Senior Benefits Strategy Partner

Merck•Burlington, MA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Benefits Strategy Partner supports the execution of our North America benefits strategy and leads assigned areas of focus across health and welfare and retirement programs. The role receives strategic guidance from the Head of Benefits Strategy while independently leading assigned initiatives and collaborating across the organization to optimize benefit programs that attract, retain, and engage talent while managing cost and compliance.

Requirements

BA/BS in Human Resources, Business, or a related field.
Minimum 5 years of experience developing, managing, or consulting on employee benefits programs.
Working knowledge of health and welfare, retirement, leave programs, and regulatory requirements relevant to the US and Canada.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate, influence, and independently manage effective relationships with internal teams and external partners.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to translate data into actionable insights.
Excellent communication, time management, and organizational skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting M&A activities, including benefits due diligence, program gap assessments, and purchase agreement reviews, is preferred.
Experience with ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, and regional regulatory considerations for the US and Canada, including the US leave landscape.
AI literacy: experience applying AI-enabled tools to review data, scenario planning, and automation.
Ability to support multiple projects with competing priorities.
Ability to work independently, take ownership of assigned initiatives, and drive to completion.
Detail-oriented with strong execution focus.
Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
Experience supporting benefits communications and benefits operations.

Responsibilities

Develop, refine, and execute benefit strategies within assigned areas of focus including health and welfare and/or retirement programs.
Contribute to the development and refinement of short- and mid-term benefit strategies aligned to our High Impact Culture.
Manage the tools that measure our benefit program costs and identify efficiency opportunities; assist with cost tracking and year-over-year reporting.
Build effective partnerships with HR, Finance, Legal, Benefits Operations, and external vendors to support strategic benefit objectives.
Conduct market benchmarking and competitive analysis to support benefit program recommendations.
Support vendor management activities, including partnering with Benefit Operations and external vendors to ensure service quality and compliance.
May assist in due diligence activities related to acquisitions and initial stages of integration of benefit plans under direction.
Prepare and present data-driven analyses, business cases, and recommendations to support benefit program decisions.
Monitor industry trends, competitive practices, and regulatory developments and recommend program enhancements as appropriate.
Review contract terms and ensure alignment with company expectations.
Evaluate vendor performance metrics and identify opportunities to improve service delivery and participant experience.
Support additional strategic benefit initiatives and special projects as business needs evolve.