Senior Manager, Benefits

Benefits Strategy & Program Ownership

• Own the strategy, design, and roadmap for Marqeta's US and global benefits programs, ensuring they remain competitive, cost-effective, and aligned to our Total Rewards philosophy.
• Evaluate program performance and market trends, and recommend plan design changes, new offerings, and cost-management strategies to leadership.
• Define and track program metrics ( cost, utilization, participation, employee satisfaction ) and use data to inform decisions and demonstrate impact.
• Partner with Finance on benefits budgeting, forecasting, and cost modeling.
• Serve as the senior subject-matter expert and trusted advisor to People leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

Team & Stakeholder Leadership

• Lead and develop the benefits function, mentoring team members and/or managing work delivered through brokers and vendors.
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships with People Partners, Payroll, Finance, Legal, and Talent teams to develop, implement, and communicate benefits policies and procedures.
• Represent benefits in leadership discussions, translating complex program and compliance topics into clear guidance and recommendations.
• Set standards for process excellence and continuously improve how the function operates as headcount and complexity grow.

Vendor & Financial Management

• Own vendor strategy and relationships end to end, including selection, RFPs, negotiations, contracts, and renewals.
• Manage broker and vendor performance against service level agreements (SLAs) , and hold partners accountable to quality and service standards.
• Oversee weekly vendor file feeds/integrations and troubleshoot issues, ensuring data accuracy across systems.
• Own the processing, auditing, and reconciliation of benefits-related invoices, and ensure spend aligns to budget.

Benefits Operations & Administration

• Oversee the accuracy and integrity of all benefits records and transactions in Workday .
• Ensure benefits enrollments reconcile to payroll deductions, including spending accounts, and drive resolution of discrepancies.
• Lead operational projects such as enrollment audits, system and process implementations, and communication campaigns.
• Establish and maintain scalable processes, controls, and documentation for benefits operations.
• Lead benefits integration for mergers, acquisitions, or divestitures.
• Identify and escalate process, data, or employee-impact gaps, and drive them to resolution.

Employee Experience

• Own the overall employee benefits experience, from onboarding through life events, and set the bar for responsive, high-quality service.
• Oversee resolution of complex escalations, acting as the senior point of contact between employees and benefit providers.
• Ensure timely handling of Workday Help tickets and benefits inbox inquiries, and evolve support processes as the population grows.
• Design and deliver clear, engaging benefits communications and education.

Annual Open Enrollment

• Own and drive a successful annual Open Enrollment, including strategy, planning, communications, system testing, and post-enrollment reconciliation.
• Plan and execute wellness events and wellbeing initiatives throughout the year.

Compliance & Governance

• Own compliance and governance for all benefit plans and programs, ensuring adherence to federal, state, and local regulations (e.g., ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, NDT, 5500s ).
• Oversee Health & Welfare compliance, including 5500 filings, Plan Documents/SPDs/SMMs, SBCs, welfare plan non-discrimination testing , and state reporting requirements.
• Monitor changes in benefits legislation, assess organizational impact, and advise leadership on necessary adjustments.

Who You Are

• 8+ years of progressive US benefits experience, including program strategy and design—not solely administration.
• 3+ years leading a benefits function, managing benefits staff, and/or directing work through brokers and vendors.
• Demonstrated ownership of complete benefits renewal cycles, including renewal strategy, broker/vendor negotiation, open enrollment execution, and post-enrollment reconciliation.
• Deep expertise across health & welfare programs and benefits compliance ( ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, NDT, 5500s ), with the ability to own governance.
• Experience at scaling technology companies, with a proven ability to thrive amid organizational growth, workforce expansion, and the ambiguity of dynamic environments.
• Experience supporting benefits integration for mergers, acquisitions, or divestitures.
• Some experience with international/global benefits administration.
• Workday Benefits experience.
• Advanced Google Sheets expertise, with the ability to create, organize, and manipulate large, complex data sets—or the same in Excel with a willingness to work predominantly in Google Sheets.
• Strong executive communication, influence, and stakeholder management skills, effective across all levels of the organization.
• Strategic thinker who is also willing to be hands-on; comfortable moving between big-picture program ownership and detailed execution.
• Detail-oriented with a high degree of accuracy, strong time management, and the ability to manage multiple priorities to completion in a fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional results orientation, personal initiative, and sound judgment in balancing excellence with urgency.
• Collaborative, customer-centric team player with a bias toward doing what's best for the business and its employees.