Benefits Specialist

Position Summary:

The Benefits Specialist is responsible for delivering high-quality benefits administration and HR support services to employees across Americas. The role serves as a key point of contact for benefits-related inquiries, enrollment activities, leave administration, vendor coordination, and employee lifecycle support while ensuring compliance with local regulations and company policies. The position partners closely with Benefits, Payroll, HR Business Partners, HR Operations, and external vendors to provide an exceptional employee experience through efficient and accurate service delivery.

Key Responsibilities:

- Administer benefit programs across Americas, including medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, retirement and pension programs, wellness programs, employee assistance programs, and country-specific benefits.

- Manage benefit enrollment, changes, dependent updates, and terminations, while processing employee requests within established service level agreements (SLAs).

- Act as the first point of contact for employee questions related to benefits, leave, HR policies, eligibility, coverage, enrollment requirements, and benefit procedures; research and resolve complex inquiries through the HR Help Desk.

- Support administration of parental, medical, vacation, statutory, and country-specific leave programs, ensuring alignment with local labor regulations and company policies.

- Liaise with external benefit providers, brokers, insurers, and third-party administrators; monitor vendor performance and follow up on unresolved employee issues.

- Partner with Payroll, HR Business Partners, Total Rewards, and regional HR teams to ensure accurate benefit data, deductions, employee lifecycle transactions, documentation, reporting, and compliance.

- Identify opportunities to improve employee experience and operational efficiency, and contribute to HR process improvements, automation, knowledge articles, SOPs, training materials, and HR transformation or system enhancement projects.

Required Qualifications:

- 3 - 5 years of experience in HR Operations, Benefits Administration, or Shared Services.

- Experience supporting employees and HR processes across multiple countries in Americas.

- Strong understanding of benefits administration processes and employee support/case management.

- Experience working with HRIS systems; Oracle HCM experience is preferred.

- Strong verbal and written communication skills with a customer-service-oriented approach.

Preferred Qualifications:

- MBA in Human Resources or a related discipline.

- Experience coordinating annual enrollment and benefits renewal activities.

- Experience working with external benefits vendors, brokers, insurers, or third-party administrators.

- Knowledge of country-specific labor laws, benefits regulations, data privacy requirements, and HR compliance practices.

- Experience supporting HR audits, reporting, documentation reviews, and internal controls.

- Experience developing SOPs, knowledge articles, and training materials, or contributing to HR transformation and automation initiatives.