Sr Manager of and Leave of Absence

The Senior Manager, Benefits and Leave of Absence is responsible for leading the strategy, administration, and continuous improvement of the organization's benefits and leave programs, ensuring compliance, operational excellence, and a strong teammate experience. This role oversees day-to-day health and welfare benefits, retirement education and operations, PTO, and LOA functions, including vendor management, plan design, administration, and complex case resolution, while leveraging data and analytics to inform decision-making and optimize program effectiveness.

As a key member of the HR leadership team, this role partners closely with the VP of Human Resources and Chief People Officer and cross-functional leaders to align benefits and leave strategies with broader talent objectives, including recruitment, retention, engagement, and total rewards. The Senior Manager serves as a subject matter expert and consultative partner, providing guidance on complex compliance matters and supporting organizational initiatives related to workforce planning and employee experience.

This leader also provides coaching and mentorship to HR team members, helping to elevate capabilities across benefits, leave administration, and HR operations, while driving strategic projects and process improvements that enhance service delivery and scalability.

The role will report directly to the Vice President of Human Resources and has Associate Business Partner team members reporting to them.

1.0 FTE, Monday - Friday.

The position is remote with some travel into Downtown Seattle as needed.

Applicants must reside in WA State.

The key duties and responsibilities of the Senior Manager include, but are not limited to:

• Partner with the VP of Human Resources and Executive leadership to design and execute a comprehensive benefit and leave of absence strategy aligned with organizational goals, workforce needs, and the evolving healthcare landscape
• Lead, in partnership with Executive leadership; the strategy, design, administration, and continuous improvement of all benefits programs (health, welfare, retirement, wellness, PTO) and leave of absence programs (FMLA, ADA, state leaves, and company policies), ensuring a balance of compliance, cost-effectiveness, and teammate experience
• Serve as the organization’s subject matter expert on complex benefits and leave issues; provide guidance and resolution on escalated, sensitive, and high-risk cases
• Oversee vendor relationships for benefits and leave administration (e.g., carriers, brokers, third-party administrators), including performance management, contract negotiations, and service delivery optimization.
• Oversee our medical, dental, vision, life, disability, AD&D, PTO, and voluntary health and welfare benefits.
• Drive holistic wellness solutions that improve the health of our members and improve self-insured plan performance. Increase participation in our EAP programs in an effort to improve employee wellness.
• Drive open enrollments for multiple entities (Proliance, JVs, future clients).
• Create and implement comprehensive education programs related to our retirement programs, particularly related to profit sharing and match. Oversee the eligibility and audits around our 401K match and profit sharing programs.
• Partner with finance on the audits and reconciliations of benefit programs including HSA / FSA, annual 401k audit, and bi-weekly payroll audits.
• File 5500s and other regulatory filings for plans.
• Partner closely with HRIS vendor, Payroll, and Finance to ensure accurate benefits and leave administration, reporting, integrations, and audits; identify and implement system enhancements to improve efficiency and data integrity
• Lead compliance efforts related to benefits and leave programs, ensuring adherence to federal, state, and local regulations (including ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, ADA, and Washington state-specific requirements)
• Develop and analyze benefits and leave data, trends, and utilization to inform strategy, manage costs, and identify opportunities for program enhancements and risk mitigation
• Design and deliver clear, effective communication strategies to improve teammate understanding, engagement, and utilization of benefits and leave programs
• Partner with Talent, HR Business Partners, and leadership to ensure benefits and leave programs support recruitment, retention, and overall teammate experience
• Drive process improvements and lead change management…