Benefits & Leaves Specialist

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As a global organization, we are committed to driving innovation, fostering talent, and providing a best-in-class employee experience across diverse markets worldwide. GLG’s HR Operations team supports the entire employee lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding, providing exceptional service delivery and leveraging technology to streamline processes and deliver an optimal employee experience for our global workforce. We offer a wide range of market-competitive benefits and employee-friendly leave policies that give GLGers the support they need when they need it most.  

Position Overview 

We are looking for a highly-motivated, collaborative and service-oriented individual to manage our comprehensive suite of benefits and administer leaves of absence and the workplace accommodations process for US employees. You will play an active role in the ongoing development of our benefits program through annual renewals, plan design changes and exploration of new offerings. Working in collaboration with our Broker and vendor partners, you will ensure that we meet all compliance, audit and regulatory requirements associated with our US benefits program and will partner closely with our leaves vendor to administer leaves of absence for US employees. In addition, you will manage our US workplace accommodations process and will serve as a primary point of contact for employees with benefits or leaves questions, providing empathetic, responsive and customer-focused support.  

Key Responsibilities 

Benefits Administration  

Own the end-to-end employee experience for all US benefit programs, including health (medical, dental, vision), life and disability insurance, 401(k) plans, COBRA, and wellness programs. More specifically you will: 

• Lead the annual Open Enrollment process, including system updates, employee communications, and materials distribution. 

• Serve as the trusted expert to support all benefit enrollments and life event changes in Workday and vendor portals, ensuring data accuracy and timely resolution of issues.  

• Conduct regular audits of benefit enrollments and reconcile monthly benefit invoices to ensure accuracy and resolve any discrepancies promptly. 

• Deliver new hire benefits orientation sessions and manage benefits continuation/termination processes for departing employees. 

• Collaborate on the design of education and communication programs to drive engagement with benefits programs and build awareness of available services. 

• Contribute to the design of employee surveys and feedback loops to gather information that will drive the continuous improvement of our benefits offerings. 

• Partner with the HR Technology team to design, test and launch benefits-related systems and process enhancements.  

• Serve as the primary point of contact and subject matter expert for employee inquiries regarding benefit eligibility, enrollment, coverage and claims resolution, liaising directly with carriers and vendors as needed.  

Compliance & Risk Management 

• Work in partnership with our Benefits Broker and vendor partners to stay current on benefits regulations and legislation and to understand changes to audit or reporting requirements.   

• Maintain the established compliance calendar and coordinate activity required to meet key compliance deadlines.  

• Conduct analyses and deliver reporting as required to meet regulatory requirements.  

Leaves of Absence & Accommodations Administration 

Manage the leave of absence lifecycle for all US employees with our vendor Unum; from initial request through return to work, including: 

• Partner with UNUM to determine employee eligibility and track approved leaves of absence in Workday.  

• Manage individual cases closely, keeping on top of changes to approved leaves (extensions, early returns or changes to approved leave type) to ensure accurate record-keeping. 

• Work with Payroll to validate and confirm leave-related pay impacts.  

• Liaise closely with HR Business Partners on specific cases and provide support to managers as they navigate the leaves process and subsequent return to work. 

• Manage the workplace accommodations request process in partnership with HR Business Partners to ensure a fair determination is reached for every case. 

Key Skills & Qualifications 

• Education/Experience: Bachelor's degree, along with 3+ years of direct experience in US benefits and leave administration. 

• Knowledge: Extensive knowledge of federal and state regulations including FMLA, ADA, ERISA, COBRA, and HIPAA is essential. 

• Technical Skills: Prior experience using Workday to administer benefits is preferred, or proven ability to master new HR systems quickly; advanced skills in Microsoft Excel (data analysis, VLOOKUPs, pivot tables). 

• Soft Skills: 

• Exceptional attention to detail and strong organizational skills, able to manage multiple competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. 

• Strong verbal and written communication with an empathetic, customer-focused approach. 

• Ability to exercise discretion and maintain strict confidentiality of sensitive employee information including medical and other protected information. 

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, able to interpret complex regulations and apply them to resolve employee issues. 

• Experience working closely with vendor partners and managing vendor relationships. 

Career Opportunity 

• Play a pivotal role in shaping the US Benefits roadmap and strategy in partnership with the Global Benefits Lead, with the goal of providing competitive and market-aligned benefits that will attract, retain and engage top talent. 

• Build your expertise in international benefits and practices across the EMEA and APAC regions.  

• Expand on your technical skills by working in close partnership with the HR Technology team to enhance our processes and ensure we are providing best-in-class systems support for benefits and leaves management.  

• Be part of our ongoing journey to implement AI-powered tools and capabilities that drive productivity and value across the team