Inspire Brands is seeking a Director of Executive Compensation to lead the design, governance, and administration of executive compensation programs for a large, multi-brand restaurant company. This role will focus on building executive pay programs that are built to public-company standards, performance-oriented, well-governed, and scalable, supporting the company’s long-term growth and evolving business needs. The Director will partner closely with senior leadership and the Board of Directors to ensure executive compensation programs are competitive, aligned with business strategy, and grounded in strong governance and risk management practices.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Executive Compensation Strategy & Program Design
- Design, implement, and administer executive compensation programs, including base salary,
- annual incentives, long-term incentives, equity or equity-like awards, and executive benefits
- Ensure pay-for-performance alignment across multiple brands and leadership roles
- Partner with HR, Finance, and Legal to align compensation programs with business objectives and
- financial performance
Governance & Best Practices
- Establish and maintain executive compensation frameworks, policies, and processes aligned with
- leading market and public-company best practices
- Apply experience from complex or regulated environments to ensure programs are well-
- documented, defensible, and scalable
- Monitor emerging trends in executive compensation, governance, and incentive design
Board & Compensation Committee Support
- Oversee annual and long-term incentive program cycles, including performance metric design, goal
- setting, modeling, and payout calculations
- Support the design and administration of equity and long-term incentive plans, ensuring clarity,
- consistency, and operational balance
- Balance enterprise-wide consistency with flexibility across brands and leadership teams
Risk Management, Compliance & Controls
- Ensure executive compensation programs comply with applicable tax, legal, and regulatory requirements ·
- Implement strong controls, documentation, and review processes · Partner with internal stakeholders to support audits, reviews, and governance assessments
Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Build executive compensation capability within the Total Rewards of HR function
- Collaborate with Finance, Legal, Payroll, and HRIS teams to ensure accurate execution and reporting
- Drive continuous improvement in analytics, tools, and executive compensation processes
EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS
- Minimum 4 Year Degree / Bachelor’s
EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATION
- 10+ years progressive experience in executive
- compensation, total rewards, or related fields
REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS or ABILITIES
- Executive presence and credibility with the ability to influence senior leaders and engage effectively with the Board of Directors
- Highly collaborative, cross-functional leader who partners seamlessly with Finance, Legal, HR, and other stakeholders
- Strategic and analytical mindset with strong business acumen
- Ability to communicate complex compensation topics clearly and credibly
- High level of discretion, integrity, and judgment able to handle sensitive information with professionalism and confidence
- Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment
Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,000 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide.
We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.