John W. Kozel, CCP, GRP, SPHR
****@******.*** Phone: 310-***-**** 602 Muirfield Ct, Martinez, GA 30907
Compensation Management
Global Compensation & Benefits Policy Development Competitive Analysis Project Management
Start-Ups Process Improvement Global Team Leadership Performance Management
Over 15 years experience in conceptualizing, developing, and implementing strategic, innovative, market-competitive, employee-based models and programs that maintain competitiveness, streamline processes and reduce costs for organizations worldwide. Recognized for success in building, mentoring and leading staff to achieve high levels of employee satisfaction and engagement.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SunTrust Bank – Atlanta, GA 2013 to Present
Super-regional financial services holding company, 24,000+ employees
Wholesale Rewards Design & Consulting Leader (Group Vice President)
Strategic manager and consultant to the Wholesale Banking segment on all aspects of compensation, including: salary management, short-term incentive assessment and design, and long-term incentives. Business sponsor to centralize incentive design and administration.
Senior Total Rewards Consultant (First Vice President)
Strategic consultant to the Commercial and Business Banking, Treasury & Payment Solutions, and Commercial Real Estate lines of business within Wholesale on all aspects of compensation, including: salary management, short-term incentive assessment and design, and long-term incentives.
Main consultant to senior and mid-level management on compensation issues (New hire offers, retention, internal equity).
Worked with cross-functional teams (line, finance, risk, HR) to examine and modify short- and long-term incentive programs.
Ensured compliance of bank compensation programs with federal banking rules, regulations, and laws.
Merck & Company – Whitehouse Station, NJ 2007 to 2012
Global pharmaceutical company providing health solutions, 91,000+ employees worldwide.
Project Manager (2011 to 2012)
Championed project management activities to drive Merck Research Labs Outsourcing Initiative. Oversaw HR and Legal work stream to support Global Clinical Trials Organization outsourcing initiative to 5 vendors encompassing 700 employees in 42 countries. Analyzed and aligned contracts and agreements to coincide with crucial implementation plans. Facilitated integration in collaboration with line and support function leaders to design, develop and execute implementation process. Monitored internal and external privacy requirements to assure and maintain compliant operations.
Achieved 93% employee acceptance rate, securing zero loss of access/system issues after co-directing seamless employee transition effort.
Located and mitigated legal risks by analyzing diverse country legal codes (e.g. German Equal Pay Law), co-employment concerns, and financial implications in partnership with both internal and external legal counsel and business, finance, IT and HR leaders.
Maintained a consistent business approach to all transfers with flexibility to propose and gain concurrence on country-specific program changes based on local law, local market practice and business drivers while staying within overall budget.
Compensation Director (2007 to 2011)
Provided compensation strategy and support for Finance, Legal, Public Affairs, and Human Resource departments. Led team in the analysis of global compensation programs and processes to support company compensation strategy. Directed worldwide annual merit, bonus, and long-term incentive program processes ($4B payroll, $320M bonus, $230M stock). Managed US market pricing and survey data submission process.
John Kozel ****@******.*** Page 2
Spearheaded examination projects to analyze and address compensation issues from AIP bonuses and LTI design to job leveling criteria. Integral member on SAP conversion design team. Collaborated with IT department to promote corporate-wide systems initiatives.
Reduced annual compensation and performance management planning time by championing design, development, and implementation of first global web-based tool in conjunction with process improvements and voice of customer (VOC) recommendations.
Improved data integrity by conceiving and integrating a data validation tool that refined the employee review and correction processes prior to annual evaluations.
Provided Merck HR system expertise to support its conversion from PeopleSoft to SAP, and integrating Schering-Plough employees into Merck HR systems.
AT&T, Inc. – Bedminster, NJ 2003 to 2007
Global data, voice, and wireless service provider.
Compensation Program Manager
Supervised US compensation projects for management and non-union employees during period of corporate merger. Streamlined job evaluation and annual compensation processes and analyzed competitive market data. Conducted competitive market analysis to propose and implement merit and pay structure adjustments.
Avanade, Inc. – Seattle, WA 2000 to 2001
New start-up venture between Microsoft and Accenture, providing technical consulting services using Microsoft products, 1,000 + employees.
Director, Worldwide Compensation & Benefits
Managed global compensation and benefit programs for pre-IPO start-up.
Microsoft Corporation – Redmond, WA 1995 to 2000
Global technology company.
Senior Manager, Compensation
Owned compensation planning for U.S., Puerto Rico, Ireland and Latin America. Managed merger and acquisition compensation projects. Key member in design and rollout of a redesign of Microsoft’s compensation program.
Previous Experience:
Compensation Project Manager with Hewitt Associates LLC. (Lincolnshire, IL).
Staff Associate with Andersen Consulting (now known as Accenture). (Chicago, IL).
EDUCATION
BS, General Engineering / Computer Science / Latin American Studies
University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana, IL
International study abroad experience in China and Colombia
CERTIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS
Certified Compensation Professional (CCP), Global Remuneration Professional (GRP)
Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP)
Member: WorldatWork, SHRM