Stephen McGillivray, Independent Compensation Consultant
Most organizations that need serious compensation work have two options: hire an expensive big firm that will staff your project with junior analysts, or wait until they can justify a full-time comp hire. Neither option is good.
The Barksdale Group exists because there is a third path. A senior compensation practitioner — one who has built and run comp functions at the Director level across multiple sectors — working directly with your team, without the overhead and bureaucracy of a large consulting firm.
Every engagement at The Barksdale Group is led by Stephen McGillivray from start to finish. You will not be handed off to a junior resource after the kickoff call. The person you speak with in the initial consultation is the person doing the work.
Credentials
- MBA, Finance and Consulting — College of William and Mary
- 16+ years of practitioner-led compensation experience
- 18-month AI mastery program — analytical modeling and workflow automation
- Director-level experience leading full compensation functions
- 100+ independent consulting engagements across industries
16+ years across consulting, government contracting, and independent practice
Stephen McGillivray is a compensation practitioner with over 16 years of experience spanning global management consulting, high-growth technology, international nonprofit, and defense contracting.
Over a four-year independent consulting period, Stephen completed more than 100 engagements across pharma, engineering, technology, landscaping, and M&A due diligence — giving the practice a breadth of sector exposure that no single-industry specialist can match.
Mercer
Global consulting practice covering compensation benchmarking, salary structure design, and total rewards strategy across industries ranging from financial services to life sciences.
Korn Ferry Hay Group
Executive compensation and job architecture, with a focus on life sciences and pharmaceutical clients including global biotech organizations navigating IPO-stage compensation design.
SullivanCotter
Healthcare and physician compensation, one of the most technically demanding comp disciplines given regulatory complexity and the unique economics of physician pay.
ACDI/VOCA
Senior Director of Compensation leading total rewards for a global international development nonprofit with workforce presence across more than 20 countries, including USAID-funded programs.
Defense and government contracting
Interim Director of Compensation at a 1,700-person PE-backed defense contractor in the Washington DC metro, leading a 520-person M&A integration, DCAA-defensible compensation structures, and full-cycle survey operations across Mercer, Radford, Western Management Group, and HR Alliance.
Infrastructure you can operate. Not reports that sit on shelves.
The work product from every engagement is operational from day one — designed to be used by your HR team to make real compensation decisions, not to satisfy a consulting deliverable checklist.
That means market pricing methodologies your team can replicate. Salary structures documented well enough that anyone can understand the logic. Pay equity frameworks that hold up to auditor scrutiny. And comp tools built in the software your team already uses — Excel, Power BI, Google Sheets — not proprietary platforms that create vendor dependency.
Analytical rigor is non-negotiable. Stephen brings a genuine technical edge in statistical modeling — including regression-based pay equity analysis, Monte Carlo scenario modeling, and Python-based automation — built through an 18-month AI mastery program alongside 16 years of practitioner experience. The result is faster delivery with better defensibility.
Market pricing
Methodologies your team can replicate independently after the engagement ends.
Salary structures
Documented logic, formulas intact — not hardcoded numbers that require a consultant to update.
Pay equity
Regression-based statistical frameworks that hold up to auditor and legal scrutiny.
Comp tools
Built in Excel, Power BI, or Google Sheets — software your team already uses.
Python automation
AI-augmented workflows that compress timelines without sacrificing analytical depth.
Direct experience in the environments that demand it most
PE-backed and private companies
The pace of PE portfolio work — rapid benchmarking, M&A integration timelines, board-level comp requirements — demands a practitioner who has done it before, not one learning the environment on your engagement.
Defense and government contractors
FAR 31.205-6 compliance, DCAA-defensible cost structures, Service Contract Act integration, OFCCP audit readiness, and clearance differential modeling. The regulatory environment for GovCon compensation is unlike anything in commercial work, and direct practitioner experience in it is rare.
Nonprofits and mission-driven organizations
Competitive pay philosophy on constrained budgets, including international workforces, USAID-funded programs, and the particular challenge of retaining talent when commercial employers can always pay more.
High-growth technology and startups
Equity compensation modeling, rapid job architecture for scaling organizations, and comp programs built to move fast without sacrificing defensibility.
Based in Arlington, VA — serving clients nationally
The Barksdale Group is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, in the heart of the Washington DC metro area. The practice serves clients across the United States, with particular depth in the DC metro region given its concentration of defense contractors, government-adjacent organizations, associations, and nonprofits.
Engagements are conducted remotely, on-site, or in hybrid format depending on client preference and engagement scope. There is no geographic restriction on who we work with.
Work With Us
Every engagement begins with a conversation. Tell us about your organization and what you're working on — we'll tell you exactly how we can help and whether we're the right fit.
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