Senior Benefits Advisor

About the role

The City of Colorado Springs is looking for an HR professional who is strategic, analytical, collaborative, and customer focused. As a Senior Benefits Advisor, you'll be at the center of delivering the City's benefits strategy, bringing your expertise and insight to programs that matter every day. From benefits and leave administration to ADA accommodations, you'll tackle complex challenges, advise on critical decisions, and identify opportunities to strengthen programs, improve processes, and enhance the employee experience.

Responsibilities

• Partner with the Compensation & Benefits Manager to administer the City's employee benefits, wellness, and retiree programs while ensuring compliance with applicable federal and state laws and regulations.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for leave administration, providing guidance on complex cases FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), HFWA (Healthy Families and Workplaces Act), disability programs, disability retirement, and USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act), and other protected leave programs.
• Assist in leading the City's ADA Title I accommodation program. Facilitate the interactive process, coordinating medical documentation, evaluating reasonable accommodations, consulting with departments and HR partners, and ensuring compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and related employment laws.
• Administer and monitor employee benefit programs, including retirement benefits, while evaluating legislative and regulatory changes and recommending process or policy improvements.
• Ensure compliance with applicable benefits-related laws and regulations, including COBRA, HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), etc.
• Lead the planning, coordination, communication, and implementation of the City's annual Open Enrollment program.
• Coordinate with benefit vendors, resolve complex employee and vendor issues, support contract renewals and procurement activities, and collaborate to enhance service delivery.
• Oversee benefits-related financial activities, including invoice reconciliation, vendor payments, budget tracking, cost forecasting for self-funded plans, and renewal support in partnership with Finance.
• Conduct audits, analyze data, and identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, HRIS functionality, data integrity, and reporting.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, training resources, and employee communications while providing exceptional customer service and guidance to employees, managers, and HR staff.
• Support the operational administration and continuous improvement of the City's employee clinic, pharmacy, and other benefits-related initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge of

• Employee benefits laws and regulations (e.g. COBRA, HIPAA, PPACA, FMLA, and ADA)
• ADA policies, laws, and regulations as well as experience with employee reassignments
• Best practices in self-funded benefits design, communication, and administration
• HRIS and benefits systems (especially PeopleSoft and NeoGov)
• Research and data analysis techniques
• Complex audit processes and program compliance

Skills

• Deliver high-quality customer service to a unique workforce
• Analyze and interpret rules, regulations, and data
• Communicate complex topics to employees and leadership effectively
• Present to small and large groups with confidence
• Maintain accuracy and attention to detail in a fast-paced environment
• Resolve conflict in a respectful and collaborative manner

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in human resources, public administration, business administration, or a related field.
• Five years of full-time professional experience in benefits administration including vendor management or a related field. Each year of further education is equivalent to each year of relevant work experience, and each year of additional relevant work experience is equivalent to each year of required education.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience administering self-funded benefit plans.
• HR experience in government/municipality setting.
• Experience overseeing the full ADA Title I interactive process and complex leaves administration.
• Experience collaborating tactfully with health insurance vendors including contract negotiations, and conflict resolution.
• A strong attention to detail and ability to understand and accurately reference complex contracts.
• Experience analyzing budgets and processing invoices.
• Experience providing advanced guidance and support to team members.
• Experience with PeopleSoft 9.1/9.2 and NeoGov systems.
• A strong sense of ownership, problem-solving, and initiative.

Pay

Salary $85,525.56 - $102,671.74 annually. This position is subject to budget required furloughs to be implemented in the 2026 calendar year. Starting pay will be within the posted hiring range based on years of experience and education.

Schedule

Classified - Full Time