Lead, Retirement Benefits

Newell Brands•Remo, VA

18h•$84,000 - $115,500•Remote

About The Position

The Lead, Retirement Benefits provides operational leadership for the company’s retirement programs and employee financial wellbeing strategy. The role helps set program direction and establish governance and performance standards; oversees plan administration, compliance, financial stewardship, vendors, and complex change initiatives; and advises Total Rewards leadership and plan governance committees on risks, priorities, and investment decisions. The Lead operationalizes strategies that strengthen employees’ financial security and retirement readiness, serves as the retirement benefits subject matter expert and strategic owner for employee communications and education, and uses dashboards, scorecards, and workforce insights to drive measurable outcomes. The role supports cross-functional partners and ensures programs are delivered accurately, efficiently, and consistently with plan documents, internal controls, fiduciary responsibilities, and applicable requirements. The position is remote anywhere in the United States, with Eastern and Central Time Zones preferred. It reports to the Director, Benefits and has no direct reports.

Requirements

4+ years of progressively responsible experience in retirement benefits, employee benefits, retirement plan administration, or a related field, including responsibility for leading complex programs, projects, or workstreams.
Strong knowledge of defined contribution plans and applicable ERISA, Internal Revenue Code, fiduciary, governance, and compliance requirements.
Demonstrated experience setting program priorities and leading retirement plan operations, governance, compliance, vendor management, audits, internal controls, escalated issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
Demonstrated experience developing and executing employee financial wellbeing, financial security, or retirement readiness strategies with defined objectives, measurable outcomes, and integrated communications and education.
Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including data validation, reconciliation, analysis, and reporting.
Experience with HRIS, payroll interfaces, retirement recordkeeping platforms, business intelligence, or dashboard tools.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading retirement programs in a large, multi-entity, publicly traded, or otherwise complex organization.
Experience leading plan design changes, conversions, vendor selections or implementations, and other complex transformation initiatives.

Responsibilities

Execute strategic direction and operating priorities for the company’s defined contribution benefit plan, balancing employee needs, fiduciary responsibilities, financial stewardship, operational excellence, and alignment with the broader Total Rewards strategy.
Lead end-to-end retirement plan administration and governance; establish annual objectives, operating standards, decision frameworks, risk controls, and performance expectations to ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient program delivery.
Own relationships with recordkeepers, trustees, actuaries, consultants, and other partners; direct governance routines, evaluate performance and fees, enforce service-level commitments, resolve escalated issues, and hold vendors accountable for timely corrective action and continuous improvement.
Manage annual compliance, fiduciary, and governance activities, including nondiscrimination testing, contribution limit monitoring, government filings, participant notices, plan audits, committee materials, and required data collection; escalate material risks and ensure timely remediation.
Execute a comprehensive employee financial wellbeing and financial security strategy that improves retirement readiness across key financial life stages. Assess workforce needs and behaviors, establish priorities and measurable goals, and integrate retirement savings, emergency savings, budgeting, debt management, investing, and retirement income education with broader Total Rewards and business objectives.
Lead the design, implementation, and ongoing management of financial wellbeing programs, tools, resources, and vendor solutions. Establish the program roadmap, prioritize initiatives, sponsor change, address service gaps, and ensure offerings are accessible, inclusive, relevant, scalable, and cost-effective.
Define and monitor financial wellbeing success measures, including engagement, utilization, retirement preparedness, savings behaviors, and employee outcomes. Use workforce insights to direct targeted interventions and present recommendations to Total Rewards leadership on program priorities and investments.
Act as the retirement benefits subject matter expert for employee communications and education; set the communication and education strategy, approve content, guide campaigns and events, and partner with internal stakeholders and vendors to deliver clear, accurate, engaging, and inclusive decision-support resources.
Own the quarterly retirement plan dashboard and scorecard; establish key performance, risk, service, and employee outcome measures; validate insights; and present trends, emerging issues, and recommended actions to Total Rewards leadership and plan governance committees.
Direct analysis of plan, participant, demographic, payroll, and vendor data to identify trends, risks, disparities, and opportunities; translate findings into strategic recommendations and ensure agreed actions are implemented and measured.
Maintain management oversight of reconciliations, corrections, controls, procedures, plan records, calendars, and audit-ready documentation; assign accountability, monitor issue resolution, identify root causes, and sponsor sustainable preventive improvements.
Monitor legislative, regulatory, market, and industry developments; assess strategic, plan, operational, financial, and communication impacts; brief leadership; and lead implementation of required or recommended changes.