Senior Director, Compensation and Benefits

Senior Director, Compensation & Benefits
Location: Arlington, VA (On site)

Position Overview
 The Senior Director of Compensation & Benefits is responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining Hanwha Defense USA’s total compensation and benefits strategies across professional, manufacturing, and engineering roles. This role ensures market competitiveness, alignment with organizational goals, and compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. The Senior Director will initially operate as a hands-on leader and later build and manage a team as the organization scales.

Key Responsibilities

Compensation Strategy & Management

• Design, implement, and maintain market-competitive and defense-industry-specific compensation structures for diverse job families across U.S. regions.
• Conduct compensation research and market benchmarking, ensuring internal equity and maintaining auditable documentation.
• Partner with leadership to support compensation planning, and organizational design needs.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant compensation-related regulations and company policies.

Benefits Strategy & Administration

• Research and evaluate benefits plan options, regulatory requirements, and competitive trends across the U.S.
• Provide overall leadership and oversight for benefits planning and administration in a multi-market, multi-domain environment.
• Manage relationships with benefits vendors, brokers, and third-party administrators.
• Oversee benefits administration, including employee inquiries, plan communications, and issue resolution.
• Lead benefits-related components of M&A activity, including due diligence, plan design reviews, integration strategy, and harmonization.

Mergers & Acquisitions

• Serve as the compensation and benefits lead for comprehensive M&A activities.
• Conduct analysis and provide recommendations related to benefits integration, compensation leveling, and risk mitigation.
• Partner with HR, finance, and legal teams to ensure smooth transition and compliance throughout transactions.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Operate as a hands-on subject matter expert, with future responsibility for building and managing a compensation and benefits team.
• Collaborate closely with HR, Finance, and operational leaders to support strategic workforce planning and organizational growth.
• Drive continuous improvement in compensation and benefits processes, tools, and governance.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in compensation and benefits leadership roles within multi-state, professional, manufacturing, or engineering environments.
• Demonstrated ability to build compensation structures and administer benefits programs with strong analytical rigor.
• Experience supporting compensation and benefits components of mergers and acquisitions.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. federal, state, and local regulatory requirements.
• Defense industry experience strongly preferred; certifications valued but not required.
• Excellent analytical, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Hanwha Defense USA is committed to pay transparency and equitable compensation practices. The salary range listed for this position represents a good faith estimate of the base pay we reasonably expect to offer for the position at the time of posting. Actual compensation may vary based on relevant skills/experience, education and certifications, market conditions, geographic location and internal pay equity. In addition to base salary, employees may be eligible for discretionary annual bonuses, benefits, and other forms of compensation as part of Hanwha Defense USA's total rewards package. 

Hanwha Defense USA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.