Director, North America

Job Description

As Director, North America Benefits, you own the strategic direction of every US and Canada benefit program - retirement, health and welfare, wellbeing and the ancillary programs around them - and you make sure they support the company's objectives and fit the wider Reward architecture. You lead a strong team of expert benefits managers and analysts across both countries, and you work with Reward, the wider People team and business leaders to design, optimize and deliver programs that help Thomson Reuters attract and keep the talent it needs while getting real value from the investment.

You are one of two Benefits Directors. The Director, International Benefits owns everything outside the US and Canada; between you, you will assess and propose the global benefits strategy and agenda, working with and reporting to the Head of Reward. What you drive for North America shapes the experience of the company's largest employee population, so the standard is high: competitive programs, defensible costs, clean governance, and an experience employees can easily navigate.

You set the design agenda, hold the vendor relationships that matter, chair and act as a member of key plan committees, and make the hiring, performance and pay decisions that shape your team. You will inherit a live agenda: a run of vendor transitions, annual enrollment for both countries, and M&A and divestiture activity in a fast-moving company.

Work with your team to drive the design, implementation and delivery of competitive, innovative and cost-efficient benefit programs across the US and Canada. Create an exceptional employee experience by making it easy for employees to understand and use their benefits and wellbeing programs. Drive operational excellence through continuous vendor improvement, process simplification and automation, and make sure the platforms and vendors employees touch deliver a best-in-class experience.

Partner with Sourcing and with TR's brokers to lead contract negotiations on strategic vendor renewals, securing the best terms and service levels the company can get. Provide leadership on high-profile projects - plan redesigns, major vendor implementations, M&A and divestitures, outsourcing, and defined benefit de-risking including annuity purchase. Ensure North America health and retirement programs support the global wellbeing strategy and the wider Reward agenda.

Communicate effectively across the organization and build the relationships with business partners, senior leadership and corporate functions that let you get things done.

Lead a team of benefits managers and analysts across the US and Canada end to end: work direction, performance management, development, compensation recommendations and resource allocation. Coach on plan design, vendor management and financial analysis: raise the already high standards of the team. Work with the Head of Reward and Director, International Benefits to deliver skills and career development across the team.

Oversee IBNR, fringe and the various benefits and retirement budgets and cost centers for North America. Develop the benefit pricing strategy and put recommendations to senior leadership with the analysis behind them. Partner with Sourcing and with brokers to identify cost savings and avoidance opportunities, and build the case for where the money is better spent. Manage invoice approvals up to applicable thresholds.

Oversee compliance and governance of North America benefit plans, ensuring alignment with internal controls and audit requirements. Serve as a plan fiduciary. Chair the US and Canada Design, Compliance and Administration…