Consultant Executive Compensation

About the role

Highberg is a European transformation consultancy: we help organisations deliver on their strategy and goals. That only works if things add up on the people side too: how you attract, reward and mobilise them. Reward for the executive board and senior management is a key lever in that. This is why we are adding executive compensation to our reward offering within Organization, Reward & Pensions, and expanding the team. You will help build this new practice from day one: the proposition, the approach and the client portfolio, with room to take on responsibility quickly and develop your own field of expertise.

Do you want to put your consulting skills to work on real transformation projects? Are you analytical, curious and keen to make an impact on reward at the top? Then we would like to meet you.

• Utrecht

Why Highberg?

At Highberg, everything revolves around people. Around colleagues who want to make a difference, take ownership, and work together based on trust and craftsmanship. We believe real change happens when strategy, execution, and humanity come together. That starts with our own team. This is why we create an environment where you can continue to grow, apply your expertise, and expand it further. An environment where you can make lasting impact.

Bringing strategy to life

At Highberg, you are not a remote advisor. You work closely with clients on challenges that truly matter, from strategy through to implementation. This allows you to make an immediate impact and see the results of your work in practice.

Collaborative, human, and professional

We work closely together, share knowledge, and strengthen one another to achieve the best possible outcomes. Our culture is open and built on trust, with room for both ambition and humanity. We listen, celebrate successes, and hold each other accountable, always with attention to people as well as to quality.

European outlook, locally rooted

With teams in the Netherlands and the DACH region, you work in an organization with a broad, European perspective. At the same time, the culture remains personal and close-knit. This gives you the opportunity to collaborate internationally at a high level, within a committed and engaged team.

Culture as a catalyst

Our culture is a key reason why colleagues enjoy working at Highberg. We place trust in our people, value initiative, and believe it is important that everyone can continue to develop. This enables you to get the best out of yourself, while together contributing to sustainable growth.

Your role as Consultant Executive Compensation

As part of the Reward & Benefits team, you will work for our clients on reward questions for the executive board and senior management. You take on responsibility straight away and join client meetings from the start. Depending on your seniority, you begin with analysis and substantiation and grow towards advising clients independently. Think of:

• Benchmarking the reward of executive directors, senior management and the wider organisation, including peer group selection and market data analysis.
• Designing and modelling variable pay and long-term incentive plans, including scenario and sensitivity analyses.
• Drawing up and reviewing remuneration policies and remuneration reports, and preparing materials for the remuneration committee, the supervisory board and the annual general meeting.
• Testing against (new) laws and regulations, such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive, SRD II and remuneration rules in the financial sector.
• Writing and presenting project plans and recommendations, and facilitating workshops with HR teams and management teams.
• Alongside your client work, helping to build the practice itself: developing propositions and materials, building up our market data and methodologies, and preparing pitches and client conversations.
• Putting AI to work and taking it further: we already use AI every day and want to integrate it further into our products and ways of working. We do that ourselves, so you experiment and think along about what works.

So not all of your work is client work. You do not have to be the driving force behind this new practice, we do that together with the senior colleagues, but we do expect you to take an active part.

Who are you?

More important than what you can already do is how quickly and how gladly you pick it up: you learn this field with us, in practice. So we mainly look at your curiosity, analytical thinking, positive energy and drive.

What are we asking?

• A completed academic degree: for example Business Administration, HRM, Economics, Econometrics or (tax) law.
• Experience in reward consulting, HR consulting, corporate governance, tax or data analysis is welcome, but we look at your potential rather than at a number of years on your CV. Where exactly you join (junior or mid-level) is something we decide together.
• Analytical ability: you see through complex questions, work confidently with data and Excel and turn an analysis into clear, well-founded advice. Detail matters in this field, so you are critical of your own work.
• Curiosity and a drive to learn: you want to know how things work, dive into reward questions and pick up new material quickly. You do not have to know this field yet, but you do have to want to learn it.
• Ownership and positive energy: you pick things up yourself, think in possibilities rather than limitations and are keen to help build the practice alongside your client work, from propositions to approaching the market.
• AI curiosity: this is not a technical role, but we use AI every day and integrate it further into our work ourselves. You like to experiment and pick up new tools quickly.
• A team player who expresses themselves well in writing and in person, works independently and gets energy from working with colleagues and clients.

What are we offering?

• Attractive and comprehensive employment conditions: a competitive salary complemented by paid leave, mobility options, and a pension scheme.
• The best of two worlds: the intellectual sharpness and quality of a high end consultancy firm, combined with the agility and engagement of an entrepreneurial organization.
• Responsibility, autonomy, and entrepreneurship: from the very start, you take ownership in projects and client work, with plenty of room to take initiative, supported by experienced colleagues. A structured development cycle with coaching from partners and development coaches, offering strong growth and career opportunities
• Collaborating in an accessible environment: you work in a setting where decision making is close to the action and ideas quickly gain traction.
• Flexible working with strong connection: hybrid working is possible, combined with regular moments where we come together for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and team activities such as inspiring sessions and the Highberg Festival.