Sr. Benefits and Leave Specialist

This search is being conducted by Steve Spinello.

I’m currently partnering with a multi-site manufacturer in Chattanooga, TN on a corporate Senior Benefits & Leave Specialist search.

This opportunity is ideal for an HR professional with strong, hands-on experience managing the full scope of benefits administration in a complex environment. The primary focus of the role is benefits ownership, including:

• Day-to-day administration of medical, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, and related benefit plans
• Open enrollment planning and execution, including employee communications, system setup, testing, education, and issue follow-up
• Benefits auditing and reconciliation, including eligibility reviews, invoice auditing, payroll deduction review, and carrier billing discrepancies
• Issue resolution, with the ability to independently investigate and solve escalated benefits, enrollment, system, feed, and vendor issues
• Compliance oversight tied to ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA, Section 125, and related benefit regulations
• Vendor, broker, and carrier partnership management, ensuring service levels are met and problems are resolved quickly and accurately
• HRIS and carrier feed oversight, including auditing enrollment data, identifying root causes of errors, and validating updates or changes

While the role does support leave of absence administration, including FMLA and ADA-related matters, that is a secondary part of the position compared to the benefits responsibility.

The ideal background will include experience in a corporate, multi-site setting, preferably within manufacturing or another environment with a large and operationally complex employee population.

If you’ve led benefits administration in a setting like this—or know someone who has—I’d be glad to connect and share more details. Please message me directly.

• Minimum of 3 years of experience in benefits administration, with strong hands-on involvement in leave management and program coordination.
• Working knowledge of employee benefit regulations, leave laws, and HR compliance requirements at the federal and state level.
• Demonstrated ability to manage open enrollment activities, benefit billing reconciliation, and retirement plan administration.
• Experience partnering with benefit vendors, brokers, payroll teams, and internal stakeholders to resolve issues and improve service delivery.
• Proficiency in analyzing benefit data, identifying discrepancies, and maintaining accurate records across HR and payroll systems.
• Strong communication and organizational skills, with the ability to explain complex benefit and leave information clearly to employees and managers.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, or a related field preferred; equivalent practical experience will also be considered.
• Certification in HR, benefits, or leave administration is preferred.