Health & Welfare Benefits Program Manager

Health & Welfare Benefits Program Manager
2-Month Temporary Assignment | Hybrid 3-Day in office
Location: Boston, MA OR Paramus, NJ
Payrate: $50.00-57.97 an hour

Are you a seasoned Health & Welfare Benefits expert who can step into a fast-paced environment and make an immediate impact?
What You'll Own
In this role, you'll be responsible for the execution of key benefits programs, projects, and priorities, including:

• Health & Welfare Programs: Manage and support medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, wellness, life insurance, savings accounts, and voluntary benefit programs.
• M&A & Integration: Lead benefits-related projects for acquired companies, including implementation and harmonization of competitive benefit programs.
• Compliance: Partner with Legal, ERISA counsel, vendors, HR, and internal stakeholders to ensure health & welfare plans meet applicable regulatory and compliance requirements.
• Vendor Management: Serve as a key liaison to third-party benefits administrators, monitoring performance, metrics, service quality, escalations, and new program implementations.
• Employee Communications: Help develop and deliver benefits communications and education that increase employee understanding, engagement, attraction, and retention.
• Complex Problem Solving: Take ownership of sensitive, high-risk, and complex benefits issues and serve as a Tier 3 escalation point when needed.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Partner with HR, Benefits Administration, HR Operations, HRIS, Finance, Legal, and external vendors to execute projects and resolve issues.
• Program Administration: Ensure benefits programs and processes are accurately documented, properly administered, and consistently delivered at a high standard.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to strengthen processes, improve service delivery, and enhance the employee benefits experience.

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of progressive experience designing, managing, and delivering health & welfare benefit programs, preferably within large organizations.
• Strong expertise across medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, wellness, and related health & welfare programs.
• Experience with M&A benefits integration and harmonization.
• Experience working with multiple unions and complex plan designs.
• Experience managing self-funded healthcare plans, including vendor relationships, audits, negotiations, and escalations.
• Strong knowledge of federal and state benefits regulations and compliance requirements.
• Experience managing benefits budgets, cost analysis, and partnering with Finance.
• HRIS and Workday experience required.
• Experience working within HR Shared Services and/or outsourced HR Operations environments.
• Strong project management, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building, influencing, and negotiation abilities.
• High level of discretion and ability to handle confidential information.

Why This Assignment?
This is more than a short-term coverage role. It's an opportunity to step into a high-impact Benefits function, bring your expertise to the table, lead meaningful projects, and make an immediate difference during a critical transition period.
If you're an experienced Health & Welfare Benefits professional looking for a challenging short-term opportunity where your expertise will be valued from day one, we'd love to hear from you.

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