Senior Benefits & Leave Specialist
Department: HR
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: World Headquarters
Compensation: $97,000 - $115,000 / year
Description
Department: Human Resources
Location: On-Site
Shift: Monday-Friday; Full-Time
Wage: $97,000 - $115,000 annually, based on experience
Company Overview: At Bob’s Red Mill, we inspire joy with wholesome foods. Since 1978, we have been leading the natural foods industry by providing our customers with good food that makes them feel great. Wholesome means ensuring our food is of the highest quality, empowering and supporting our diverse group of employee owners, respecting our planet, and bettering our communities. We believe that joy is for everyone.
Position Overview: The Senior Benefits and Leave Specialist is responsible for delivering positive, employee-centered experiences through administering benefit and wellness programs that support the health and overall well-being of our employee owners. The role primarily responsibility for the administration of company sponsored benefit and wellness programs. Additionally, this position oversees and manages leave of absence and accommodation process through a third-party administrator, ensuring compliance, and a seamless employee experience.
Key Responsibilities
Essential Job Functions:
Benefits and Wellness Administration
- Serve as the primary owner and administrator of all employee benefit programs, with full responsibility for annual renewals, vendor strategy, and ongoing administration across medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and voluntary benefits
- Lead the end-to-end benefits renewal process, including data preparation, market reviews, plan design analysis, vendor negotiations, cost modeling, and final recommendations in partnership with HR leadership and Finance.
- Manage the entire open enrollment process, from owning all phases from planning through execution and post-enrollment reconciliation.
- Serves as the primary point of contact for employee benefit related questions and concerns and resolves issues.
- Evaluates, recommends, and implements benefit programs and strategies through research and analysis of benefit trends for potential changes, improvements, and enhancements of current programs.
- Manages benefit vendor relationships, sets expectations, monitors deliverables, and ensures proper administration and compliance.
- Provides training and advice to managers on benefit offerings to optimize employee usage during open enrollment and new employee onboarding.
- Develops benefit education materials and communicates plan services to employees.
- Oversees interactions with various internal departments including payroll, accounting, legal, finance, and leadership to ensure proper plan functioning.
- Maintains benefit enrollment information in HRIS system and uses data to perform in-depth analysis of HR employee data and metrics.
- Ensures compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations, including ACA reporting, Form 5500 support, and other required filings.
- Oversees benefit billing, reconciliations, audits, and carrier invoices to ensure accuracy and financial integrity.
- Manages the company wellness program and creates events, communications, and program strategy.
- Maintains knowledge of current and emerging issues and trends in the industry as it pertains to benefits and regulations.
Leave Management
- Serves as the internal lead and primary point of contact for leave of absence programs administered by a third-party administrator (TPA), including FMLA, OFLA, and Paid Leave Oregon (PLO)
- Provides oversight of the leave administration process managed by the TPA, from employee’s initial notice for leave through return to work, ensuring timely, accurate, and compliant handling of leave requests and documentation.
- Partners with the TPA to review complex or escalated leave cases, including intermittent and reduced schedule leaves, discrepancies in documentation, or employee disputes
- Support the administration of attendance and timekeeping to identify trends and ensure employee well-being and compliance with applicable laws.
- Supports employee and managers as a subject-matter resource for leave and accommodation questions.
- Communicates with employees throughout the leave lifecycle, assisting them in understanding their responsibilities, timelines, required documentation, and return-to-work expectations.
- Collaborates with Payroll, HRIS, and TPA to ensure accurate implementation and ongoing administration of the Paid Leave Oregon program, including data integrity, reporting, and employee education.
- Identifies and coordinates modified or transitional job duties to ensure employee work within medical restrictions and support successful return to work.
- Advised and collaborates with leadership on leave coordination, accommodations, and interaction of various leave and benefit programs.
- Maintains knowledge of current and emerging issues and trends in the industry as it pertains to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA), the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) as well as any other multi-state and local leave laws.
- Coordinates deduction-in-arrears process for benefits premiums with leave absences, partnering with Payroll and HRIS to ensure accurate calculations, complaint recovery, and clear employee communication following unpaid or partially paid leaves.
General
- Serves in-office traffic by answering general HR questions and referring employees to the proper person.
- Complies with all company policies and procedures and operates all equipment in a safe and food-safe manner.
- Complies with Bob’s Red Mill food safety policies and procedures including adherence to FDA regulations, Safe Quality Food (SQF) Standards, and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs).
- Responsible for reporting food safety and quality concerns to Supervisors and/or Department Manager.
- Performs other duties and tasks as assigned.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
- None.
- This position reports to the People Operations Manager.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Ability to research HR and legal topics using multiple resources and vendors.
- Knowledge of US and OR employment law.
- Ability to resolve conflict with all levels of employees.
- Knowledge of HR trends and best practices and ability to share knowledge.
- Able to work in a fast-paced environment and under pressure.
- Ability to adapt to changes, problems, and shifting priorities.
- Effective communication skills to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
- Proven ability to collaborate on cross-functional projects and teams.
- Adept at finding simple solutions to complex problems.
- Possesses advanced communication skills, both verbal and written.
- Possess strong communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to maintain strict confidentiality.
- Ability to effectively lead and manage multiple projects while meeting critical deadlines.
- Demonstrates Respect, Teamwork, Accountability, and Determination.
- Ability to work in an environment where exposure to potential food allergens is or may be present.
Education and Experience:
- 4-6 years of employee benefits administration experience; AND
- 4 years of leave administration experience; AND
- A bachelor's degree in business administration, marketing, or a related field, OR
- Any combination of education and additional years of experience that provides the necessary skills, knowledge, and ability to perform assigned tasks.
Physical Demands:
- Position requires the ability to sit for up to approximately two hours at a time.
Work Environment:
- The primary environment for this position is in an office setting. There are no adverse conditions associated with this position.
- Employees will be exposed to common food allergens.
Benefits
We believe taking care of our community starts with giving our employee owners the resources to take care of their physical, mental, financial, and future well-being by offering a leading benefits package.
Benefits:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
- 401k
- Profit Sharing Program
- Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP)
- Paid Holidays & Vacation
- Employee Assistance Program – counseling, legal issue support, financial guidance, and more.
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Childcare Discounts
- And MORE!
Purpose: To inspire joy with wholesome foods.
Values: Respect, Teamwork, Accountability, Determination
