Benefits are one of the largest investments an organization makes in its people—and one of the most personal ways employees experience the organization behind their employment.
A benefits program may look straightforward from the outside. Behind it sits a sophisticated ecosystem of health plans, retirement programs, insurance providers, eligibility rules, payroll deductions, leave programs, regulatory requirements, enrollment technology, employee communications, vendor relationships, financial controls, and thousands of individual employee circumstances.
We are seeking an experienced Benefits Specialist to help operate, improve, and scale that ecosystem within a complex enterprise environment.
This position will support a broad portfolio of employee benefits and serve as a trusted subject-matter resource for employees, HR partners, Payroll, Finance, Legal, HRIS teams, and external benefits providers.
The role is intentionally broader than transactional benefits administration.
You will help ensure programs operate accurately, employees receive clear and thoughtful support, vendors deliver against expectations, benefits data remains reliable, regulatory requirements are addressed, and emerging issues are identified before they become larger operational problems.
The Benefits Specialist may support programs involving medical, dental, vision, retirement, life and disability insurance, health savings and flexible spending accounts, wellness, employee assistance, voluntary benefits, leave-related benefits, and other enterprise offerings based on the organization’s benefits portfolio.
You will also contribute to annual enrollment, benefits implementations, plan changes, acquisitions, vendor transitions, audits, employee communications, and other significant benefits initiatives.
The strongest candidate will understand that benefits work requires an unusual combination of capabilities.
You need enough technical knowledge to interpret plan provisions and eligibility requirements.
You need enough analytical discipline to recognize when enrollment or payroll data does not look right.
You need enough empathy to help an employee navigating a difficult personal situation.
And you need enough operational judgment to recognize when an individual question indicates a broader system, vendor, or process issue.
Technology is also changing this function.
We expect the Benefits Specialist to help improve the employee experience through modern HR platforms, workflow automation, analytics, digital self-service, knowledge management, and responsible AI-assisted HR operations—while recognizing that sensitive benefits decisions require privacy, accuracy, and appropriate human judgment.
Ultimately, this position will help ensure employees do not merely have competitive benefits.
They understand them, can access them, and can trust that they will work when they need them.
Programs may include:
Play a significant role in planning and executing annual enrollment.
Responsibilities may include:
Identify lessons from each enrollment cycle and convert them into improvements for the following year.
Support benefits administration in accordance with applicable requirements, which may include:
Partner with Benefits leadership, Legal, Payroll, HR, and external advisors on complex compliance matters.
Maintain appropriate records and documentation supporting plan administration.
Partner with benefits providers, brokers, consultants, administrators, and technology vendors.
Use benefits data to identify operational issues and support better decisions.
Analyze areas such as:
Perform regular reconciliations between HR, payroll, benefits administration, and vendor systems.
Investigate discrepancies through resolution rather than simply reporting them.
Support benefits processes across platforms such as:
Participate in system configuration, testing, integrations, implementations, and process improvements as appropriate.
Partner with Communications and HR teams to create clear benefits information.
Develop or support:
Translate technical plan language into information employees can realistically understand and use.
Identify opportunities to improve benefits operations through technology.
Potential initiatives may include:
Ensure technology is implemented with appropriate attention to employee privacy, data security, accuracy, compliance, and human oversight.
Contribute benefits expertise to major organizational initiatives, potentially including:
Represent benefits requirements throughout planning, testing, implementation, and stabilization.
We particularly value candidates with experience involving:
Professional credentials such as CEBS, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or comparable benefits/HR certifications are valued but not required.
You understand that what looks like an administrative benefits question may involve an employee’s health, family, finances, or major life event.
You are comfortable working with detailed plan provisions, eligibility rules, system records, and regulatory requirements.
When two systems disagree, you want to know why—not simply which number should be manually corrected.
You understand the sensitivity of benefits and employee information and treat it accordingly.
You follow issues through resolution rather than transferring them between teams.
You can explain complicated benefits concepts without forcing employees to become benefits experts themselves.
You can recognize patterns across employee inquiries, enrollment data, vendor performance, and operational exceptions.
You know when an issue belongs with Payroll, Legal, HRIS, a benefits vendor, HR leadership—or requires several of them working together.
You consistently ask whether recurring employee questions can be prevented through better systems, processes, communications, or education.
The Benefits Specialist will provide subject-matter expertise across broader People and enterprise initiatives.
Strategic involvement may include:
The position will help leadership understand the practical connection between benefits design, employee experience, operational execution, technology, and workforce trust.
Primary Function: Employee Benefits & Total Rewards Operations
Functional Scope: Benefits Administration + Employee Experience + Compliance + Analytics
Specialization Areas:
Employee Benefits | Total Rewards | Health & Welfare | Retirement Benefits | Open Enrollment | ERISA | ACA | HIPAA | COBRA | Benefits Analytics | Vendor Management | HRIS | Workday | Employee Experience | Benefits Compliance | Benefits Operations
The anticipated compensation range for this position is:
$155,000 – $215,000 annually
Final compensation will consider benefits expertise, complexity and scale of prior programs, HR technology proficiency, regulatory knowledge, enterprise experience, analytical capabilities, geographic considerations, and overall qualifications.
The broader total rewards package may include:
Benefits work becomes most visible at moments that matter.
A new employee deciding how to protect their family.
A parent adding a child to coverage.
Someone trying to understand a medical claim.
An employee planning for retirement.
A colleague navigating disability or another significant life event.
Behind every one of those experiences is an operating system that has to work correctly.
This position gives you the opportunity to improve that system at scale.
You will not be limited to processing enrollments and answering routine questions. You will have exposure to benefits strategy, enterprise technology, analytics, compliance, vendor performance, employee communications, process transformation, and major People initiatives.
You will also help modernize how employees interact with benefits—making information easier to find, processes easier to complete, and support more intelligent when circumstances become complicated.
The impact of your work will connect:
Benefits Strategy → Accurate Administration → Clear Communication → Employee Access → Trust → Workforce Experience
For a benefits professional who combines technical expertise with genuine care for the employee experience, this role offers the opportunity to make one of the organization’s most important investments in its people work better every day.
At Admiral Talent, our vision is to redefine staffing through genuine partnerships, innovation, and a people-first mindset. Guided by experienced leadership, we’re committed to driving growth, empowering talent, and delivering exceptional results for every client we serve.