Benefits Lead

Nebius

5h•$140,000 - $180,000

About The Position

Nebius is hiring a Benefits Lead to lead the design, delivery, and administration of employee benefit programs for employees in the United States. The role serves as the senior U.S. benefits specialist and trusted advisor to Total Rewards Leadership. It owns the outsourced benefits administration relationship with the Administrative Services Organization (ASO), carriers, administrators, and other third parties, holding vendors to service standards and resolving escalated issues to protect the employee experience and the financial and legal integrity of the programs. The Benefits Lead also helps shape the U.S. benefits delivery model, including evaluating the ASO arrangement and possible transitions to direct-to-carrier programs. The role oversees U.S. benefits, renewal analysis, benchmarking, open enrollment, compliance, audits, leave administration, and escalations. It operates with a high degree of autonomy, makes timely policy recommendations in a fast-moving environment, challenges senior stakeholders and existing processes, and takes ownership of change initiatives as part of the wider Total Rewards team. Nebius is an Amsterdam-headquartered AI cloud infrastructure company listed on Nasdaq (NBIS), with a global footprint and a team of more than 1,500. The company describes its culture as fast-moving, bold, growth-oriented, impactful, and built on trust and ownership.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
At least 8 years of experience administering benefit programs, including open enrollment and renewals, and guiding other specialists.
Experience managing fully managed U.S. benefits programs delivered through an ASO, including co-employment responsibilities.
Strong vendor management experience as the primary contact and relationship owner for a principal vendor and its third parties, including holding vendors to service standards and leading escalations and service-level discussions.
Experience benchmarking benefits against the high-tech market and developing plan design, cost, and policy recommendations for senior HR leadership.
Experience owning benefits compliance and filings, such as ACA, ERISA, Form 5500, COBRA, and nondiscrimination testing, and setting benefits administration procedures.
Ability to work autonomously, make policy recommendations from limited information within tight timeframes, and influence and challenge senior stakeholders.
Experience using an HRIS, benefits administration system, payroll system, spreadsheet software with advanced functions, and reporting or analytics tools.

Nice To Haves

Experience on an in-house benefits team.
Experience transitioning from an ASO to self-managed programs.
Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), or similar certification.

Responsibilities

Oversee the U.S. benefits portfolio, including health, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement, and voluntary benefits; set standards with the ASO and direct resolution of eligibility and coverage matters.
Own the ASO relationship, uphold contractual service standards, lead performance reviews, escalations, and service-level discussions, and manage the division of responsibilities with the ASO.
Benchmark the U.S. benefits portfolio and develop plan design, cost, and policy recommendations for Total Rewards Leadership in support of the company benefits strategy.
Lead renewal analysis with the ASO and broker partners, model plan design and cost scenarios, and present renewal and plan-change recommendations to HR leadership.
Own end-to-end annual open enrollment delivery, including the plan, timeline, communications, vendor execution, and decision guidelines for qualifying life events and status changes.
Own the U.S. benefits compliance calendar and work with the ASO and plan advisors to confirm filings, nondiscrimination testing, and retirement plan operations meet requirements; propose procedures in response to new regulations.
Establish audit protocols and data-integrity standards for benefits records and data feeds between the HRIS, ASO, and carriers; oversee billing and reconciliation controls and resolve escalated financial discrepancies.
Establish leave administration procedures and decision guidelines under U.S. federal and state leave laws and company policy; resolve complex leave and accommodation cases with the ASO.
Serve as the final internal escalation point for U.S. benefits issues, guide other benefits specialists, and set team service standards and response guidelines.
Operate autonomously, challenge senior stakeholders and existing processes, and take ownership of change initiatives and timely policy recommendations.
Help shape the U.S. benefits delivery model, including evaluating the ASO arrangement and potential transition to direct-to-carrier programs.