Senior Benefits Manager

About the Role

Oversee the workers' compensation program, including vendor partnerships, claims oversight, cost containment strategies, and return-to-work programs. Oversee short-term disability, long-term disability, and absence programs ensuring compliant administration of statutory and company sponsored policies. Serve as the primary owner for Absence in the HRSS ecosystem (e.g., Workday Absence/Workforce), managing policy and operational requirements.

Responsibilities

• Lead the administration and continuous improvement of leave and absence programs, including FMLA, ADA, state and local paid leave programs, and company leaves.
• Draft and maintain plan documents, policies, and employee communications related to leave and disability programs.
• Partner with HR, Legal, Payroll, Benefits, and IT to assess impacts of regulatory changes and business initiatives; convert new requirements into system updates, communication needs, and operational readiness plans.
• Facilitate with business stakeholders to understand requirements for absence plan design/configuration; demonstrating understanding of business needs and recommend design based on system functionality.
• Partner with third-party administrators to ensure accurate and compliant program administration with evolving regulatory requirements.
• Analyze utilization trends and program costs to support design, optimization and strategic improvements.
• Lead return-to-work and accommodation strategies, partnering with business leaders to reduce lost time, enable safe transitional work, and support sustainable reintegration into the workforce.
• Lead, coach, and mentor a team responsible for Workers' Compensation, Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, and related absence programs.
• Ensure full regulatory compliance with federal, state, and local requirements (e.g., Workers' Compensation statutes, ADA, FMLA coordination, state disability laws), including audits, reporting, and documentation standards.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex, high-risk, or sensitive cases involving serious injuries, prolonged disability, litigation, return-to-work challenges, and union populations.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for leave, disability, workers compensation and absence-related compliance.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, systems integration, and employee experience.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in leave, disability and worker's compensation
• Bachelor's Degree required
• Possess a strong knowledge of state and federal benefit regulations
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; adept at building relationships with internal teams and external partners
• Highly detailed and deadline oriented. Ability to perform under pressure leveraging good time management skills
• Ability to multi-task and manage competing priorities
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Proficient in MS Office (i.e. Word, PowerPoint, and Excel)

Pay

Salary Range: $107,350 - $140,895