Director, Policy Design – Global Employee Leave & Accommodations

Mastercard•O'fallon, MO

3d•$146,000 - $269,000•Onsite

About The Position

Lead the design, policy architecture, governance, and evolution of global employee leave of absence, time off, and medical accommodation programs. This role is responsible for establishing a consistent global framework while partnering with regional benefit leads to ensure programs are adaptable and compliant to local requirements. The role also serves as the regional lead for North America leave, time off, and medical accommodations, including oversight of the U.S. worksite Health Centers and contract nursing staff.

Requirements

Significant experience in global benefits, with deep operational and strategic expertise in leave of absence, disability, and medical accommodations
Strong knowledge of global regulatory environments related to leave and workplace accommodations
Proven experience designing and implementing global policies and governance frameworks
Experience evaluating and managing external vendors and service providers
Strong financial acumen, including management of large and complex budgets
Strategic thinker with the ability to translate vision into globally scalable, practical solutions
Ability to operate independently and manage competing priorities effectively
Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills
Excellent project management, organizational, communication, and presentation skills
Analytical mindset with the ability to assess data, identify trends, and develop recommendations
Enterprise mindset with the ability to balance global consistency and regional flexibility
Trusted advisor who proactively identifies opportunities to improve programs, processes, and employee experience

Responsibilities

Design and maintain global frameworks for company leave and time off programs, including medical leave, disability, parental leave, bereavement leave, PTO, etc.
Establish governance models and guardrails that drive consistency across regions while allowing for local compliance and market-based practices
Partner with regional leads and legal/compliance teams to ensure alignment with country-specific regulations and requirements
Continuously evolve policies and programs to align with business strategy, employee experience, and external market practices
Lead the development and implementation of a global medical accommodations framework, including policies, processes, and tools to support local teams
Provide subject matter expertise on complex leave and accommodation cases to support consistency and risk mitigation
Partner with external counsel and consultants to monitor global legislative developments impacting time off and leave policies and ensure timely updates.
Drive standardization and scalability of leave and accommodations practices globally
Partner with internal People Services team to design and implement a global leave service center, including workflows, service standards, and operating processes
Evaluate and recommend outsourcing versus insourcing strategies for global leave administration
Partner with internal stakeholders and service delivery teams to ensure effective and efficient program execution
Ensure consistent practice related to offsets for state or local country regulatory leave programs.
Leverage data and metrics to track absence trends, manage vendor performance, evaluate risk, and optimize company spend
Design and manage compliant employee leave, disability and accommodation programs including: Federal and state/provincial family and medical leave programs, Paid/Unpaid family and medical leave, sick leave, Short- and long-term disability coordination, Military leave, Personal and company-sponsored leaves of absence, ADA and other workplace accommodation requests
Serve as subject matter expert on leave and accommodation compliance requirements, including FMLA, ADA, PWFA, USERRA, and state/local paid leave laws; serve as the enterprise authority on complex overlapping entitlements, including interaction between time off, paid leave programs, unpaid statutory leaves (e.g., FMLA), disability benefits, and accommodations
Develop and maintain policies, procedures, employee communications, training materials, and operational documentation
Monitor legislative and regulatory developments and recommend policy or process updates as needed
Serve as escalation point for complex or sensitive employee leave and accommodation cases, in partnership with Employee Relations and Legal
Oversee U.S. health center strategy and operations, ensuring alignment with overall benefits strategy
Supervise contract health center staff
Manage vendor relationships and monitor service quality, cost effectiveness, and compliance
Support the SVP, Global Benefits & Wellbeing in driving key global initiatives across the benefits portfolio
Provide project management support across the benefits function with a global integrated perspective
Develop executive-level presentations, business cases, and communications to support decision-making
Track and manage Global Benefits budget

Benefits

insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance)
flexible spending account and health savings account
16 weeks of new parent leave
up to 20 days of bereavement leave
80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time
25 days of vacation time
5 personal days
10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays
401k with a best-in-class company match
deferred compensation for eligible roles
fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities
eligibility for tuition reimbursement