Manager, U.S. Health Care Benefits Administration

Ford • Dearborn, MI

3d • $115,500 - $218,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

As part of our Human Resources team, you’ll help us attract, hire and retain the top talent we need to achieve our bold vision. You’ll play a vital role in defining, developing and maintaining the winning culture that empowers diverse individuals to work together and create the impossible. We’re seeking change leaders, talent strategists, employee advocates and culture architects to enable our teams, partners, and businesses to do and be their best.

In this position...
The Manager, U.S. Health Care Administration leads the operational excellence, administration, and execution of Ford's U.S. health care benefits programs. This role partners closely with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to ensure strategy is grounded in administrative feasibility and executed flawlessly. The ideal candidate is a strong operational leader with deep expertise in benefits administration, compliance, and vendor management, who can serve as a critical execution partner to the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design.

This role is hybrid and requires at least 4 days per week onsite in Dearborn, MI.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Health Care Administration, or a related field (Master's preferred).
• Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in employee benefits, with at least 4-6 years focused on health care benefits administration in a large, complex organization (Fortune 500 or comparable experience strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated experience administering health care benefits in a unionized environment; exposure to labor negotiations support is a plus.
• Experience managing vendor relationships, performance management, and contract administration in the health care benefits space.
• Strong operational execution skills, with demonstrated ability to translate strategy into action and drive results through process discipline.
• Comfort operating with autonomy and directly supporting executive leadership.
• Track record of building and leading teams focused on service delivery and operational excellence.
• Solid knowledge of federal and state benefits legislation (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA) and compliance requirements.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, assess feasibility, and generate actionable recommendations.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate clearly and confidently with executive leadership and collaborate effectively with a peer strategy leader.
• Proven project management and coaching skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

• Professional certification such as CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) or similar.
• Experience with self-insured health plans, actuarial valuation processes, and claims analytics.
• Experience in automotive, large industrial, manufacturing, or other heavily unionized industries.

Responsibilities

• Own the consistent, accurate, and compliant day-to-day administration of health care programs across union and non-union populations.
• Manage the health care benefits budget execution, cost tracking, and financial reporting; partner with Finance and actuarial consultants on funding administration.
• Drive continuous improvement in processes, systems, and service delivery, ensuring adherence to collective bargaining agreements, regulatory requirements, and internal policy.
• Lead annual enrollment execution, including vendor system readiness, communications rollout, and issue resolution.
• Serve as primary escalation point for complex administrative and compliance issues, with direct visibility to the Executive Director on significant matters.
• Partner with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to pressure-test proposed plan design changes, vendor strategies, and negotiations proposals for administrative feasibility, implementation risk, and member experience impact.
• Provide operational data, historical administration performance, and process expertise to inform strategy development.
• Lead the detailed implementation planning and execution once strategy and negotiated outcomes are finalized, ensuring smooth, well-sequenced rollout.
• Serve as a senior negotiator for health care benefits in collective bargaining, shaping proposals that balance business sustainability with union partnership and employee value.
• Develop detailed bargaining strategies, scenario modeling, and long-term cost projections to inform executive decision-making and negotiation positioning.
• Build strategic relationships with union leadership to foster collaboration, mutual understanding, and creative problem-solving for complex health care challenges.
• Translate negotiated agreements into actionable implementation roadmaps, then lead team to implement.
• Manage day-to-day vendor relationships to consistently deliver operational excellence, ensuring industry leading service level agreements and performance standards are met.
• Lead vendor benchmarking and market testing processes (e.g., RFPs, RFQs) by evaluating proposals for strategic fit and administrative and operational feasibility, coordinating due diligence, and ensuring seamless implementation once vendors are selected.
• Design and oversee best-in-class vendor governance frameworks; escalate performance issues and manage contract administration and renewals.
• Implement governance structures, policies, and procedures to ensure equitable, compliant, and consistent benefit delivery.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state, and local regulations (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA) and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Identify and mitigate operational and compliance risks through proactive monitoring and audit support.
• Build and lead a team focused on operational excellence, coaching members to strengthen operational excellence, build technical expertise, and deliver best-in-class member experience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Manage change execution for benefits transformation initiatives, ensuring smooth adoption and minimal disruption.
• Act as a trusted operational partner to the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design and cross-functional stakeholders (Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, IT, Labor Relations).

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage.
• Flexible family care days, paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more.
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments, and more.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Established and active employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• A generous schedule of paid holidays, including the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
• Paid time off and the option to purchase additional vacation time.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager