Hybrid Benefits Specialist

We are hiring for a Benefits Specialist with 3-5 years of direct benefits experience. You will have an opportunity to join a leading biopharmaceutical company based in Irvine, CA.

Hybrid Schedule: 3-days in office, 2-days remote

About the Role

You will be responsible for the day-to-day administration and operational execution of our benefits programs. Your role is to ensure these programs run smoothly, remain compliant with applicable laws, and deliver a superior experience to all employees. You will serve as a trusted resource for employees navigating their benefits, and partner closely with vendors, carriers, and internal teams to ensure seamless program delivery. You bring strong attention to detail, excellent follow-through, and a genuine passion for supporting employees throughout their life cycle.

Responsibilities:

• Benefits inbox management: Monitors and responds to the benefits inbox in a timely manner, serving as the first point of contact for employee benefits questions and issue resolution.
• Enrollment administration: Monitors and approves benefit enrollments in ADP Workforce Now for new hires and qualifying life events (QLEs), ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Annual Open Enrollment: Supports the annual benefits open enrollment process, including communications, system configuration, vendor coordination, and partnering closely with payroll to ensure proper benefits setup.
• HSA and FSA administration: Executes semi-monthly HSA funding and FSA replenishment, ensuring accuracy and compliance with plan rules.
• Supplemental benefits enrollment: Processes monthly Group Universal Life (GUL) and Individual Disability Insurance (IDI) enrollments to MetLife, ensuring carrier records are up to date.
• COBRA administration: Manages COBRA enrollments through Optum and prepares monthly COBRA reporting to Finance.
• LOA administration: Communicates the LOA process to requesting employees, initiates leaves in Sparrow, monitors LOA-related emails, and reviews and approves the semi-monthly LOA payroll report.
• Workers' compensation: Processes and manages workers' compensation claims.
• Wellness program support: Supports wellness program operations, including coordinating monthly wellness challenges, events and communications.
• Total Rewards statement data maintenance: Conducts quarterly data reviews in system to ensure benefits content and employee-facing information is current and accurate.
• New hire and employee education: Delivers benefits overviews during new hire onboarding and participates in other meetings as needed to educate employees about our offerings.
• Process documentation: Maintains detailed documentation of benefits processes, workflows, and communication materials to support a consistent and scalable employee experience.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field (REQUIRED)
• Relevant certification such as Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) or Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) is a plus.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in benefits administration, with experience supporting multi-state benefit plans.
• Working knowledge of federal and state laws and regulations related to benefits, leaves, and health and welfare programs (ERISA, ACA, FMLA, COBRA, etc.).
• Hands-on experience with benefits billing reconciliation, carrier file feeds, and enrollment audits.
• Experience administering leaves of absence, preferably using a third-party leave management platform.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to explain benefits clearly to employees at all levels of the organization.
• Proficiency in ADP Workforce Now (preferred).
• Strong customer service mindset and commitment to delivering a best-in-class employee experience.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential employee information with professionalism and discretion.
• Self-motivated and proactive, with the ability to take initiative and identify opportunities to improve processes.
• Excellent computer skills; strong proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Previous pharmaceutical or biotech experience (preferred).

Additional Details:

• The position is based in our new Irvine HQ office, complete with a courtyard, table tennis, snacks and drinks, and occasional catered meals. We provide a hybrid work environment.
• We are passionate about our culture! Our employees live our values of commitment to patients, empowerment to champion innovation, and teamwork to amplify impact!
• This position reports directly to our Associate Director, Total Rewards.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, ancestry, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, or military or veteran status. We consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance.