Willis Towers Watson

Director, Benefits Operations & Governance

Willis Towers Watson$100K — $135K *
Tampa, FL 33647In-Person
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of experience with tax advantaged benefits programs such as HSA, FSA, HRA, Commuter, and Educational Assistance plans.
  • Demonstrated leadership in benefits administration, reimbursement accounts, or health & welfare operations.
  • Experience in operationalizing regulatory and compliance within a delivery environment.
  • Proven background in audit readiness, quality assurance, or operational risk programs.
  • Ability to drive influence in a matrixed organization and manage cross-functional teams effectively.

Responsibilities

  • Translate regulatory and fiduciary requirements into actionable operational processes and controls.
  • Collaborate with Legal and Compliance to ensure clear understanding and documentation of requirements.
  • Maintain and evolve compliance documentation and standards across the business.
  • Lead internal and external audit readiness activities, ensuring thorough evidence production and issue remediation.
  • Oversee daily processing and fulfillment for various services, including Debit Card and COBRA communications.
  • Serve as escalation point for audits, control gaps, and operational risk issues.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health and welfare benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and various flexible spending accounts.
  • Generous leave benefits, including paid holidays, annual paid time off, and short/long-term disability.
  • Retirement benefits including a contributory pension plan and 401(k) with annual company contributions.
  • Flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance and inclusivity.
Full Job Description
Job Description

The Role

As a Director, Benefits Operations & Governance, you will lead operational services supporting WTW's spending account administration business. This role is accountable for service delivery across participant-facing and back-office functions, including fulfillment, COBRA, debit card services, appeals and exceptions, revenue recovery, audit support, access governance, fraud monitoring, and operational controls.

This is an operations leadership role with compliance components. The focus is leading teams, strengthening execution, improving quality, and building routines that support consistent delivery.
  • Fulfillment operations, participant communications, and document delivery
  • COBRA and debit card service delivery
  • Appeals, exceptions, and issue resolution routines
  • Audit readiness, client review support, and operational controls
  • Revenue recovery, access governance, fraud monitoring support, and continuous improvement

The role partners with Operations, Technology, Customer Service, Legal, Compliance, Product, and senior business leaders to strengthen delivery, manage operational risk, improve change readiness, and operationalize compliance requirements.

Responsibilities

Operational Leadership & Service Delivery
  • Lead multiple operational teams with accountability for quality, performance, escalations, inventory management, and execution across work types, in alignment with ERISA, Medicare, HIPAA, ACA, OFAC, SOC, IIAS, COBRA, and other regulatory requirements.
  • Establish operating routines, expectations, and accountability structures that help managers and teams deliver predictable outcomes.
  • Drive stabilization, process consistency, capacity planning, and continuous improvement across fulfillment, COBRA, debit card, appeals, exceptions, revenue recovery, and governance functions.


Operations Governance, Controls & Readiness
  • Own governance routines that keep work documented, controlled, measurable, and ready for audit, client review, and business change.
  • Partner with Legal and Compliance to translate regulatory and fiduciary expectations into processes, controls, training, and reference materials.
  • Lead audit readiness and client review support, including evidence production, issue remediation, and follow-through.
  • Ensure delivery teams maintain practical controls for ERISA appeals, client exceptions, Medicare-related revenue recovery, COBRA, debit card services, and participant communications.
  • Serve as an escalation point for systemic service issues, control gaps, operational risks, and readiness concerns, with focus on root cause resolution and prevention.


People Leadership & Cross-Functional Influence
  • Lead, coach, and develop managers and colleagues, building ownership, discipline, and leadership capacity.
  • Influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional partners to align priorities, remove barriers, and improve performance.


Qualifications

The Requirements

Essential
  • 10+ years leading benefits administration, health and welfare, reimbursement account, fulfillment, financial operations, customer operations, or similarly complex service delivery functions.
  • Experience leading multiple operational teams, managers, service lines, or processing functions with varied stakeholders and deliverables.
  • Track record improving service quality, operational discipline, controls, readiness, and stakeholder confidence.
  • Experience partnering with Legal, Compliance, Product, Technology, and business leaders to operationalize requirements and manage risk.
  • Ability to influence across a matrixed organization.
  • Experience with tax-advantaged benefits programs such as HSA, FSA, HRA, Commuter, and Educational Assistance plans is helpful but not required.


Desirable
  • CEBS, GPA, RPA, CFC or equivalent certification related to employee benefit delivery.


Skills and Competencies
  • Operations leadership in complex service delivery environments
  • Scalable operating models, management routines, and performance frameworks
  • Clear executive-level communication
  • Process discipline, quality focus, and operational risk management
  • Ability to enforce standards, controls, readiness expectations, and accountability routines
  • Continuous improvement mindset focused on root cause resolution, scalability, and sustainable delivery


This position will remain posted for a minimum of three business days from the date posted or until sufficient/appropriate candidate slate has been identified.

Compensation and Benefits

Base salary range and benefits information for this position are being included in accordance with requirements of various state/local pay transparency legislation. Please note that salaries may vary for different individuals in the same role based on several factors, including but not limited to location of the role, individual competencies, education/professional certifications, qualifications/experience, performance in the role and potential for revenue generation (Producer roles only).

Compensation

The base salary compensation range being offered for this role is $100,000.00-$135,000.00 USD annually.

This role is also eligible for an annual short-term incentive bonus.

Company Benefits

WTW provides a competitive benefit package which includes the following (eligibility requirements apply):
  • Health and Welfare Benefits: Medical (including prescription coverage), Dental, Vision, Health Savings Account, Commuter Account, Health Care and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Group Accident, Group Critical Illness, Life Insurance, AD&D, Group Legal, Identify Theft Protection, Wellbeing Program and Work/Life Resources (including Employee Assistance Program)
  • Leave Benefits: Paid Holidays, Annual Paid Time Off (includes state/local paid leave where required), Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, Other Leaves (e.g., Bereavement, FMLA, ADA, Jury Duty, Military Leave, and Parental and Adoption Leave), Paid Time Off (only included for Washington roles)
  • Retirement Benefits: Qualified contributory pension plan (if eligible) and 401(k) plan with annual nonelective company contribution. Non-qualified retirement plans available to senior level colleagues who satisfy the plans' eligibility requirements.

If the position allows for flexible working:

At WTW, we trust you to know your work and the people, tools and environment you need to be successful. The majority of our colleagues work in a "hybrid" style, with a mix of remote, in-person and in-office interactions dependent on the needs of the team, role and clients. Our flexibility is rooted in trust and "hybrid" is not a one-size-fits-all solution.

We understand flexibility is key to supporting an inclusive and diverse workforce and so we encourage requests for all types of flexible working as well as location-based arrangements. Please speak to your recruiter to discuss more.

About Willis Towers Watson

Willis Towers Watson is a global insurance and risk management company that provides a range of services to clients in more than 140 countries. The company was formed in 2016 through the merger of Willis Group Holdings and Towers Watson & Co. Willis Towers Watson offers a range of insurance products, including property and casualty insurance, life insurance, and health insurance. The company also provides risk management and consulting services, including actuarial services, investment consulting, and human capital consulting. Willis Towers Watson is known for its expertise in risk management and its ability to help clients navigate complex insurance and regulatory environments.
Learn more about Willis Towers Watson
Size
46,000 employees
Market Cap
$26.2 billion
Industry
Net Income
$996 million
Founded
1828
5 Year Trend
+2.7%
Revenue
$9.3 billion
NASDAQ

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