Head of Total Rewards

Head of Total Rewards At Verda, we're building a fully featured European AI cloud - with everything needed to train, experiment with, and deploy AI models at scale. We are a full-stack AI infrastructure company, meaning we design, operate, and optimize the compute powering modern AI workloads across training and inference. Our infrastructure runs on 100% renewable energy, helping build a more sustainable AI ecosystem. Join Verda while it's still being built - not once it's finished. About the role As we continue to scale internationally, we are looking for a Head of Total Rewards to build the foundations of our global rewards function. This is not a role where you'll inherit a mature compensation team, established frameworks, and years of historical processes. Instead, you'll start with the fundamentals - creating the structures, principles, and programs that will support Verda as we grow from a few hundred employees today into a significantly larger global organization. You will be responsible for defining how we approach compensation, benefits, equity, and rewards globally. Working closely with People, Finance, Legal and leadership teams, you will build scalable frameworks that enable us to attract, retain, and reward exceptional talent while maintaining fairness, transparency, and operational simplicity. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building from scratch, balancing strategy with execution, and creating long-term foundations rather than simply maintaining existing programs. Your responsibilities You will define and own Verda's global Total Rewards strategy, building the compensation, benefits, and job architecture foundations that support our next phase of growth. You will design scalable compensation frameworks, job levels, salary bands, and governance processes that enable consistent, transparent, and data-driven reward decisions across the company. You will lead compensation benchmarking and market analysis, ensuring we remain competitive while maintaining internal equity and alignment with our reward philosophy. You will build and evolve our global benefits offering, partnering with vendors and internal stakeholders to create programs that support employee wellbeing and business objectives. Working closely with Finance, Talent Acquisition, and People Operations, you will support workforce planning, budgeting, and hiring decisions through compensation analytics and market insights. As we expand internationally, you will shape our approach to compensation and benefits across multiple countries, balancing global consistency with local market realities. Finally, you will establish the systems, processes, and governance that will allow the Total Rewards function to scale alongside the business. Your key competencies 8+ years of experience in Total Rewards, Compensation & Benefits, Reward Consulting, or a related field Experience designing and implementing compensation frameworks in growing international organizations Solid expertise in compensation benchmarking, salary structures, job architecture, leveling frameworks, equity/option schemes and benefits strategy Strong analytical skills and experience working with compensation data, workforce analytics, and financial models Experience partnering with senior leaders and executives on compensation and workforce decisions Strong understanding of compensation governance, pay equity, and reward best practices Experience working across multiple countries and compensation markets Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills Builder mindset with a passion for creating scalable foundations from the ground up Nice to have Experience in a technology, cloud, AI, or scale-up environment Experience supporting organizations through periods of rapid international growth Experience with equity programs, share schemes, and long-term incentive plans Familiarity with compensation platforms such as Ravio, Figures, Mercer, Radford, Pave, or similar Experience leveraging AI and automation to improve reward analytics and processes Practicalities Location: Helsinki Hybrid mode: 3 days per week in the office Employment type: Full-time and permanent Reporting line: VP People What's next We're building fast and this role needs the right person behind it. There's no artificial deadline, but when we find who we're looking for, we move. If this sounds like your next move, apply now. Please submit your application through our Careers page. We don't accept applications sent by email. Department Human Resources Locations Helsinki Remote status Hybrid About Verda Verda (formerly DataCrunch) is a technology company building the next generation of cloud infrastructure for AI – compute that's instant, on-demand and at scale. Headquartered in Helsinki, the company operates globally across Europe, the US and Asia. Verda employs over 100 people from nearly 30 nationalities and has raised over $200M in total funding from investors including Lifeline Ventures, byFounders, J12 Ventures, Skaala, Varma and Tesi, alongside leading financial institutions.