Associate Manager, Commission Strategy & Analysis

What we do:

Commission Strategy & Analytics is a global finance team that enables and supports The Trade Desk's go-to-market efforts. We partner closely with HR, Sales, and Business Operations to design scalable incentive programs that align our sales targets with company performance. Our goal is to ensure every compensation decision supports organizational success, fairness, and employee engagement.

What you'll do:

As the Associate Manager of Commission Strategy and Analysis, you will oversee the planning, analysis, and execution of compensation programs that align with business goals and performance outcomes. You'll lead a high-performance team, manage key reporting and governance processes, and deliver strategic insights to senior leadership.

• Lead the end-to-end administration, financial analysis, and optimization of global sales commission programs, ensuring alignment with revenue targets, margin goals, and company performance objectives.
• Own commission forecasting and accrual modeling in partnership with Finance, supporting monthly, quarterly, and annual budgeting cycles and providing visibility into compensation expense trends.
• Conduct detailed variance analysis on commission payouts versus bookings, revenue, and headcount plans, identifying drivers of over/under performance and delivering actionable recommendations to senior leadership.
• Partner closely with Accounting on commission accruals, reconciliations, and audit support to ensure accuracy, compliance, and timely financial reporting.
• Develop and maintain financial models to evaluate incentive plan effectiveness, quota attainment trends, SPIFF performance, and ROI on compensation spend.
• Manage and develop a team responsible for commission calculations, internal ticket resolution, documentation (e.g., Confluence), and recurring operational and financial reporting.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for complex commission inquiries, resolving issues across Sales, Finance, Accounting, Legal, and Business Operations while ensuring policy consistency and financial accuracy.
• Deliver executive-ready dashboards, risk assessments, and scenario modeling to inform plan design changes, territory adjustments, and workforce planning decisions.
• Drive automation and process improvements in commission workflows, reporting infrastructure, and data integrity to enable scalable operations and accurate, on-time payouts globally.
• Maintain and govern compensation policy documentation, ensuring alignment with financial controls, compliance standards, and internal audit requirements.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives related to incentive design, workforce planning, and compensation strategy to support sustainable growth and predictable financial outcomes.

Who you are:

You are a strategic, analytical, and collaborative leader with a passion for using data to drive smarter compensation decisions. You thrive in a cross-functional environment and are skilled at connecting insights to action.

Qualifications and competencies include:

• 6+ years of experience in commission analysis, revenue, sales support, operations, or related field

• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, with the ability to interpret data and connect compensation outcomes to business performance.

• Deep expertise in compensation design, administration, and governance.

• Proven experience managing and developing a team, including oversight of reporting, documentation, and process improvement.

• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to present complex information in a clear, executive-ready manner.

• Experience collaborating with HR, Finance, and other business teams to align on shared goals.

• Proficiency with data systems, reporting tools, and documentation platforms (e.g., Confluence).

• Track record of driving process automation and scalable solutions.

• Strong project management skills and experience leading cross-functional initiatives.

The Trade Desk does not accept unsolicited resumes from search firm recruiters. Fees will not be paid in the event a candidate submitted by a recruiter without an agreement in place is hired; such resumes will be deemed the sole property of The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk is an equal opportunity employer. All aspects of employment will be based on merit, competence, performance, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.