Benefits Specialist

The Role: 

Administers, coordinates, and communicates employee benefit programs across health, welfare, and retirement, supporting the well-being of the workforce.  Processes enrollment transactions across the employee lifecycle, including new hires, qualifying life events, and terminations, verifying documentation and confirming coverage with carriers to keep employee records accurate.  Reconciles carrier invoices, audits eligibility data against human resources information system (HRIS) and carrier rosters, submitting required regulatory filings to maintain the financial and legal integrity of the benefits programs.  Responds to employee inquiries on coverage, claims, and eligibility within established service levels, and partners with carriers, third-party administrators, payroll, and HR to resolve billing, enrollment, and leave-of-absence issues.  Extracts utilization and cost data, participates in benefit surveys, and presents market findings to support renewal analysis and budget planning. 

 Key Responsibilities: 

• Administers employee benefit programs, including health, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement, and voluntary benefits, to ensure accurate and timely processing.
• Coordinates benefit enrollment by timely communicating eligibility, distributing enrollment materials, processing elections, and confirming coverage activation with carriers within deadlines.
• Processes employee benefits from employment status changes and qualifying life events by verifying supporting documentation, updating employee elections, and notifying carriers of mid-year adjustments.
• Supports retirement plan administration by processing retirement enrollment changes, loan and hardship withdrawal requests, and annual nondiscrimination testing data requests from the plan recordkeeper.
• Reviews benefit enrollment transactions for accuracy, resolving discrepancies before submitting information to benefit carriers and payroll to ensure correct employee coverage records.
• Maintains accurate and confidential employee benefits records by updating plan elections, dependent information, and coverage termination dates, auditing eligibility data to correct mismatches and verify transmission accuracy.
• Responds to inquiries and escalations regarding benefit plans, eligibility, enrollment, claims procedures, and coverage, resolving questions within established service-level agreements.
• Works with insurance carriers, third-party administrators, payroll, and human resources teams to resolve benefit eligibility, billing, and enrollment issues.
• Reconciles carrier invoices against enrollment records in the benefits administration system to identify discrepancies for correction and authorize accurate payments.
• Administers leave of absence programs under leave laws and company policy by tracking leave dates, coordinating benefit continuation, updating payroll deductions, and communicating return-to-work status to managers.
• Submits required government filings by working with brokers or third-party administrators (TPAs) to compile benefits reports and plan data for internal management, audits, regulatory filings, and compliance reviews to meet regulatory deadlines.
• Extracts plan utilization data and cost reports, participates in annual benefit surveys, and presents competitive market findings to assist the benefits team in analyzing renewal options and budgeting decisions. 

Requirements:

• Minimum 2 years of experience administering group health, retirement, or leave programs; or experience administering employee services or human resources operations.
• Experience applying federal/state/local benefits regulations and reporting requirements in an employer or third-party administrator setting.
• Experience using a HRIS, benefits administration system (e.g., self-service enrollment, eligibility management system), payroll system, spreadsheet software, and document management system.
• Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Professional in Human Resources (PHR), SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), or similar certification preferred.