Director, Benefits

Fortune Brands•Deerfield, IL

5d•$140,000 - $220,000

About The Position

The Director, Benefits, is responsible for the strategic design, governance, and ongoing evolution of the company's health and welfare, retirement, and wellbeing programs. This leader will partner closely with HR Operations, HR Business Partners, Centers of Excellence, Finance, business leaders, brokers, consultants, actuaries, and external vendors to ensure programs remain competitive, financially sustainable, compliant, and aligned with the organization's long-term talent and business objectives. This role leads benefits operations and administration while assessing, strengthening, and optimizing the company's health and welfare and retirement programs across the U.S. and Canada through thoughtful plan design, operational excellence, and effective vendor partnerships. In addition, this leader will support the continued development of the company's global benefits strategy over time. The successful candidate will bring a balance of strategic thinking and hands-on execution, with the ability to challenge conventional approaches, influence stakeholders, leverage data and financial insights, and lead continuous improvement across the benefits function.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, or a related field.
Minimum of ten (10) years progressive experience in benefits design, administration, and management, including experience leading and developing benefits or total rewards teams.
Demonstrated experience leading benefits strategy, plan design, and program evolution, along with the administration and governance of U.S. health and welfare programs; experience supporting benefits programs in at least one additional geographic region required.
Experience assessing and improving benefits operations, processes, and service delivery while maintaining a strong employee experience.
Experience partnering with brokers, consultants, actuaries, and Finance teams to evaluate benefit program performance, funding strategies, and cost management opportunities.
Strong financial and analytical acumen, including the ability to interpret benefits-related financial data, funding models, actuarial analyses, and market benchmarking information.
Experience working with large-scale commercial HRIS and benefits administration platforms.
Strong communication, organizational, project management, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate complex benefits programs and regulatory requirements to diverse audiences and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment, discretion, and confidentiality.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting benefits programs within a manufacturing or industrial organization, strongly preferred.
Experience with Workday and/or Businessolver, preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the design, evaluation, and evolution of health, welfare, retirement, and wellbeing programs to support employee needs and long-term business objectives.
Lead the evolution of the company's wellbeing strategy and programs, ensuring alignment with employee needs and organizational priorities.
Develop recommendations based on market trends, competitive benchmarking, financial analysis, employee needs, and organizational priorities.
Monitor market trends, competitive practices, and regulatory developments and translate insights into recommendations for future program design.
Support the continued development of the company's global benefits strategy through collaboration with regional stakeholders and leaders.
Evaluate and improve benefits administration processes, service delivery, governance, and employee experience.
Partner closely with HR Operations, Payroll, and HRIS teams to support system changes, reporting needs, process improvements, and operational effectiveness.
Provide oversight into the annual enrollment strategy and execution, ensuring an effective and positive employee experience.
Lead relationships with brokers, consultants, actuaries, and benefits vendors, leveraging their expertise to evaluate plan performance, funding strategies, emerging risks, and cost management opportunities while ensuring strong partner performance, accountability, and value realization.
Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, provincial, and regulatory requirements, including ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, FMLA, ADA, and related legislation.
Lead HIPAA privacy administration, training, and governance, including management of Business Associate Agreements.
Assess the impact of legislative and regulatory changes on benefit programs and recommend appropriate actions.
Serve as a key member of the Employee Benefits Committee and support effective governance practices.
Lead, develop, and support a team responsible for retirement programs, benefits operations, leave administration, analytics, and health and welfare administration.
Create an environment of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and professional development.
Provide guidance on complex benefit issues and escalations while empowering team members to effectively support associates and stakeholders.
Evaluate team structure, processes, and ways of working to ensure the function is positioned to meet current and future business needs.