The Benefits Specialist will be responsible for the daily administration of employee benefits offered through the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas Board of Regents and the State of Kansas. Particularly, benefit programs such as health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, health saving and health reimbursement accounts, life insurance and retirement plans.
The University of Kansas Medical Center strives to educate exceptional health care professionals through a full range of undergraduate, graduate, professional, postdoctoral and continuing education programs. We operate three schools:
- The School of Medicine, with campuses in Kansas City, Wichita and Salina
- The School of Nursing, with campuses in Kansas City and Salina
- The School of Health Professions
KU Medical Center is looking for a professional to help the university to fulfill our mission to improve the lives and communities in Kansas and beyond through innovation in education.
Job Description
Required Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business or a closely related field OR experience in performing the work described herein may substitute for the degree requirement on a year-for-year basis.
Work Experience:
- Two (2) years of human resource experience.
- Experience with federal and state laws/regulations impacting benefits administration.
- Effective communication as evidenced in application materials.
- Experience using information technology applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, query, workflow, presentations and other appropriate software to include data entry and updates online.
Preferred Qualifications
Certifications:
- HR certification in benefits administration (i.e., CBP) is desirable.
Work Experience:
- Experience working in higher education.
- Experience with Workday.
Skills:
- Work effectively with employees at all organizational levels and with individuals and with culturally diverse backgrounds.
Job Duties:
- Understand and provide effective communication of benefit plans and information to customers
- Provide excellent customer service to all employees; be proactive in anticipating needs, go beyond expectations and deliver excellent results.
- Manage intake items and requests for benefit services. Respond to questions/inquiries in a timely, professional manner.
- Participate in the administration of benefit programs such as health, dental, vision, flexible spending accounts, health saving and health reimbursement accounts. Proactively communicate benefit status changes to employees as result of a qualifying event, etc.
- Counsel employees regarding State of Kansas retirement, deferred compensation and other benefit programs.
- Participate in the administration of employee benefit plans including life insurance, long term disability insurance, the Kansas Board of Regents tax-sheltered annuity retirement plans, the Kansas Public Employee Retirement System (KPERS) defined benefit pension and deferred compensation plans. Process new KPERS enrollments through the KPERS portal, as well as verify and submit adjustments.
- Process and manage benefit information (i.e., updates) in the appropriate HR system(s) of record. Routinely monitor the MAP portal dashboard so that it is current and up to date.
- Assist in the planning, and participate in open enrollment, new hire orientations and other benefit-related, educational workshops and seminars for faculty and staff. Partner and foster positive relationships with benefit vendors/providers.
- Process benefit terminations in the HR system(s) of record and distribute termination letters.
- Assist with website updates/upgrades in terms of benefit-related content.
- Active participant and supporter of the Benefits Office – Total Rewards events, culture and initiatives.
- This position description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. It is only a summary of the typical functions of the job, not an exhaustive list of all possible job responsibilities, tasks, duties, and assignments. Furthermore, job duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
Required Documents:
- Resume/CV
- Cover Letter
- Three (3) professional references
