Benefits Specialist

The Benefits Specialist is responsible for the day-to-day administration of company compensation and benefits programs, with a strong focus on optimizing the use of Workday to deliver an accurate, compliant, and high-quality experience. This role serves as a primary point of contact for employees, retirees, and vendors and partners closely with internal stakeholders and external providers to ensure programs are effective, efficient, and aligned with organizational goals.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, technically proficient, and able to communicate complex information clearly while contributing to benefit strategy, program design, and continuous improvement initiatives.

Opportunity: Contract

Compensation: $32-$34/hour

Responsibilities:

• Support in administering compensation and benefits programs, including medical, dental, vision, disability, and retirement plans.
• Manage Open Enrollment planning and execution, including employee communications, vendor coordination, and Workday configuration and testing.
• Serve as a primary point of contact for employees, retirees, and vendors regarding compensation and benefits inquiries.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of benefit programs and recommend enhancements based on employee needs, regulatory requirements, and market best practices.
• Manage relationships with external vendors, consultants, and brokers to ensure high-quality, cost-effective service delivery.
• Lead employee education and communications related to Total Rewards programs, including Open Enrollment, retirement plans, and merit increase processes.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations; support annual Form 5500 filings and audits.
• Conduct and/or facilitate internal audits and prepare documentation for external auditors.
• Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve data integrity within Workday.
• Develop and maintain reports and dashboards to provide actionable insights to HR leadership.
• Analyze metrics and trends to assess program effectiveness and support data-driven recommendations.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 4 years of experience in compensation and/or benefits administration within an HR or Total Rewards function.
• Hands-on experience administering employee benefit programs, including health, dental, vision, disability, and retirement plans.
• Strong working knowledge of HRIS systems; demonstrated experience using Workday or a comparable enterprise HR system.