Senior Client Manager

Senior Client Manager

The Senior Client Manager is responsible for the strategic ownership, retention, and growth of a complex book of public sector clients offering comprehensive employee benefit programs, including group medical, dental, vision, pharmacy management, life, disability, and workplace benefits.

This role serves as a primary strategic advisor, escalation point, and single point of accountability for assigned clients. The Senior Client Manager leads high-impact initiatives, such as multi-year benefits strategy, complex implementations, renewals, compliance alignment, and open enrollment execution while navigating the regulatory, governance, and political nuances unique to public sector organizations.

Success in this role requires deep benefits expertise, strong public sector acumen, executive presence, and the ability to influence decision-making across diverse stakeholder groups. The Senior Client Manager anticipates client needs, mitigates risk, and drives long-term value by aligning benefit programs with organizational goals, financial constraints, and workforce strategies.

Your Impact:

• Own the end-to-end client relationship for a designated book of public sector clients, with accountability for retention, client satisfaction, and long-term partnership value.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership, benefit committees, and governing bodies by delivering strategic guidance on plan design, funding, compliance risk, and workforce impact.
• Maintain senior-level client relationships through proactive communication, thought leadership, and disciplined follow-through.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex or high-risk issues impacting trust, employee experience, timing, or compliance.
• Define and lead overall implementation strategy, including timelines, governance, roles, success metrics, and risk mitigation.
• Facilitate implementation kickoffs and complex decision-making sessions involving client leadership, internal stakeholders, carriers, and vendors.
• Lead multi-year benefits strategy discussions, ensuring solutions align to organizational goals, budgetary realities, and regulatory requirements.
• Anticipate risks, dependencies, and operational challenges; proactively adjust strategies to ensure desired outcomes.
• Own open enrollment strategy and execution, aligning communications, timelines, and enrollment approach to maximize employee understanding and participation.
• Lead carrier and vendor relationship management, holding partners accountable to performance standards, service-level agreements, and contractual commitments.
• Ensure compliance considerations (e.g., ACA, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA) are fully integrated into renewals, plan changes, and ongoing strategy discussions. With client manager, determines when engagement of external legal, actuarial, or compliance specialists is required.
• Supports clients through regulatory changes and audits, coordinating and ensuring clear communication and execution.

Cross-Functional Leadership:

• Partner closely with Analytics, Client Services, Sales, Compliance, and Operations teams to deliver a cohesive high-quality client experience.
• Translate data and insights into actionable recommendations for clients and internal teams.
• Contribute to the evolution of best practices, service models, and process improvements across the Client Services function.
• Provide informal guidance and mentorship to client managers as subject-matter expert.
• Lead and foster team collaboration enhancing seamless client engagement.

Successful Candidates Will Have:

• Advanced knowledge of employee benefits programs, including medical, dental, vision, pharmacy, life, disability, and voluntary benefits.
• Strong understanding of public sector benefits environments, governance structures, procurement considerations, and long decision-making cycles.
• Deep working knowledge of benefits compliance and regulatory frameworks and the ability to apply them strategically.
• Exceptional client relationship management skills, with demonstrated executive presence and credibility.
• Strategic planning and execution capabilities across implementations, renewals, and open enrollment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex benefits and compliance topics for diverse audiences.
• Ability to influence and guide decision-making among senior client leaders and cross-functional internal teams.
• Proven ability to manage complexity, competing priorities, and high-impact escalations with sound judgment.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively identify risks, opportunities, and improvement areas.
• Commitment to delivering a consistently high-quality client experience that supports retention and long-term growth.

Education, Training & Experience Needed:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources, Finance, Risk Management, Public Administration, or related field, or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in employee benefits client services, benefits consulting, brokerage, or a senior client-facing role.
• Demonstrated success managing complex or high-value books of business with accountability for retention and strategic outcomes.
• Prior experience serving public sector clients strongly preferred.
• Valid Florida Life, Health & Variable Annuities 2-15 license or the ability to obtain one within first 90 days of employment is required.
• Valid FL Driver's license is required.
• Professional certifications strongly preferred:
• CEBS
• PHR / SPHR
• SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP

This position involves primarily office-based work with regular travel (up to 50%) to client meetings and worksites, sometimes outside standard business hours.