The posting
Role highlights:
- Senior Manager, Total Reward
- Location: Espoo, Finland
- Department: People
- Reports to: VP, People
- Employment type: Permanent
- Workplace model: Hybrid
Employment is subject to applicable security screening (incl. SUPO, where required)
WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS
As Senior Manager, Total Rewards, you'll build the Total Rewards function at ICEYE from the ground up. Today we don't have a mature Total Rewards infrastructure, and we need someone who has done this before and knows how to take an organization from fragmented compensation and benefits practices to a clear, scalable, data-driven framework.
You will own the strategy, design, and implementation of Total Rewards across our global workforce in Finland, Europe, the US, and Asia-Pacific. Reporting to the VP, People, you'll be a strategic partner to executive leadership, People Business Partners, Finance, and business leaders, bringing structure and discipline to how we make reward decisions while keeping the employee experience at the center.
This is a builder role. You'll be comfortable in an environment where the answer isn't yet documented and the process doesn't yet exist, and the expectation is to figure it out, build it, and make it work.
WHO WE ARE
ICEYE is the world leader in sovereign intelligence from space. We deliver persistent monitoring capabilities to detect and respond to changes in any location on Earth.
ICEYE owns the world's largest and most advanced SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite constellation. To our customers we provide intelligence with unmatched quality, latency and revisit times, in any weather, day or night. To governments who choose to operate their own constellation we provide this proven capability as a sovereign system.
ICEYE-built constellations serve customers in defence and intelligence, environmental monitoring, insurance and emergency management. We enable fast decisions that contribute to a safer future.
Founded and headquartered in Finland, ICEYE operates globally with over 1000 employees across Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
YOUR DAY-TO-DAY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Build the global Total Rewards framework: Define and implement ICEYE's Total Rewards philosophy, principles, governance, and operating model, including decision rights, so rewards are managed consistently across countries and employee populations.
- Lead and develop the Total Rewards team: Manage, coach, and develop the Rewards Specialist reporting to you, setting clear priorities, building expertise, and fostering a high-performing team. Balance hands-on delivery with effective delegation and capability building as the Total Rewards function evolves and scales.
- Build compensation infrastructure: Establish global salary benchmarking and market-pricing methodology, salary ranges and structures across relevant geographies, compa-ratio and market-positioning analysis, internal and pay equity analysis, and guidelines for new-hire pay, promotions, lateral moves, and out-of-cycle adjustments.
- Design and run compensation cycles: Build and lead scalable global merit, promotion, and equity refresh cycles, including budgeting, scenario modelling, manager guidance, and communication, in partnership with People Business Partners, Finance, and leadership.
- Create job architecture and career structures: Partner with People Operations and People Business Partners to build a practical global job architecture covering job families, career levels, leveling criteria, and role scope, with enough structure for consistency and without unnecessary bureaucracy.
- Own equity and long-term incentives: Develop and govern ICEYE's global equity approach, including eligibility, grants and refreshes, pool planning, and executive and senior leadership equity, working with Finance, Legal, executive leadership, and the Board/Remuneration Committee while respecting country-specific constraints.
- Design variable compensation and sales incentives: Work with Commercial, Sales Operations, Finance, and business leaders to build and govern sales incentive plans, commission structures, and bonus frameworks, balancing commercial outcomes with simplicity, transparency, and financial discipline.
- Build the benefits strategy: Develop a coherent global benefits philosophy with local relevance. In Finland this includes oversight of occupational healthcare, insurance, pension arrangements, flexible benefits, ePassi, bike benefits, and other local programs, plus principles to harmonize benefits across our international locations.
- Establish pay transparency and pay equity: Build the processes, data, and governance to prepare ICEYE for the EU Pay Transparency Directive, Finnish equal-pay requirements, and other relevant regulations, turning requirements into practical processes rather than only managing compliance.
- Advise executives and the Board: Act as a trusted Total Rewards advisor to the VP People, executive leadership, and the Board/Remuneration Committee, with clear, data-driven recommendations on executive compensation, market positioning, equity allocation, incentives, budgets, and reward strategy.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
MUST HAVES
- You have built this before: you have personally built or materially transformed a Total Rewards function, taking an environment with incomplete or inconsistent processes, data, structures, and governance and making it scalable
- 8+ years of progressive experience in HR/People, with significant specialization in Total Rewards
- 3+ years in a senior Total Rewards leadership or ownership role
- Experience in a fast-growing, international technology, aerospace, engineering, deep-tech, or similarly complex organization, including through significant growth and organizational change
- Experience designing and operating compensation and benefits programs across multiple countries, particularly Europe and the US, with an understanding of how global frameworks differ from local market requirements
- Strong understanding of Finnish employment, benefits, taxation, and compensation practices
- Deep technical Total Rewards expertise: market benchmarking and survey data, salary structures and ranges, job architecture and leveling, compa-ratio and market positioning, pay equity analysis, equity and LTI, annual compensation cycles, variable compensation and sales incentives, benefits strategy, compensation modelling and analytics, and pay transparency
- Builder mentality: comfortable starting with ambiguity and without an existing playbook, mature HRIS configuration, or perfectly clean data; able to set a practical roadmap and be pragmatic about where structure is needed
- Executive presence and commercial acumen: able to translate complex reward topics into clear business decisions, challenge assumptions, model scenarios, and make recommendations to senior leadership and the Board
- A human-centric approach: you think about how reward decisions are experienced by employees and managers, and you build clarity and trust rather than more process
- Professional fluency in English
NICE TO HAVES
- Finnish language skills
- Familiarity with Finnish collective agreements/TES environments
- Experience with leading market data providers such as Radford, Mercer, WTW, or similar
- Experience navigating international equity and compensation considerations
WORKING AT ICEYE
At ICEYE, you'll join a diverse and highly engaged team united by the ambition to make the impossible possible. As a global scale-up, we combine speed and ambition with the opportunity to take real ownership from day one. Your growth, wellbeing, and success are a priority, with continuous professional development, training opportunities, and a culture where collaboration is how we win.
HOW WE WORK (OUR VALUES)
- Make the impossible possible: We set ambitious goals and stay calm under pressure. We bring grit, optimism, and ownership when things get hard, and we keep moving until we find a way.
- Be curious: Go deep, ask questions, listen carefully, and think critically. Understand the "why" behind decisions.
- See the big picture: Stay close to what's happening across the company so you can make better decisions. Consider how your work affects others.
- Drive effective teamwork: Create psychological safety, invite different perspectives, and build inclusive teams. There are no bad questions.
- Act as one team: We win together. We match tasks to the right owner and stay agile as priorities shift.
- Have fun: What we do matters, and it should be enjoyable. Celebrate progress, take pride in results, and share the wins.
BENEFITS
Our benefits are designed to support your health and wellbeing, at work and beyond. We keep improving them based on employee feedback, and offerings vary by location. Talent Attraction will confirm what applies for this role and location during the process.
OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION
We want ICEYE to be a place where people can be themselves and do great work. Different backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger, which is why we work to create an environment where people feel included, respected, and able to speak up. Whatever your background, we want you to bring your authentic self to the table.
We're committed to fair, inclusive hiring and equal opportunity. Everyone is welcome to apply. If you need any adjustments or support during the recruitment process, tell us, and we'll do our best to help.
Apply now to start your ICEYE journey, and help us continue to make the impossible possible together. Read more about ICEYE and working with us at iceye.com http://iceye.com.
