Total Rewards Operations Specialist - 12-24 Month Project

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., SMBC MANUBANK, JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

Role Description

The SMBC Americas Division Total Rewards Team is seeking a detail-oriented Total Rewards Operations Specialist to support day-to-day compensation operations, HRIS updates, reporting, documentation, and issue resolution across key Total Rewards processes. This role will be responsible for coordinating recurring compensation activities, maintaining accurate data and documentation, and ensuring timely execution of operational deliverables.

Working closely with stakeholders across HR, Payroll, Finance, Technology, Legal, Compliance, and the Front Office, this position will support BAU activities including compensation and HRIS transaction review, offer approval validation, pay component documentation, report reconciliation, employee communications, and ASK HR ticket tracking. This individual will also assist with ad hoc analysis, data integrity troubleshooting, audit support, and project-related activities as needed to help ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient Total Rewards operations.

Role Objectives

• Act as Project Manager for key Total Rewards initiatives, driving execution, monitoring progress, and facilitating cross‑functional communication across all stakeholder groups.
• Coordinate and integrate activities across all internal functions, ensuring interdependencies are understood, documented, and proactively managed to avoid gaps, delays, or downstream issues.
• Maintain end‑to‑end project oversight using established project management artifacts (project plans, charters, business cases, RACIs, status reports) to ensure transparency and control.
• Improve governance, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance by optimizing processes, identifying control deficiencies, and managing remediation programs across HR and related functions.
• Develop and recommend solutions that account for downstream impacts on systems, processes, policies, and teams across the organization.
• Identify opportunities for automation, increased transparency, and improved process execution.
• Prepare executive‑ready updates and presentations that synthesize input from multiple functions into clear, concise communication.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional working groups, ensuring clear ownership, timely execution, and alignment of all contributors.
  
  

Responsibilities

Compensation & HRIS Operations:

• Audit and ensure completion and accuracy of all HRIS updates related to year-end compensation and Analyst-to-VP progression cycles, including promotions, progressions, and related pay changes.
• Support end to end processing for new hires, transfers, and one time payments, ensuring data integrity and timely completion.
• Review and validate offer letter approvals, confirm approval workflows are completed, and approve transactions within HR Nexus as required.
• Ensure all pay component documentation (new hire, transfer, and one time payments) is complete, compliant, and properly retained.
• Proactively follow up on missing or delayed documentation and ensure ASK HR tickets are submitted, tracked, and resolved within required timelines.
• Communicate deferred compensation elections, forgone bonus buyouts, and related compensation actions to Empower in a timely and accurate manner.
  
  

Reporting & Excel Based Analysis

• Run, reconcile, and consolidate multiple compensation and HR reports across systems, incorporating special instructions and business specific logic.
• Maintain and enhance complex Excel workbooks used for compensation tracking, validation, and audit support.
• Ensure alignment between source systems, reports, and downstream outputs through rigorous data validation and reconciliation.
  
  

Ad Hoc Analysis & Issue Resolution

• Perform data integrity troubleshooting, including root cause analysis of discrepancies across HR, payroll, and compensation systems.
• Investigate compensation related issues, validate data, and coordinate resolution across HR, Payroll, Finance, and Front Office stakeholders.
• Submit and manage system and data related tickets, facilitating solutions through to closure and ensuring appropriate documentation.
  
  

Documentation & Employee Communications

• Prepare and distribute guarantee letters, retention letters, off cycle reward statements, and deferral forfeiture letters, ensuring accuracy and adherence to firm standards.
• Support audit, compliance, and internal review requests by providing clear documentation and data explanations.
  
  

Qualifications And Skills

• 3+ years of experience in Project Management/Change Management, Total Rewards/Compensation, Financial Services, or related functions.
• Proven ability to manage complex, multi‑stakeholder projects, coordinating across diverse teams and functional areas spanning multiple regions.
• Deep knowledge of change management, program governance, operations and planning, risk and controls, technology processes, and data management.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to influence, negotiate, and build effective partnerships across all levels.
• Comfortably operates in ambiguous, complex environments with evolving priorities and incomplete information.
• Highly organized and able to prioritize across multiple parallel projects with tight deadlines.
• Strong communication and presentation capabilities, including development of management‑ready materials.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
  
  

Additional Requirements

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at [email protected].