Manager, U.S. Health Care Benefits Administration

Ford Motor Company • Dearborn, MI

4d • $115,500 - $218,100 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Manager, U.S. Health Care Benefits Administration leads the operational excellence, administration, and execution of Ford’s U.S. health care benefits programs across union and non-union populations. The role partners closely with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to ensure program strategies are administratively feasible and implemented effectively. Responsibilities include benefits plan administration, budget execution and reporting, annual enrollment, labor negotiations support, vendor management, governance, compliance, implementation planning, and team leadership. The position is hybrid and requires onsite work at least four days per week in Dearborn, Michigan.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Health Care Administration, or a related field.
• At least 7–10 years of progressive employee benefits experience, including at least 4–6 years focused on health care benefits administration in a large, complex organization.
• Strong operational leadership and expertise in benefits administration, compliance, and vendor management.
• Ability to translate strategy into action and drive results through disciplined processes.
• Knowledge of federal and state benefits legislation and compliance requirements, including ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to interpret data, assess feasibility, and develop actionable recommendations.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including communicating with executive leadership and collaborating with a peer strategy leader.
• Project management and coaching skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree.
• Experience in a Fortune 500 or comparable organization.
• Experience administering health care benefits in a unionized environment and exposure to labor negotiations support.
• Experience managing health care benefits vendors, performance, and contracts.
• Ability to operate autonomously and support executive leadership directly.
• Experience building and leading teams focused on service delivery and operational excellence.
• 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 accurate, consistent, and compliant day-to-day administration of health care programs for union and non-union populations.
• Manage health care benefits budget execution, cost tracking, and financial reporting; partner with Finance and actuarial consultants on funding administration.
• Improve processes, systems, and service delivery while ensuring compliance with collective bargaining agreements, regulations, and internal policies.
• Lead annual enrollment, including vendor system readiness, communications, and issue resolution.
• Act as the primary escalation point for complex administrative and compliance issues, providing significant-matter visibility to the Executive Director.
• Partner with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to assess plan design changes, vendor strategies, and negotiation proposals for feasibility, implementation risk, and member experience impact.
• Provide operational data, historical performance information, and process expertise to inform strategy development.
• Lead implementation planning and execution after strategies and negotiated outcomes are finalized.
• Serve as a senior health care benefits negotiator in collective bargaining; develop proposals balancing business sustainability, union partnership, and employee value.
• Develop bargaining strategies, scenario models, and long-term cost projections to support executive decisions and negotiation positioning.
• Build relationships with union leadership to promote collaboration and problem-solving.
• Translate negotiated agreements into implementation roadmaps and lead the team in executing them.
• Manage vendor relationships, service-level agreements, and performance standards.
• Lead vendor benchmarking and market testing, including RFPs and RFQs; evaluate proposals, coordinate due diligence, and oversee implementation of selected vendors.
• Design and oversee vendor governance; address performance issues and manage contract administration and renewals.
• Implement governance structures, policies, and procedures to support equitable, compliant, and consistent benefit delivery.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, including ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, and ERISA, and with applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Identify and mitigate operational and compliance risks through monitoring and audit support.
• Build and lead a team, coaching members in operational excellence, technical expertise, and member experience.
• Promote accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Manage change execution for benefits transformation initiatives to support adoption and minimize disruption.
• Partner with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design and cross-functional stakeholders, including Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, IT, HR, and Labor Relations.

Benefits

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Paid parental leave and new parent ramp-up programs.
• Subsidized back-up child care.
• Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement and fertility treatments.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Vacation time, sick/personal time, and paid holidays, including between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.

What This Job Offers

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