People Operations Benefits & Leave Specialist

About the team:

Our People Operations team bridges the gap between high-level strategy and the daily employee journey. As part of a specialized Tier 2 ecosystem, we don't just answer questions—we solve complex challenges and manage the critical employee data and life cycle events. We partner closely to ensure that while AI and automation handle the routine, our Specialists provide the deep expertise and human touch required for the most important milestones in an employee's journey.

About the role:

We are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented People Ops Benefits Specialist to deliver Tier 2 case resolution and ensure employees receive accurate, timely, and employee-centric benefits support. This role manages escalations from Tier 1, partners closely with the Benefits COE, and helps improve processes to create scalable, compliant, and seamless benefits delivery across the organization.

Responsibilities:

• Manage benefits cases and escalations, ensuring policy-aligned, accurate, and timely resolution.
• Manage Tier 2 leave cases escalated from Tier 1, including complex eligibility questions, return-to-work coordination, and exceptions.
• Provide clear, empathetic, and compliant guidance to employees regarding health, retirement, leave, and other benefit programs.
• Provide clear, policy-aligned, and compassionate guidance to employees on leave programs (e.g., medical, parental, personal, bereavement, military, and other statutory or company leaves).
• Act as a liaison between employees, benefits vendors, and internal stakeholders to resolve escalated inquiries and ensure service consistency.
• Collaborate with Payroll, Legal, People Partners, and the Benefits COE on cases requiring cross-functional input
• Maintain and update knowledge base articles to enable Tier 0/Tier 1 resolution and reduce repeat escalations.
• Identify process or system gaps and recommend improvements to enhance efficiency and accuracy.
• Analyze benefits-related data and case trends in ServiceNow (or similar systems) to recommend proactive solutions.
• Participate in benefits-related projects, contributing operational insights and implementation support.
• Monitor case data and trends in ServiceNow (or similar tools) to identify risks, prevent escalations, and recommend proactive solutions.
• Support User Acceptance Testing (UAT) for system enhancements and new functionality.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum 2 years of HR or People Operations experience, with a focus on benefits administration.
• Experience in a shared services or centralized HR environment preferred.
• Ability to independently manage moderate-complexity issues with strong judgment and minimal escalation.
• Strong problem-solving skills and comfort with process improvement.
• Familiarity with HR systems (e.g., Workday, Oracle HCM, ServiceNow).
• Able to balance accuracy, compliance, and employee experience in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.