Health & Welfare Benefits Manager

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We are seeking a Health & Welfare Benefits Manager to lead a team in support of APL's health and welfare plans. As a member of APL's Talent Services team, you'll contribute to our core purpose to build community, ignite talent, and partner to enable defining innovations. This role involves providing leadership direction and support to staff benefits team members, fostering a collaborative and supportive team environment, and managing health and welfare plans by leading vendor relationship management oversight, conducting renewal negotiations, reviewing competitive market analyses, and evaluating and recommending plan design modifications. The position also requires presenting renewal recommendations to senior and executive leadership, coordinating implications of changes to HRIS and other communications, defining and analyzing vendor data to evaluate plan and program effectiveness, monitoring compliance regulations, leading benefits communications, preparing summaries and research for claim appeals, and serving as an advisor to the Laboratory's Benefits Committee.

Requirements

A Bachelor's Degree in human resources or related field or equivalent years of experience and a minimum 8 years specialized health and welfare plan management experience concurrent with at least 4 years of people leadership experience.
Experience with large self-funded medical plans and vendor management.
Knowledge of ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA and other applicable regulations.
Proven ability to mentor and develop staff, cultivate positive relationships and contribute to building a strong team.
Superior customer service, teamwork and interpersonal skills.
Demonstrated excellent problem solving skills with demonstrated proactive initiative in tackling issues.
Demonstrated excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills.
Exceptional organizational skills, ability to meet deadlines and attention to detail.
Data analysis experience to convey meaningful insights and actionable recommendations and advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office products (i.e. Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
Hold US Citizenship or permanent resident status, as required to access APL’s facilities and networks, subject to applicable laws.

Nice To Haves

A Master's Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration or related field.
Experience with Workday Human Resources Information System.
Formal benefits certification such as CEBS or World@Work Certified Benefits Professional.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership direction and support to staff benefits team members.
Build an environment that stimulates growth, innovation and inspires staff to make meaningful contributions through regular touch points including conducting regular performance coaching and career development discussions.
Foster a collaborative and supportive team environment by encouraging teamwork, knowledge-sharing, and continuous learning to strengthen service delivery and support operational excellence.
Promote a culture of professionalism, accountability, and exceptional customer service with open communication and supporting the team through change.
Manage health and welfare plans by leading vendor relationship management oversight, conducting renewal negotiations, reviewing competitive market analyses and evaluating and recommending plan design modifications as appropriate in support of objectives identified by Laboratory leadership and the Benefits Committee.
Present renewal recommendations to senior and executive leadership.
Coordinate implication of changes to HRIS, Plan Documents (i.e., SPD) and other communications outlets such as website and enrollment materials.
Define, obtain and analyze vendor data to evaluate plan and program effectiveness. Data examples include plan utilization, financial results, network adequacy statistics, fee data and overall vendor cost management. Assess performance of existing programs through research, surveys and trends analysis.
Monitor existing compliance regulations and emerging legislation. Analyze and report on impact of emerging legislation to the Laboratory's plans. Support compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Lead benefits communications, including managing updates to the Summary Plan Description and other documentation, and oversee updates to staff benefits website. Represent staff benefits on collaborative TSX/Communications Department communication team.
Prepare summaries, conduct research and present claim appeals to the Appeals Committee for consideration. Prepare appeal response for Committee Chair and provide appeal determinations to vendors.
Serve as advisor and resource to the Laboratory's Benefits Committee through engaged participation in Committee meetings and related work.