Compensation Manager

HADRIAN - MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

THE ROLE:

Hadrian's People team builds the systems that let us hire, grow, and keep the people reindustrializing America. As we open new factories and launch new capabilities, how we pay people becomes one of the biggest levers we have to attract and retain talent, and our workforce doesn't fit a standard compensation playbook.

As our Compensation Manager, you'll own Hadrian's compensation strategy and build the framework that holds all of that together. You'll be equal parts strategist and practitioner: setting our comp philosophy, building job architecture and pay structures, running comp cycles, and building the tools that help Business Leaders, Recruiting, and Finance make fast, confident pay decisions. You'll partner closely with People Partners, Recruiting, Finance, and leadership, and you'll be the person who keeps us ahead of the market instead of reacting to it.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

- Own Hadrian's compensation strategy and philosophy, building a competitive, scalable framework that covers hourly production, salaried, GTM, and executive roles.

- Build and maintain our job architecture and career frameworks, including leveling, job families, and skills-based pay structures.

- Conduct market benchmarking and modeling using the right peer groups for each talent market, from aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing to top AI and tech companies.

- Set the cadence for refreshing our comp bands and own that process end-to-end, so our ranges never lag the market, including as we open sites in new labor markets.

- Own annual and off-cycle comp planning, including merit, promotion, and equity refresh cycles, and stay hands-on through execution.

- Partner with Recruiting on offer decisioning, building the guidance and tools that help hiring managers and recruiters put together competitive, defensible offers quickly.

- Advise on sales and GTM compensation design, including OTE structuring, and partner with leadership on executive compensation and equity frameworks.

- Build models, dashboards, and reporting that surface what matters, like pay equity, offer competitiveness, and retention risk, and use them to drive better decisions.

- Turn compensation data into a story leaders can act on, clearly explaining the reasoning behind pay decisions and structure to executives and hiring managers.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

- 6+ years of compensation experience with real ownership of program design and comp cycles, not just an analytical role.

- Command of compensation fundamentals, including job matching, market pricing, leveling and job architecture, and cyclical programs.

- Experience building comp programs for both hourly and salaried populations, including pay practices like shift differentials, overtime, and multi-state pay compliance.

- A track record of building benchmarking approaches and peer groups that hold up under scrutiny, and the judgment to know when the standard playbook doesn't fit.

- Deep Excel or Google Sheets fluency (modeling, lookups, INDEX/MATCH, etc.) and the ability to turn messy data into insights the business can actually use.

- Fluency in sales compensation, including OTE design, bonus structuring, and the tradeoffs that come with them.

- Experience designing and managing equity programs, with a strong understanding of private vs. public company equity frameworks.

- Excellent communication skills and the ability to take a dense comp model and explain it simply to a senior leader or a first-time hiring manager.

- Comfort operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where you're building structure in real time.

WHAT WILL SET YOU APART

- Compensation experience across both manufacturing and tech companies, and an understanding of how to build one program that works for the factory floor and the engineering org.

- Experience building skills-based pay structures, career frameworks, or job architecture from the ground up.

- A creative, outside-the-box approach to comp strategy. You've designed programs that lead the market in a space where there's no clear peer group or established playbook to follow.

- Experience with executive compensation, especially in a pre-IPO or rapid-scaling environment.

- Background in aerospace, defense, or other regulated industries.

- Experience with HRIS and comp planning tools like Rippling, Pave, or similar.

COMPENSATION

For this role, the target salary range is 200,000 - 260,000 (actual range may vary based on experience).

This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

BENEFITS FOR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES

- Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees 401k

- Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.

- Flexible vacation policy

- Equity

ITAR REQUIREMENTS

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

USE OF AI IN HIRING

Hadrian uses AI-assisted tools in our recruiting and hiring processes to help our team work more efficiently. This may include tools that help organize and analyze recruiting data, as well as an AI-powered notetaker that can record and transcribe interviews and help coordinate feedback. These tools support our team and are not used to make hiring decisions. All candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are performed by humans. If an interview will be recorded, you will be notified in advance and may opt out at any time with no impact on your candidacy. Candidate data processed through these tools is subject to the same protections described in our Privacy Policy https://www.hadrian.co/privacy-policy.

CONSIDERATION OF CRIMINAL HISTORY

Hadrian will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of all applicable laws. We do not ask about criminal history on our application, and we do not consider criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment.

HADRIAN IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Hadrian does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, mental status, physical disability or any other legally protected status. When necessary, the Company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, including for candidates or employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.