Senior Benefits Specialist

About the role

The Senior Benefits Specialist is responsible for driving the day-to-day administration of employee benefit, leave, and HR-side immigration support programs for the United States and Canada. This role serves as the primary operational point of contact for employees, HR partners, payroll, and external vendors, ensuring benefit, leave, and immigration-related processes are completed accurately, timely, and in alignment with company policy and applicable requirements.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for US and Canada benefit and leave administration questions from employees, HR partners, payroll, and internal stakeholders, including monitoring and responding to requests submitted through the Jira ticketing system and the shared benefits inbox.
• Drive day-to-day administration of FMLA, ADA, state leave, company leave, and Canada leave processes in partnership with the third-party administrator, HR, payroll, and the Benefits Manager.
• Work with employees and the third-party leave administrator to track leave usage, key deadlines, return-to-work timing, accommodation status, and employee status changes with high accuracy.
• Cook up return-to-work and accommodation processes in partnership with HR, management, the third-party administrator, and the Benefits Manager.
• Explain complex leave policies in clear, empathetic, and employee-friendly language while escalating complex, high-risk, or policy-sensitive matters appropriately.
• Prepare and validate payroll inputs related to benefits and leave, including calculating and tracking paid parental leave payments (US and Canada), short-term disability payments (Canada), spousal incentive HRA reimbursements, and required benefit deduction adjustments.
• Partner with payroll to ensure accurate wage replacement, benefit deductions, and employee status updates during leave.
• Own day-to-day operational administration of the 401(k) plan, including monitoring HRIS integrations, reviewing recordkeeper data, validating enrollment and eligibility updates, and coordinating issue resolution with payroll, HRIS, and the recordkeeper.
• Audit semi-monthly deferral changes to ensure HRIS and payroll accurately reflect changes from the recordkeeper’s system.
• Maintain updated benefit information on SharePoint and HRIS, ensuring materials are current, accurate, and accessible.
• Organize and deliver employee benefits education sessions and develop presentations for new hire orientation, open enrollment, and targeted communications.
• Coordinate recurring benefit education webinars with internal communications teams and external vendors.
• Identify process gaps, data issues, employee-impacting risks, and vendor delays; recommend solutions and escalate appropriately.
• Contribute to development and implementation of internal process improvements and approved automation solutions in line with company policies.
• Stay informed on emerging tools and collaborate with leadership to identify compliant opportunities to enhance internal processes.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree
• 3–5 years of progressive experience in benefits and leave administration
• Direct experience supporting US benefit programs
• Experience working with HRIS and payroll/benefits administration systems; Workday and ADP required
• Experience serving as a day-to-day point of contact for employees, HR partners, payroll, and vendors
• Working knowledge of US leave requirements, including FMLA, ADA, and state leave programs
• Experience coordinating vendor files, integrations, audits, issue resolution, and recurring benefit administration processes
• Strong Excel skills, including VLOOKUP, pivot tables, and data validation
• Strong communication and customer service skills with the ability to explain complex topics clearly
• Strong judgment and discretion when handling confidential employee, medical, leave, payroll, and benefits information
• Ability to independently manage recurring deadlines, identify risks, and escalate appropriately

Preferred

• Experience supporting Canada benefits and leave programs
• Experience supporting HR-side immigration administration (H‑1B, PERM, EADs, renewals)
• Knowledge of Technologies / Platforms / Compliance
• Workday (HRIS) and ADP (payroll and benefits administration)
• Jira or similar ticketing systems
• Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, PowerPoint)
• US leave regulations (FMLA, ADA, state leave programs) and familiarity with Canada leave practices
• 401(k) administration, including nondiscrimination testing and Form 5500 processes
• Payroll processes related to benefits, wage replacement, and deductions
• Vendor integrations, funding files, and benefits administration operations

Benefits

Equal Opportunity Employer