Job Description
Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.
Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.
Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.
The role, in a nutshell:
Chainguard’s commission function is largely owned by one person today, and we’re looking to change that. We’re hiring a Commission Manager to build real redundancy into how we design, calculate, validate, and administer sales compensation.
In this role, you’ll partner closely with Sales, Finance, and Partnerships to strengthen our commission structure and prepare it for the next stage of growth. This is not a role where you’ll learn commissions on the job. You should already be fluent in commission design, plan mechanics, and payout economics. Our sales organization moves quickly and expects timely, accurate answers.
You’ll own the technical and analytical side of commissions, including calculation, reporting, and payout validation, while also playing an active role in compensation plan design. You’ll advise on accelerators, gates, multipliers, and mega deal structures as we work to bring our commission pay rate down from an aggressive ~50% of net new bookings toward a best in class benchmark of ~20 to 25%.
You’ll also mentor and develop our Senior Financial Analyst as she progresses toward a management track and serve as a key backup who can step in and run the commission function end to end when needed.
This is a foundational hire with a significant runway. We’re not asking you to build a fully staffed team on day one, but we are asking you to own outcomes, establish scalable processes, and build the infrastructure that will allow the function to grow with the business.
What you’ll do:
- Own hands on commission calculation, validation, and reporting, including stepping into operational work when needed rather than simply overseeing it
- Partner directly with functional leaders across Sales, Solutions Engineering, and Partnerships to evaluate what’s working in our compensation plans and where they need to flex
- Advise on compensation plan design, including accelerator gates, multiplier structures, and payout mechanics, and bring data backed recommendations to leadership discussions
- Own commission structuring for mega deals as we close increasingly large transactions in the $4M to $5M+ range
- Help drive our commission pay rate from approximately 50% of net new bookings toward a 20 to 25% benchmark
- Manage global commission plans across approximately five plan types, including Account Executives, Solutions Engineers, Partnerships, BDRs, and Renewals, across multiple geographies
- Mentor and develop our Senior Financial Analyst as she grows toward a management role
- Play a key role in FY28 compensation plan design and strategy discussions
- Build scalable processes, documentation, controls, and infrastructure to support the continued growth of the commission function
What We’re Looking For:
- Experience owning commissions at a high growth software company, ideally supporting a sales organization of 300 to 400+ representatives
- Proven experience in commission design, not just calculation and execution, including familiarity with accelerator structures, plan optimization, and payout economics
- Experience structuring commissions for mega deals and other complex, large transactions
- Experience with commission management and administration tools is required; experience with EverStage is a plus but not required
- Comfort operating in a fast paced environment where the business expects quick turnaround without compromising accuracy
- Strong executive presence and the ability to engage in peer level conversations with Sales and Finance leadership on compensation strategy
- Experience managing global compensation programs across multiple plan types and geographies is a plus
Why This Role:
Tracy has carried this function largely on her own, and Chainguard can’t afford to have a single point of failure in a function this critical to the business.
This role is an opportunity to build redundancy, bring deeper commission design expertise to the organization, and become a strategic partner to Sales leadership. You’ll help identify where our compensation plans are too rich, where they aren’t driving the right behaviors, and where they need to be redesigned.
As Chainguard continues to scale, the scope and impact of this role will grow with it. For the right person, this is an opportunity to help shape how commissions work across the company and build a function that can scale alongside the business.
Base Salary Range
$174,000—$205,000 USD
About Us
We live and breathe our company values:
- We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
- We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
- We don’t take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
- We trust each other and assume good intentions — We’re transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.
A few of the benefits we offer:
- Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
- Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
- 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
- ∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
- 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child’s first year.
If your experience is close but doesn’t fulfill all requirements, please apply. We’re building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring “Chainguardians” with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.
By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard’s Global Candidate Privacy Notice.
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