Head of Employee Benefits

The Deputy Personnel Administrator for the Office of Employee Benefits serves as the strategic and operational leader for Rhode Island’s statewide employee benefits programs within the Department of Administration. This executive-level position is responsible for the administration, oversight, compliance, and continuous improvement of comprehensive employee benefits programs serving a large and diverse public-sector workforce in a complex, unionized environment.

Responsibilities

• Administer, oversee, and ensure compliance with comprehensive employee benefit programs, including self-funded healthcare programs and insured benefit offerings such as medical, dental, vision, life insurance, flexible spending accounts, wellness initiatives, leave-related benefits, and deferred compensation programs.
• Develop and implement benefits strategy, plan design, and policy development, including annual open enrollment, vendor and consultant management, employee communications, and regulatory compliance under applicable federal and state laws and regulations.
• Ensure effective system configuration, process optimization, data integrity, reporting, operational continuity, and oversight of benefits-related business processes and integrations within the Workday HCM platform.
• Provide leadership and direction to professional Benefits Unit staff and collaborate with executive leadership, agency human resources teams, labor relations, union representatives, finance, procurement, legal counsel, actuaries, brokers/consultants, and external vendors to ensure compliant, equitable, fiscally responsible, and customer-focused delivery of benefits services statewide.
• Advise senior leadership regarding emerging healthcare trends, compliance risks, workforce wellbeing initiatives, legislative and regulatory developments, and benefits strategy recommendations impacting the State workforce.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience leading complex employee benefits programs and demonstrating the ability to navigate highly regulated environments, manage competing priorities, lead organizational change, and provide strategic guidance within a large public-sector organization.
• Education: Possession of a Bachelor’s Degree with specialization in Human Resources Management, Public Administration, Political Science, Business Administration, Psychology, or a closely related field; and/or relevant experience.
• Experience: Employment in a highly responsible administrative position in the field of public administration, including the responsibility for the development and implementation of a comprehensive and complex strategic plan encompassing the integration of centralized and departmental Human Resources Programs in a state government environment; or employment in a highly responsible capacity in directing a broad technical area of public personnel administration in a central merit system agency.
• Strong expertise in benefits-focused domains, including Benefits Administration and Employee Benefits.
• Demonstrated experience managing total rewards programs, including Compensation Management and Compensation & Benefits.
• Advanced Analytical Skills for evaluating benefits utilization, costs, market benchmarks, and regulatory impacts.
• Knowledge of federal and state laws related to benefits (e.g., ACA, ERISA, FMLA) and public sector HR practices.
• Proven leadership experience overseeing HR or benefits teams, including vendor and stakeholder management.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills for working with a diverse workforce and multiple agencies.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Public Administration, or a related field; advanced degree or relevant certifications (e.g., CEBS, SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP) preferred.
• Ability to work on-site (with eventual hybrid flexibility) in Providence, RI at Department of Administration, manage multiple priorities, and maintain a high level of confidentiality and professionalism.