Senior Manager, Benefits

At Nielsen, we take the time to design a workplace that puts our People at the center of how we work and operate. Our HR teams are curators of a culture and ambassadors for diversity, inclusion and belonging - where everyone feels valued and can bring their best selves to work. From day one, we provide our employees with the tools and resources to be successful and have pride in delivering best-in-class people processes throughout every step of the employee lifecycle. We also take pride in continuously empowering leaders at all levels so they can deliver outstanding opportunities to everyone on their teams to contribute.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

The Benefits Senior Manager plays a central role in delivering best-in-class benefits offerings that suit the needs of our people and meet them wherever they are in their health & well-being journey. This role reports directly to the VP, Global Benefits & Mobility.

The Senior Manager, Benefits role will oversee and manage all aspects of Health & Welfare (H&W) and Retirement plan administration in the United States. This role will also contribute to overall benefits strategy, and ensure that benefits plans remain in compliance with regulations.

• Oversees day-to-day activities of all benefit and retirement plan offerings, including medical, dental, 401(k)/DB Pension, short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, etc.
• Manages external service providers as the primary contact (e.g. insurance carriers, TPAs, trustees, auditors, etc.); ensures high quality services are provided for employees in accordance with contractual agreements.
• Addresses employee benefit inquiries and escalations through to resolution in a timely manner; brings forth new and innovative ways to address inquiries and escalations.
• Manages the internal benefits staff and corresponding services provided to employees.
• Develops and tracks monthly benefits expenditures; partners with key FP&A stakeholders to forecast financials for the Benefits organization.
• Contributes to the development and evolution of Benefits strategy, which maximizes the plan offerings to employees while considering cost impact.
• Leads the annual open enrollment process including executing plan rates and plan changes with benefit administration vendors, and assists with developing communications and ensuring renewal changes are reflected in open enrollment materials.
• Ensures accurate and timely fulfillment of all legal compliance activities, including IRS/DOL plan qualification and annual filings, non-discrimination testing, Form 5500s, PCORI, annual audits, coordination activities among staff, plan actuaries/trustees, and internal/external auditors
• Coordinates development, legal review, and distribution of legally mandated materials including Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBCs), Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs), Material Plan Modifications, Plan Amendments and Summary Annual Reports (SARs).
• Oversees team who manages Leaves of Absence administration, including but not limited to: FMLA and State-specific related leaves, Short-Term Disability, and Long-Term Disability.
• Recommends administrative exceptions, policy modifications, and plan amendments to rectify plan administration issues and provide plan interpretation as required.
• Coordinates with internal departments/stakeholders (e.g. Payroll, HRBPs, Finance) to ensure benefits procedures are being administered accurately from end-to-end.
• Leads weekly and bi-weekly meetings with vendor partners to ensure vendors are providing necessary services to Nielsen and its employees.
• Assist in tracking benefit costs, processing invoices, preparing benefit cost analysis, and summarizing employee benefits data.
• Verify billing and invoice statements for accuracy and partner with Procurement and AP teams to ensure timely payments.
• Assist with developing benefits delivery branding, design, and utilization of communication tools to increase awareness of the benefit offerings, including intranet pages, creative email, and other communication campaigns.
• Identifies opportunities for operational improvements and collaborates with cross-functional teams to implement changes effectively

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources or related field
• 7+ years of experience managing Health & Welfare and Defined Contribution plans
• 7+ years of experience working with applicable healthcare laws (ACA, CAA, HIPAA, etc.)
• 7+ years of experience working employment laws (Federal and State FMLA, State-Specific Leaves, ADA, etc.)
• Expert understanding of health benefit plan principles and compliance requirements
• Deep experience managing a self-funded health plan for a large employer
• Strong experience leading a H&W and Retirement team
• Excellent written, verbal, listening capabilities and attention to detail.
• Advanced level expertise in Google Tools (Sheets, Docs, Slides) & Microsoft Office (specifically, Microsoft Excel)
• Ability to effectively manage sensitive and confidential information
• Experience working with SAP & ARIBA tools
• Demonstrated ability to thrive in a rapidly growing, fast-changing, highly collaborative environment alongside experience working in a matrix environment

Nielsen: Enabling your best to power a better media future. Our comprehensive benefits package (including health & wellness plans, 401(k) retirement coupled with a Nielsen match, a generous paid time off policy, company provided car for those who qualify, and if eligible, a discretionary incentive/bonus) is designed to be inclusive for all employees and families, and we take pride in ensuring that employees are rewarded holistically for the role they are doing and their performance.

A reasonable estimate of salary range for a new employee to be offered this role would be $66,000 - $225,000 which would be adjusted based on each employee's geographic location.  The position of each employee within a compensation range at Nielsen is dependent on several individual circumstances, such as experience, training, certifications and other business requirements/needs.  

Nielsen is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action-Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability status, age, marital status, protected veteran status or any other protected class.

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