Benefits & Wellness Analyst

Cherokee Federal•Tulsa, OK

21h

About The Position

Cherokee Federal is seeking an employee-facing Employee Benefits & Wellness Analyst to serve as a trusted resource for employees, HR Business Partners, and business leaders. The role supports employees navigating benefits, leave, disability, accommodations, workers’ compensation, and wellness programs, coordinating complex cases through resolution with Cherokee Nation Businesses and third-party administrators. The analyst supports a geographically diverse workforce, including employees working OCONUS, leads annual open enrollment, and uses data to improve service delivery and the employee experience. The position serves as Cherokee Federal’s primary benefits subject-matter expert and escalation point. It guides employees on enrollment, eligibility, coverage, payroll deductions, retirement plans, COBRA, qualifying life events, and dependent eligibility; coordinates with internal and external administrative partners; and tracks cases through resolution. It also supports international benefits issues, translates project, contract, location, and workforce requirements into practical guidance, and plans and executes open enrollment communications and activities. The analyst coordinates leave and disability cases, supports applicable leave programs, helps employees and managers understand processes and requirements, monitors case status and return-to-work activity, processes short-term disability payroll files, and coordinates workers’ compensation and workplace accommodation cases. The role also develops and administers the employee wellness strategy, programming calendar, and budget; coordinates wellness initiatives; tracks program and case activity; and creates reports and dashboards to identify trends, service gaps, risks, and process improvements. Accurate documentation and protection of confidential employee, benefits, medical, and payroll records are also part of the role. Other job-related duties may be assigned.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, benefits administration, or a related field; equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered.
Three to five years of relevant experience in employee benefits, leave administration, accommodations, disability, workers’ compensation, HR operations, or a related employee-service function.
Working knowledge of applicable benefits, leave, and privacy requirements, including FMLA, ADA, ACA, COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA, and military leave protections including USERRA.
Experience coordinating employee cases with third-party administrators, shared-service teams, payroll teams, benefits partners, or other administrative stakeholders.
Strong employee-service mindset and ability to handle sensitive issues with empathy, discretion, professionalism, and reliable follow-through.
Ability to interpret complex benefits, leave, contract, location, and policy requirements and explain them in plain, practical language.
Strong written communication, presentation, facilitation, customer service, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple cases, deadlines, and competing priorities.
Ability to analyze service data, recognize trends, identify risks or process gaps, and recommend improvements.
Proficiency with HR information systems, Microsoft Excel, and standard Microsoft Office applications.
Ability to work across organizational boundaries, build trusted relationships, and influence outcomes without direct authority.
Ability to travel occasionally based on business need.
Must pass pre-employment qualifications of Cherokee Federal.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting international, OCONUS, government-contract, project-based, or geographically dispersed employee populations.
Experience with Sedgwick or another leave, disability, accommodations, or workers’ compensation administrator.
Experience leading open enrollment, benefits education, employee communications, or wellness programming and budgets.
Experience with Oracle HCM and high-volume data-file processing.
SHRM-CP, PHR, CEBS, or a related benefits, leave, or HR certification.

Responsibilities

Serve as Cherokee Federal’s primary benefits subject-matter expert and escalation point for employees, HR Business Partners, and business leaders.
Guide employees through benefit enrollment, eligibility, coverage, payroll deductions, retirement plans, COBRA, qualifying life events, and dependent eligibility.
Coordinate benefit questions and complex cases with Cherokee Nation Businesses, third-party administrators, shared-service partners, Payroll, Legal, and other stakeholders.
Track benefit cases through resolution, communicate status updates, and provide timely, practical support.
Identify recurring employee issues, coverage gaps, administrative breakdowns, and service risks, and recommend solutions.
Support benefits administration for a large, geographically distributed OCONUS workforce.
Help resolve international benefits issues involving medical coverage, country-specific requirements, medical evacuation and repatriation, assignment transitions, and access to benefit resources.
Translate project, contract, location, and workforce requirements into clear benefit-related guidance for employees and administrative partners.
Plan, coordinate, and execute the annual open enrollment process.
Develop open-enrollment communications, presentations, benefits education sessions, benefits fairs, employee resources, and orientation materials.
Coordinate enrollment troubleshooting, missing-election reconciliation, employee follow-up, and administrative issue resolution.
Serve as the primary coordination and escalation resource for leave cases administered through third-party partners.
Support FMLA, short-term disability, long-term disability, military leave, workers’ compensation, and other applicable federal, state, and local leave programs.
Help employees and managers understand leave processes, responsibilities, documentation requirements, deadlines, and return-to-work expectations.
Monitor leave case status, return-to-work activity, work restrictions, required handoffs, and deadlines.
Process short-term disability payroll files using established data-file upload procedures.
Coordinate workers’ compensation claim handoffs to the appropriate administrator and support follow-up activities.
Coordinate workplace accommodation cases with third-party administrators, employees, managers, HR Business Partners, and Legal.
Track accommodation cases, facilitate timely implementation, protect confidential medical information, and escalate complex or high-risk matters appropriately.
Develop and administer the employee wellness strategy, programming calendar, and budget.
Coordinate wellness campaigns, employee challenges, health fairs, education events, and initiatives supporting physical, mental, financial, and preventive health.
Promote employee assistance, preventive care, and available wellness resources across domestic and OCONUS workforces.
Track benefits, leave, accommodation, workers’ compensation, and wellness activity.
Create reports and dashboards on case volume, resolution time, recurring issues, service performance, wellness participation, utilization, and emerging trends.
Use employee feedback and data to identify service gaps, reduce administrative risk, improve processes, and strengthen the employee experience.
Maintain accurate process documentation, employee resources, escalation procedures, and confidential employee, benefits, medical, and payroll records.
Perform other job-related duties as assigned.