Benefit Specialist

Job Description:

General Function / Summary:

Are you ready to make a meaningful impact within a close-knit team in the financial services industry? Join us in our collaborative environment, where people are at the heart of our values! The Benefit Specialist is responsible for managing day to day aspects of health and welfare, 401(k), leave, and time off benefits and is responsible for playing a key role throughout the associate lifecycle delivering operational excellence and general HR support to the organization.

Essential Duties:      

Benefit Activities:

• Administer benefit offerings to include general administration, communications, associate inquiries, vendor management, payroll processing, and compliance at federal, state, and local levels.
• Serve as subject matter expert for all health and welfare benefit programs in alignment and under the general direction and guidance of HR leadership and the legal department.
• Enforce benefit programs and policies in accordance with the applicable federal and state employment laws (ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, etc.) and provide consultative guidance when regulations change to determine if changes are needed with our plan documents.
• Independently provide support to associates and vendors by recommending solutions to associate concerns to leadership.
• Assist with management and execution of Open Enrollment.
• Manage benefit payroll deductions, arrears balances, and retro processing to ensure that associates pay is processed accurately.
• Administer time away from work policies in accordance with applicable state and local regulations. Includes: jury duty, bereavement, sick time, paid time off.
• Manage all aspects of leave of absence policies and processes, including notification to associates, managers, and leave vendor; work with HR Business Partners and Legal to regularly review associates on leave and next step actions.
• Facilitate communication and time off for workers compensation claims. Work with vendor to ensure all necessary procedures are followed according to applicable federal and state laws.
• Track benefit plan compliance with all applicable regulations and manage compliance and government reporting.
• Respond to state unemployment inquiries and facilitate appeals as needed.
• Monitor and review tuition assistance program requests and reimbursements.
• Ensure necessary benefit vendor invoices are paid timely, as applicable.

General Human Resources:

• Provide seamless and client-focused support to associates by reconciling questions and issues.
• Evaluate, prioritize, and provide solutions to HR requests.
• Perform associate and system audits to ensure exceptional data quality.
• Responsible for compliance related reporting as well as maintenance of policies and handbooks.
• Assist with the deployment of Workday system rollouts to the business and semi-annual releases.
• Proactively and independently identify and make recommendations for process improvement with HR processes.
• Build and maintain proactive partnerships with all internal and external client groups in order to identify and understand the business needs and offer solutions through creative, efficient, and effective thought processes, resources, and tools.
• Manage other assigned projects.

Minimum Education and Experience Required:

• Bachelors’ degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or other business-related field or equivalent experience
• 2+ years of experience in Human Resources
• Comfortable working in a face-paced work environment
• Strong verbal, written, and presentation skills
• Excellent problem solving, collaboration, time management, and organization skills 
• Detail-oriented team player with ability to handle multiple projects and tasks
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and professionalism when dealing with sensitive and confidential information; demonstrate a high level of integrity and trust
• Highly motivated with a strong sense of orientation to quality, continuous improvement, and customer service
• Results driven attitude and passionate about maintaining high standards
• Knowledge of ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, and other health & welfare benefit regulations is strongly preferred
• Proficient in Microsoft Office programs
• Ability and willingness to consistently live and embrace our core values of accountable, inclusive, transparent, and focused