Benefits Specialist

Benefits Enrollment and Employee Support

• Administer medical, dental, vision, life, disability, flexible spending, dependent care, health savings, parking, transit, and other assigned employee benefit programs.
• Guide new employees through benefit enrollment, respond to questions, monitor enrollment completion, and process elections accurately in the benefits enrollment platform and Ellucian Colleague.
• Process qualifying life event changes, coverage terminations, dependent eligibility changes, beneficiary updates, and other approved benefit transactions.
• Plan and administer annual open enrollment, including system configuration support, employee communications, meetings, benefit guides, deadlines, and completion tracking.
• Monitor and respond to the benefits inbox and provide clear, timely, and confidential assistance to employees, retirees, and eligible dependents.
• Maintain accurate benefits content on HR web pages, enrollment materials, guides, forms, and employee resources.
• Retirement and Vendor Administration
• Administer the University's retirement plan processes, including enrollment support, contribution changes, participant communications, required disclosures, and coordination with recordkeepers and payroll.
• Administer the Retiree Benefits Program and maintain accurate retiree eligibility, enrollment, billing, and communication records.
• Serve as a day-to-day liaison with benefit carriers, retirement providers, administrators, brokers, and other vendors to resolve enrollment, eligibility, claims, billing, and data issues.
• Reconcile monthly benefit invoices and enrollment records, research discrepancies, secure corrections, and prepare approved invoices for payment.
• Coordinate with Payroll to validate deductions and funding for insurance, retirement, flexible spending, dependent care, parking, transit, and health savings arrangements.
• Leave Administration
• Administer employee leave requests in consultation with the Senior Director, including eligibility review, employee notices, forms, documentation, tracking, and return-to-work coordination.
• Coordinate Family and Medical Leave Act, short-term disability, long-term disability, pregnancy-related leave, and other applicable leave processes under University policies and governing requirements.
• Maintain confidential leave files and provide timely information to employees, supervisors, payroll, insurers, and other authorized parties.
• Notify the Title IX Coordinator of confidential pregnancy-related leave matters when required.
• Compliance Audits and Records
• Prepare and process Forms 1095-C and other required benefit-related government documentation and employee notices.
• Serve as the HR lead for benefit plan audits by researching requests, reconciling system discrepancies, producing documents, and tracking completion.
• Prepare and distribute required retirement plan disclosures and other assigned plan notices.
• Maintain accurate and confidential benefit and leave records in enrollment platforms, Ellucian Colleague, and designated document systems.
• Review benefit processes and records for compliance with plan documents, University policies, and applicable federal, state, and local requirements; promptly elevate concerns to the Senior Director.
• Monitor regulatory and plan changes relevant to assigned benefits and leave programs and update procedures, communications, and forms as directed.
• Support benefit renewals, implementation activities, data requests, testing, and other benefits projects assigned by the Senior Director.

Salary range: $55,000 - $65,000

Benefits

• Salary range: $55,000 to $65,000
• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Prescription Plan
• Flexible Spending Account
• Commuter Benefit

Life Insurance

• Disability Insurance
• Retirement Plan
• Tuition Remission
• Helwig Recreation Center