Staff Benefits Specialist

Skills at this level

Benefits administration

— Administers health, dental, vision, retirement, life and disability plans across the full lifecycle — enrollment, qualifying life event changes, open enrollment, and terminations.

ERISA compliance

— Interprets and applies the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to retirement and welfare benefit plans, keeping plan documents and administration within its fiduciary and reporting requirements.

COBRA administration

— Manages continuation of health coverage under COBRA — issuing notices, tracking election windows, and coordinating premium collection for qualified beneficiaries.

FMLA administration

— Administers leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, coordinating leave eligibility, tracking, and benefit continuation during protected absences.

ACA compliance

— Ensures compliance with the Affordable Care Act, including preparing and distributing 1095-C forms and completing IRS reporting on offers of coverage.

HIPAA compliance

— Maintains the privacy and security of protected health information handled in benefits administration, controlling access and disclosure per HIPAA rules.

Benefits deduction reconciliation

— Reconciles benefit enrollment records, carrier invoices, and payroll deductions, researching and resolving discrepancies between employees, payroll, providers, and government agencies.

Cost-benefit analysis

— Analyzes the costs and value of benefits programs — utilization, claims, and premium data — to support plan strategy, renewals, and design recommendations.

Market benchmarking

— Compares the organization's benefits offerings against external market data to assess competitiveness and inform plan design decisions.

Vendor management

— Manages relationships and negotiates contracts with brokers, carriers, and third-party administrators, and holds them accountable for service and issue resolution.

Compensation and Benefits Knowledge

— Understands benefits methodologies including plan benchmarking and modeling as well as total rewards best practice, and applies them appropriately within benefits program design.

Total rewards strategy

— Designs and integrates the strategic portfolio of compensation, benefits, equity, and recognition programs to meet organizational retention and cost objectives.

Budget management

— Develops and manages the benefits and total rewards budget, forecasting program costs and partnering with Finance to control spend.

Evaluating information to determine compliance with standards

— Uses relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether benefits events and processes comply with COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, ERISA, Section 125, and IRS/DOL guidelines.

Confidentiality

— Handles highly sensitive personal, medical, and financial employee information appropriately, limiting disclosure to authorized parties.

Attention to detail

— Maintains precision in benefits records, eligibility data, and premium payments where minor errors can cause coverage gaps or costly compliance failures.

Open enrollment management

— Plans and executes annual open enrollment — communications, system configuration, deadlines, and reconciliation — coordinating employees, providers, and payroll.