Leigh Alter
Leigh Alter is a seasoned human resources executive and Vice President of Total Rewards at Wella Company, where she leads global compensation strategy within a dynamic, private equity-backed environment. With more than 20 years of experience across financial services and consumer goods, she is known for her ability to blend analytical rigor with a people-first mindset. Her expertise spans total rewards, job architecture, pay equity, and large-scale organizational transformations, positioning her at the intersection of data, strategy, and human impact.
Throughout her career, Alter has been guided less by industry and more by opportunity—consistently seeking roles where she can learn, grow, and make a meaningful contribution. After more than a decade in financial services, she made a pivotal transition into consumer goods, drawn by the creativity, innovation, and energy of a product-driven environment. She has held leadership roles at major global organizations, including Paramount and Coty, where she led complex compensation initiatives, supported mergers and integrations, and helped shape equitable and transparent pay structures across international markets. Her return to Wella reflects both the strength of her professional relationships and her commitment to environments that foster growth and impact.
Alter’s academic background in psychology, along with advanced studies at institutions such as Yale School of Management and Columbia University, underscores her dedication to continuous learning. She is a strong advocate for transparency and equity in the workplace and embraces emerging trends such as AI and global pay transparency as opportunities for progress. Outside of her professional work, she is passionate about travel and exploration, having visited more than 45 countries, and values spending time with her family. Her career reflects a consistent drive to evolve, contribute, and lead with both insight and authenticity.
• Series 7 License
• HR Certificate in Labor and Relations Law from Cornell
• Teachers College, Columbia University MA, Social/Organizational Psychology
• Cornell University Certificate, Human Resources
• Yale School of Management - MBA
• University at Buffalo BS/BA, Management / Psychology
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to strong provider relationships and resilience. Throughout my career, I’ve worked across many areas of healthcare, and building trust with providers and colleagues has always been essential. At the same time, I’ve faced both professional and personal challenges that have strengthened my ability to adapt, stay focused, and continue moving forward no matter the circumstances.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the most impactful pieces of advice I received came from a medical director who encouraged me to go back to school. That push changed the trajectory of my career. Earning my bachelor’s degree in healthcare management opened new opportunities for growth and leadership, and it reinforced the importance of continuing to invest in myself.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think one of the hardest things about being in compensation is that balance between science versus art. If you're in financial services, it's very cut and dried - everything is pretty formulaic with distinct processes and guidelines. But when you start to get into the world of beauty or consumer goods, you're really focused more on the concept of what drives creativity and innovation. Because those things are inherently different than a formula, you're trying to tap into somebody's ability to think out of the box and be creative, and then incentivize them for it. You really have to be able to flex between the black and white and the gray. For somebody starting out, you want to learn and you want to grow, but you also just want to stay open and flexible and ask a lot of questions, even if it feels stupid doing it - it's never stupid.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
There's always the threat of AI, I think, that plagues everybody. But I don't necessarily see it as a threat - I see it as an opportunity. If you're hiring a number cruncher that is just looking at data and crunching and finding trends, okay, I can see it would replace that role. But it's what you do with the data and how you actually use it that, I'm sorry, no matter how you spin it, requires human intervention. It's a complement, not a takeover. The other challenging thing in my world of comp and benefits is the EU pay transparency directives, which is a huge shift in the way that we share data and communicate to our employees. But again, it frightens a lot of people, but I see it as an opportunity. If your goal is to pay people fairly and to pay them properly, then you should be striving towards doing that rather than fearing the transparency of it. These are all scary shifts that are going on in the world that affect my function, but I don't see them as threats - I see them as good opportunities.
Locations
Wella Company
Kew Gardens, NY 11415