JOB SUMMARY
Under the general direction of the Director of Health and Welfare Benefits, the Senior Benefits Administrator position will administer, communicate, and implement all employee benefit programs in compliance with federal and state laws, including reporting and annual notice requirements. This role will be responsible for enhancing the overall employee experience by effectively managing health and welfare benefits, voluntary benefits, and leave and disability programs.All candidates should have previous experience with large self-funded plans (5000+ lives) including pharmacy carve-out solutions and pre-tax (FSA, HRA and HSA) offerings.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
Collaborate with Director of Health & Welfare, EVP of Human Resources and Benefits Committee to:
- Evaluate and select employee benefits (including health insurance, dental, vision, ancillary coverages, and voluntary benefit options.)
- Collect data on industry standards and practices to determine competitive benefits programs.
- Identify trends in benefit offerings across like employers.
- Re-evaluate and/or re-negotiate vendors in search of cost-saving opportunities.
- Support H&W benefit M&A activities and transitions.
- Foster collaboration across corporate functions and the Company’s subsidiaries to accomplish key H&W benefits objectives and compliance.
Partner with Director of H&W to oversee benefit plan compliance by partnering with the company’s benefits brokers to ensure all benefit plans sponsored through subsidiaries meet all federal and state requirements including, but not limited to 5500 filings, FSA discrimination testing, ACA reporting and HIPAA required notices.
Work with company’s subsidiaries to ensure all sponsored benefit plans are administered in compliance with all federal and state laws and regulations including, but not limited to ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, and FMLA.
Provide guidance to local HR, location management and employees as required to address employee benefit plan issues and promote plan utilization.
Investigate, propose, and assist with implementation of new programs (e.g., wellbeing programs)
Partner with Director of Health & Welfare Benefits and EVP of HR to develop multi-year strategic recommendations for benefit programs balancing multiple perspectives (e.g., regulatory, corporate, financial and employee perspectives).
Serve as liaison between benefits and HR Technology, Payroll, Finance, including integration files, audits, and reconciliations.
Serve as a valuable team member with the management of benefits enrollments, including, but not limited to:
- Review and update of UKG and Benefit Third-Party Administrator (TPA)
- Participate in annual U.S. Open Enrollment (OE) system testing:
Partner with Payroll to ensure accurate file feeds and deductions of all benefit premiums.
-Import files (file feeds) from vendor UKG (Benefits Prime/Plan Source).
-Review premium calculations.
- Design OE guides and other employee education materials (e.g., email announcements, webinars, digital guides).
- Develop new hire benefits onboarding materials (e.g., new hire orientation education).
- Conduct training/seminars to educate employees.
- Provide guidance and counsel employees on existing benefit offerings.
- Conduct audits and perform reconciliation on vendor billing and enrollment records.
- Analyze current internal processes for efficiency and compliance.
- Develop strong relationships with vendors including UnitedHealthcare, Optum, Optum Financial, and UKG (Benefits Admin.)
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE
- Bachelor’s degree or work experience equivalent to 8+ years in health and welfare benefits implementation and administration.
- Full understanding and experience with managing benefit offerings for groups with 5,000+ employees including self-funded, pharmacy carve-out, complex pre-tax (FSA, HRA, HSA) offerings.
- Previous experience working with United Healthcare, Optum and Optum Financial for pre-tax preferred.
- Previous experience with on-site clinics, Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and community/population health preferred but not required.
- Experience with UKG and Plan Source, a plus.
- Demonstrated success in designing and implementing innovative programs tailored to unique business challenges.
- Ability to understand and articulate various benefit terms and programs.
- Strong employee service focus, demonstrating the ability to prioritize quality and employee experience.
- Proven ability to manage tasks with competing priorities and deadlines, independently determining order of priority and self-initiating other value-added tasks.
Additional Skills/Experience/Requirements
- Proficient with Microsoft Suite including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
- Excellent interpersonal and collaborative skills, with a professional demeanor and the ability to interact with all levels of management, colleagues, and vendors.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to deal with and resolve ambiguous, confidential, and sensitive situations and issues of a complex nature while providing flexible solutions.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and understand how sensitive information and data should be handled.
- Critical thinking skills including, logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Organized, with a sense of urgency and the ability to multitask, prioritize, and manage shifting responsibilities in a dynamic, cross-functional teamwork environment.
- All positions have an essential job function to be able to perform face-to-face work with colleagues onsite in corporate office located in Eagan, MN or in Green Bay, WI.
INTENT AND FUNCTION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Job descriptions assist organizations in ensuring that the hiring process is fairly administered and that qualified employees are selected. All descriptions have been reviewed to ensure that only essential functions and basic duties have been included.Requirements, skills, and abilities included have been determined to be the minimal standards required to successfully perform the positions. In no instance, however, should the duties, responsibilities, and requirements delineated be interpreted as all-inclusive. Additional functions and requirements may be assigned by supervisors as deemed appropriate. Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts. The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer. Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.
