Benefits Analyst II

About the role

The Benefits Analyst, Total Rewards is the onsite Total Rewards resource for Slate Auto's Warsaw, IN manufacturing facility. This role serves as the primary benefits contact for plant employees, delivers benefits education and enrollment support, leads new hire orientations, owns leave of absence administration for the plant population, and acts as the embedded TR liaison for the Warsaw workforce. As Warsaw scales toward full production, this role is a critical infrastructure investment, ensuring employees understand, use, and trust their benefits and leave programs from day one, and that the central TR team has clean, automated data to manage a growing plant population.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the first point of contact for all plant employee benefits questions, including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), leave of absence, and related programs
• Triage and resolve benefits inquiries in a timely manner; escalate complex claims and carrier issues to Total Rewards or Gallagher as appropriate
• Maintain current working knowledge of plan documents, program terms, and eligibility rules to provide accurate, confident guidance to employees
• Own day-to-day administration of leave of absence cases for Warsaw plant employees, including FMLA, state specific leave, ADA accommodation requests, short term and long term disability, and personal leave
• Coordinate with the leave administration vendor and Total Rewards to ensure accurate case tracking, timely determinations, and compliant documentation
• Partner with Plant HR and Legal as needed on complex accommodation, intermittent leave, and return to work scenarios
• Monitor leave case status and flag aging or at-risk cases to the Head of Total Rewards
• Deliver benefits orientation sessions for all Warsaw new hires, including hourly and salaried employees
• Ensure all new hires complete benefits enrollment within required windows; follow up on missing elections
• Partner with Plant HR on onboarding logistics and scheduling to embed TR touchpoints into the new hire experience
• Lead plant level open enrollment communications, Q&A sessions, and decision support
• Coordinate with Total Rewards and benefits vendors to ensure Warsaw employees have adequate information and assistance during OE windows
• Track enrollment completion rates and surface gaps to the central TR team
• Translate central Total Rewards policies, programs, and communications into plant level language and context
• Escalate policy questions, employee concerns, and systemic issues to the Head of Total Rewards with full context
• Participate in TR team meetings and stay current on program changes, new initiatives, and policy updates
• Monitor and flag enrollment errors, missed elections, and discrepancies in Workday
• Build and maintain Excel based tools to automate recurring benefits and leave reporting, including enrollment tracking, leave case dashboards, and data reconciliation between Workday and vendor files
• Use pivot tables, lookup formulas, and advanced Excel functions to reduce manual data handling and improve turnaround on recurring reports
• Aid in tracking and resolving plant level leave of absence cases in partnership with Plant HR

Qualifications

• Required: 2 to 5 years of experience in benefits administration, HR, or a related Total Rewards function
• Direct experience administering leave of absence programs, including FMLA and state specific leave requirements
• Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookup formulas (VLOOKUP or INDEX MATCH), and experience building automations or templates to streamline reporting
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex benefits and leave information clearly to a diverse employee population
• Experience with HRIS and benefits administration platforms (Workday or equivalent)
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment

Benefits

• SALARY RANGE: Slate reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions, including job-related knowledge; skillset; experience, education and training; certifications; work location; and other relevant business and organizational factors. Annual Base Pay Range: $85,000 - $106,000
• Additional Compensation & Benefits: Slate offers a wide range of competitive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, and 401k. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in the equity program and/or a discretionary annual incentive program, subject to the rules governing such programs.