LAUREN OTTOSON

Led global merit planning as a one-person team, driving end-to-end execution for a complex, fast-paced compensation cycle. Owned all project management and stakeholder communications under tight guidelines. Oversaw Workday ACM configuration and tested system ensuring system functionality. Conducted full scale budget auditing and roll up, ensuring financial accuracy and alignment with accrual. Developed and delivered training materials for managers and compensation planners, guiding decision making in alignment with compensation philosophy, as well as ensuring they understood and effectively communicated changes to their teams. Supported the Go-To-Market organization in the redesign and alignment of the compensation structures, leveraging deep industry knowledge to design competitive and performance driven pay structures.

• Expanded promotion equity eligibility to include more individual contributor roles
• Conduct annual external and internal market analysis and benchmarking to ensure competitive compensation practices to attract and retain top talent.
• Evaluated job positions to ensure accurate salary ranges, maintaining internal equity and external competitiveness.
• Facilitated regular compensation review meetings with department heads, addressing concerns or challenges regarding current pay practices.

Served as subject matter expert in the global expansion of compensation and equity offerings. Supported global M&A activities and integration. Partnered with Engineering leadership and Legal in the design, development and implementation of Global On-Call policy in line with local laws and regulations for United States, Canada, Spain, Poland and United Kingdom. Collaborated with PagerDuty team to create new reporting tools to support the on-going administration and governance of the program. Designed training materials and led training sessions on varying topics ranging from how we approach compensation changes, where we expect an employee to fall within the comp range, what is the position in range (PIR) and how to use when planning for your team, how do hiring practices differ by country.

• Spearheaded design and development of Global On-Call Program and Policy.
• Designed new 12 Grade compensation structure for United Kingdom to support new acquisition.
• Annual review of market data for Canada, Spain and Poland to ensure alignment with current compensation structure.
• Make adjustments for roles which had material change in market rate.
• Led training and education sessions and created supporting materials regarding Compensation and Equity
• Created tool for the Talent team which would provide compensation ranges and calculate PIR.
• Led Pay Equity and Equality reporting requirements and communications for countries outside United States.

Facilitated global people business partners in launching competitive compensation packages by country. Partnered with International Retail Team in reforming pay mix for sales employees. Conducted pay range assessment and redesign for Ireland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Germany. Partnered with talent and systems stakeholders to launch salary planning for equity eligible team members and promotions.

• Completed sales plan and pay mix analysis and redesign for Ireland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Germany
• Served as compensation lead in collaboration with the legal department and head of DEI to complete UK pay gap reporting
• Spearheaded mid-year equity refresh and promotion planning by collaborating with Talent and Systems
• Facilitated salary planning training with People Business Partners to outline fiduciaries among partners
• Created salary ranges for new expansion into Ireland based upon market analysis and data

Exuded leadership stature in coordinating complexities of global compensation considerations applying understanding of various cultural and socio-economic issues, local labor laws, taxation, and employee expectations. Directed team of analysts in supporting businesses and business partners in changing work environments due to pandemic. Applied internal Inclusive Resource Groups (IRGs) to gather insight into what R&R means to employees. Developed mapping tools for EEO categories ensuring alignment across all NewsCorp entities.

• Headed redesign of Dow Jones Rewards & Recognition Program
• Led compensation team in annual salary planning rollout, delivery, and sign off by executive leadership team members
• Guest Speaker at 2021 Dow Jones Leadership Summit speaking on rewards and recognition
• Collaborated with Wall Street Journal Newsroom to devise competitive compensation packages and confirm alignment across talent while paying performance and output
• Produced career ladders for technology and data analytics roles across all business units

Headed annual pay equity analysis and directed integrated efforts of Compensation Team, people partners, and business leaders to measure internal equity among peers. Championed salary planning for 20+ business units, 5k union and non-union employees, ensuring accuracy and testing of data before launch, creating reporting tools for compensation planners and people partners, initiating training for new compensation planners, and facilitating businesses throughout entire salary planning window. Participated in and reviewed market surveys. Collaborated with Finance and business leaders to determine whether sales plans were competitive and pushed performance as measured by goals.

• Counseled people partners and business leaders regarding compensation, including limited to market data and analysis, benchmarking, job evaluations, trends, salary ranges, AIP, LTI, and internal equity
• Compensation Department Lead preserving and recording process flows, guaranteeing placement of controls, and compliance with SOX specifications
• Fueled continuous quality improvement by regularly assessing internal controls, policies, and procedures to increase efficiency and condense risk
• Subject matter expert on compensation process design and system requirements for Workday Integration in 2017; aided with ongoing process improvements within compensation modules

Examined internal controls and business processes, located non-compliance, and developed business resolutions to increase efficiency. Directed position management and headcount/compensation reporting for FP&A delivering monthly reconciliations to help with budget, forecasting, and long-range planning. Completed general ledger audits, ensuring precision of journal entries within ledger. Finalized special projects and ad hoc reporting for SVP, Finance, and CFO.

• Focused on results to diminish T&E expenses by 23% YOY