data, and decision records and support compliance with applicable requirements.

Benefits, Wellbeing, Leave & Accommodations

• Own the day-to-day administration and ongoing evolution of employee health, welfare, retirement, wellbeing, and related benefit programs.
• Lead benefits renewal and open enrollment activities, including plan evaluation, implementation, communications, education, system configuration, and follow-through.
• Partner with brokers, carriers, vendors, Finance, and internal stakeholders to implement and maintain benefit plan structures, resolve issues, monitor service, and support accurate administration.
• Evaluate utilization, employee feedback, market practices, cost trends, and program effectiveness and recommend changes that balance employee experience, competitiveness, compliance, and cost.
• Manage leaves of absence and workplace accommodation processes from intake through return to work, coordinating with employees, managers, vendors, and other partners as appropriate.
• Maintain working knowledge of applicable benefits, leave, disability, accommodation, and related employment requirements across Jackrabbit’s jurisdictions.

Recognition, Career Development & People Experience

• Design and maintain scalable recognition practices that reinforce Jackrabbit’s values and recognize meaningful contribution and impact.
• Build and maintain career development frameworks, including career ladders, lattices, and role-level expectations, that create clarity around growth and mobility.
• Partner with leaders and employees to connect career frameworks with development planning and internal mobility and support broader succession and talent discussions led by the Director, People & Culture and company leadership.
• Use employee feedback, workforce data, program outcomes, and external practices to identify and recommend improvements to the employee experience, with particular attention to consistency, clarity, belonging, and connection in a fully remote environment.

HR Business Partnership, Employee Relations & Performance Management

• Serve as a trusted day-to-day HR partner to managers, providing practical guidance on employee relations, performance, team effectiveness, policy interpretation, organizational changes, and people decisions within established People practices and authority.
• Manage employee relations matters, including manager coaching, workplace investigations, risk assessment, documentation, and recommendations for fair and consistent action, partnering with the Director, People & Culture on complex, sensitive, or higher-risk matters.
• Administer and help continuously improve Jackrabbit’s performance management practices in partnership with the Director, People & Culture, including goal setting, feedback, development planning, reviews, performance improvement, and manager capability.
• Coach managers on effective people leadership, difficult conversations, documentation, accountability, and consistent application of company practices.
• Build trusted relationships across the organization and balance employee experience, compliance, business needs, and practical execution.

Learning, Onboarding, Offboarding & Manager Enablement

• Partner with the Director, People & Culture to identify learning and development needs and translate priorities into practical training, tools, and resources.
• Partner with the Director, People & Culture to develop and facilitate HR and manager training and independently lead selected training within areas of expertise as appropriate.
• Support and continuously improve onboarding and offboarding practices and create manager-facing resources, guides, templates, and communications that enable consistent execution.

HR Operations, Payroll Backup & Scalable Practices

• Serve as a knowledgeable backup for payroll administration and partner with the Payroll Coordinator, Finance, and payroll partners to support accurate, timely, and compliant payroll processes.
• Help establish and maintain scalable HR processes, controls, documentation, workflows, and service standards that improve consistency, efficiency, and employee experience.
• Support HR technology, benefits administration, payroll, and other People-system implementations or transitions, including testing, data validation, process design, communications, and change management.
• Manage external HR vendors within assigned areas and maintain accurate employee records, People data, metrics, and reporting.
• Stay current on relevant employment laws and HR practices, identify potential impacts, bring recommendations to the Director, People & Culture, and implement approved updates.

What You're About:

Required:

• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience with meaningful depth in Total Rewards and broad hands-on experience across multiple HR disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience designing and administering compensation and benefits programs, including market benchmarking, salary structures, job architecture, internal equity, renewals, open enrollment, vendor/broker partnership, employee communications, and compliance.
• Experience managing leaves of absence and workplace accommodations, along with strong employee relations and performance management experience including manager coaching, investigations, documentation, and performance improvement.
• Experience operating as an HR Business Partner or HR Manager supporting leaders and employees across a broad range of people matters, including practical manager or employee training and enablement.
• Working knowledge of payroll processes and experience building, implementing, or scaling HR programs, processes, and systems in an evolving organization.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. employment laws and multi-state HR compliance, with the analytical ability to translate complex data and requirements into practical recommendations.
• Excellent communication, judgment, discretion, and ability to independently prioritize and manage multiple complex workstreams.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field, or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Must have reliable high-speed internet access.

Preferred:

• Experience working in a small or mid-sized, high-growth organization supporting a fully remote or geographically distributed workforce.
• Experience with HRIS, payroll, benefits administration, compensation technology implementations or transitions, and retirement plan administration.
• Professional HR or Total Rewards certification such as SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CCP, or CEBS.
  

What You'll Love About Us:

• Our Culture! Check out our mission, core values and the many awards we have received as a growing business and employer of choice.
• We work remotely. We always have - we always will!
• Our Health and Wellness Benefits. Medical, Dental, Vision, Flexible Spending, HSA, and Dependent Care Accounts.
• We help you with the unexpected. Company-Paid Disability and Life Insurance. Opportunity to elect Critical Illness and Accident Insurance. Plus confidential access to legal and life counseling and mental health support available 24/7.
• Your future looks bright at Jackrabbit. 401(k) with a generous company match, access to financial planning.
• We pay you to play, rest, recharge, and balance your life. Paid Time Off, Paid Parental, Paid Caregiver, and Sabbatical leaves.
• You will grow your skills with us. Annual allowance for professional development.
• We give back. Paid Time to volunteer in your community.

**Remote (Eastern and Central Time Zones Only).  Applications outside of those time zones will not be reviewed. **

Jackrabbit is committed to providing a workplace free from discrimination or harassment. We expect every member of the Jackrabbit team to do their part to cultivate and maintain an environment where everyone has the opportunity to feel included and is afforded the respect and dignity they deserve.

Decisions related to hiring, compensating, training, evaluating performance, or terminating are made fairly, and we provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees. We examine our unconscious biases and take responsibility for always striving to create an inclusive environment that makes every employee and candidate feel welcome.