Analyst II - HR Benefits

FirstEnergy•Akron, OH

10d

About The Position

The Analyst provides analytical, financial, compliance, and program support across the organization’s Total Rewards portfolio, primarily focusing on Health & Welfare Programs. The role combines knowledge of employee benefit programs with financial and analytical capabilities to evaluate program performance, support forecasting and budgeting, fulfill regulatory and financial reporting requirements, and provide insights for Total Rewards strategy and decision-making. The Analyst develops an understanding of how benefit programs operate, are funded and administered, and how financial, utilization, compliance, and vendor data relate to Total Rewards strategy. The role partners with Benefits leadership, Finance, Accounting, Rates, vendors, consultants, and internal stakeholders to turn program data into business insights and recommendations. The position analyzes benefits program costs, utilization, participation, employee experience, vendor performance, and trends; supports financial planning and reporting; assists with regulatory compliance and audits; and develops reporting and recommendations for leadership. It also supports vendor performance evaluation, implementations, renewals, plan changes, requests for proposal, and other benefit initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Analytics, or a related discipline.
Experience supporting employee benefits, Total Rewards, corporate finance, benefits consulting, or a related function.
Working knowledge of Health & Welfare benefit programs and their financial and administrative structure.
Strong analytical and financial skills, including ability to interpret benefit-related financial, claims, utilization, and vendor data.
Experience with budgeting, forecasting, financial reconciliations, or variance analysis.
Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including working with and reconciling large datasets.
Ability to translate detailed financial and benefit information into concise insights for business leaders.
Strong attention to detail and ability to manage reporting and compliance deliverables against established deadlines.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with internal stakeholders and external vendors.

Nice To Haves

Experience with self-insured Health & Welfare plans.
Experience supporting ACA compliance and reporting.
Familiarity with OPEB financial reporting and actuarial processes.
Experience analyzing medical and pharmacy claims, utilization, and cost trends.
Experience working with benefit consultants, actuaries, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers, or other benefit vendors.
Knowledge of Workers’ Compensation financial reporting, budgeting, or program performance.
Experience creating executive-level benefit analyses, presentations, dashboards, or vendor scorecards.

Responsibilities

Develop working knowledge of the organization’s Health & Welfare and Total Rewards programs, including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, wellness, and other benefit programs.
Evaluate program cost, utilization, participation, employee experience, vendor performance, and emerging trends; provide responses to rate case inquiries.
Analyze program results to identify cost drivers, utilization trends, opportunities, risks, and areas needing further review.
Support evaluation of benefit plan design changes, new programs, vendor solutions, and Total Rewards initiatives.
Assist with business cases and financial analyses for proposed benefit changes and investments.
Translate complex benefit and financial information into concise findings and recommendations for leadership.
Partner with Finance and Accounting on development and management of annual Total Rewards budgets.
Support annual budgeting, forecasting, accruals, and variance analysis for Total Rewards programs.
Monitor actual program expenses against budget and forecast, and investigate significant variances.
Analyze medical, pharmacy, administrative, insurance premium, Workers’ Compensation, and other benefit-related expenses.
Forecast benefit costs using enrollment, claims experience, utilization, trend, plan changes, contractual fees, and other cost drivers.
Prepare recurring financial analyses and management reports on benefit program and Total Rewards financial performance.
Evaluate potential benefit changes and programs, including anticipated cost, savings, return on investment, and employee impact.
Support required Health & Welfare regulatory, financial, and compliance reporting.
Coordinate data collection, validation, reconciliation, and reporting for Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) obligations and related financial reporting.
Support Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance activities, including data validation, monitoring, reconciliation, and annual reporting.
Assist with Total Rewards-related audits and rate case requests from Finance, Accounting, Internal Audit, external auditors, consultants, and other stakeholders.
Maintain documentation and controls supporting benefit reporting and compliance requirements.
Partner with Total Rewards subject-matter experts and external partners to ensure reporting deliverables are accurate and completed on time.
Work with vendors, consultants, actuaries, and external partners to obtain, validate, and interpret program data.
Develop and maintain vendor and program performance reporting, including financial, operational, service, utilization, and employee experience measures.
Monitor vendor performance against contractual commitments, service-level agreements, performance guarantees, and program objectives.
Partner with vendors to investigate trends, discrepancies, cost drivers, and performance concerns.
Prepare scorecards and analyses to help leadership evaluate vendor effectiveness and program value.
Support vendor implementations, renewals, plan changes, requests for proposal, and other strategic benefit initiatives.
Analyze Health & Welfare claims, enrollment, utilization, financial, demographic, and vendor-provided data to identify program trends and insights.
Prepare dashboards, scorecards, presentations, and executive-level summaries of benefit program performance.
Perform data reconciliations and quality reviews to ensure information used for financial, compliance, and management reporting is complete and accurate.
Partner with reporting and data analytics teams when complex data extraction, modeling, visualization, or system-based reporting is required.
Convert analytical findings into actionable Total Rewards insights.
Collaborate with internal stakeholders and external vendors to support benefit program analysis and decision-making.