Director, North America Benefits

Thomson Reuters•Eagan, MN

22h•$137,200 - $254,800•Hybrid

About The Position

As Director, North America Benefits, you own the strategic direction of every US and Canada benefit program - retirement, health and welfare, wellbeing and the ancillary programs around them - and you make sure they support the company's objectives and fit the wider Reward architecture. You lead a strong team of expert benefits managers and analysts across both countries, and you work with Reward, the wider People team and business leaders to design, optimize and deliver programs that help Thomson Reuters attract and keep the talent it needs while getting real value from the investment. You are one of two Benefits Directors. The Director, International Benefits owns everything outside the US and Canada; between you, you will assess and propose the global benefits strategy and agenda, working with and reporting to the Head of Reward. What you drive for North America shapes the experience of the company's largest employee population, so the standard is high: competitive programs, defensible costs, clean governance, and an experience employees can easily navigate. You set the design agenda, hold the vendor relationships that matter, chair and act as a member of key plan committees, and make the hiring, performance and pay decisions that shape your team. You will inherit a live agenda: a run of vendor transitions, annual enrollment for both countries, and M&A and divestiture activity in a fast-moving company.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in a broad, benefits-focused role, including at least five years leading teams.
Experience across a wide range of North American benefit programs: retirement (defined benefit, defined contribution and non-qualified plans), health and welfare plans, ancillary benefits and the HR policies around them.
Demonstrated people leadership: hiring, performance management, development and pay decisions, including difficult conversations handled well.
Strong working knowledge of IRS, DOL, ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA and FMLA regulation, and of the Canadian equivalents.
Strong financial and quantitative skills, with the ability to use data analysis to derive insight and support fact-based decisions rather than to justify decisions already made.
A record of building business cases and writing papers for committee and Board audiences.
The ability to partner with and influence people across HR and the business without formal authority over them.
Comfort with technology, and demonstrated experience delivering benefit programs and communications through digital platforms.
An effective communicator at every level, with a genuine service orientation toward employees.

Nice To Haves

A bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
Advanced certification such as CEBS or SHRM.
Experience leading benefits through M&A, divestiture or outsourcing transitions.
Experience of defined benefit de-risking, including annuity purchase.
Experience working in a large, global, matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

Work with your team to drive the design, implementation and delivery of competitive, innovative and cost-efficient benefit programs across the US and Canada.
Create an exceptional employee experience by making it easy for employees to understand and use their benefits and wellbeing programs.
Drive operational excellence through continuous vendor improvement, process simplification and automation, and make sure the platforms and vendors employees touch deliver a best-in-class experience.
Partner with Sourcing and with TR's brokers to lead contract negotiations on strategic vendor renewals, securing the best terms and service levels the company can get.
Provide leadership on high-profile projects - plan redesigns, major vendor implementations, M&A and divestitures, outsourcing, and defined benefit de-risking including annuity purchase.
Ensure North America health and retirement programs support the global wellbeing strategy and the wider Reward agenda.
Communicate effectively across the organization and build the relationships with business partners, senior leadership and corporate functions that let you get things done.
Lead a team of benefits managers and analysts across the US and Canada end to end: work direction, performance management, development, compensation recommendations and resource allocation.
Coach on plan design, vendor management and financial analysis: raise the already high standards of the team.
Work with the Head of Reward and Director, International Benefits to deliver skills and career development across the team.
Oversee IBNR, fringe and the various benefits and retirement budgets and cost centers for North America.
Develop the benefit pricing strategy and put recommendations to senior leadership with the analysis behind them.
Partner with Sourcing and with brokers to identify cost savings and avoidance opportunities, and build the case for where the money is better spent.
Manage invoice approvals up to applicable thresholds.
Oversee compliance and governance of North America benefit plans, ensuring alignment with internal controls and audit requirements.
Serve as a plan fiduciary.
Chair the US and Canada Design, Compliance and Administration retirement plan sub-committee.
Serve on the Investment & Funding and Canadian Pension Management committees, and on the ERISA appeal and severance committees.
Keep the company ahead of regulatory change rather than reacting to it.
Own the communication strategy for North America benefits, so that awareness and engagement match the investment behind the programs.
Make sure the systems and platforms employees use to manage their benefits deliver a genuinely good user experience.
Develop data-driven proposals and measure the efficiency of the benefits spend using financial data, competitive benchmarking, claims data, plan participation, market trends and demographic change.
Benchmark programs continually to keep them competitive, and provide regular reporting on market trends, thought leadership and competitor practice.
Build business cases and write the papers that go to Committee and to the Board.
Apply rigorous metrics to measure whether benefit programs and initiatives are actually working.
Work with the Director, International Benefits so that the global benefits agenda is coherent and compelling.
Support the HR M&A team on due diligence, contracting and integration for North America transactions.
Sponsor cross-team initiatives on process design, benefits systems and tooling, reporting standards and vendor governance.
Take on additional duties and special projects that raise the performance of the wider Reward team.

Benefits

Flexible hybrid working environment
Flex My Way policies
Work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year
Grow My Way programming
Skills-first approach
Flexible vacation
Two company-wide Mental Health Days off
Access to the Headspace app
Retirement savings
Tuition reimbursement
Employee incentive programs
Resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing
Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance
Two paid volunteer days off annually
Opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
Market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs
Competitive 401k plan with company match
Competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off
Paid holidays
Parental leave
Sabbatical leave
Optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee
Optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee
Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts
Fitness reimbursement
Access to Employee Assistance Program
Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee
Access to 529 Plan
Commuter benefits
Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance
Access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan