Global Head of Benefits

Total Rewards | Global HR | JLL

The healthcare and benefits landscape is undergoing a fundamental shift - driven by cost pressure, new care models, AI-enabled navigation, and a workforce with higher expectations and more diverse needs than ever before. JLL's scale - 110,000 employees, $700M in annual spend, operations across 80+ countries - means that getting this right has real, measurable consequences for people's lives and for the company's ability to compete for talent.

It requires strategic vision, financial discipline, deep expertise in a rapidly evolving healthcare and benefits landscape, and the ability to translate complexity into programs that employees actually understand and value.

That is what the Global Head of Benefits is here to do.

This is a role for someone who is genuinely energized by the intersection of human impact and financial stewardship - who sees benefits not as a cost to be managed but as a strategic lever that drives attraction, retention, and workforce resilience. The healthcare space is moving fast. Pharmacy costs, mental health access, the shift toward value-based care, the rise of AI-powered benefits navigation - these are not trends to monitor. They are challenges to act on.

The right leader for this role will run toward that complexity, not away from it.

Reporting to the Head of Total Rewards and serving as a member of the Global HR Leadership community, you will be accountable for the full lifecycle of JLL's benefits strategy globally - design, governance, vendor management, financial oversight, and employee experience. You will lead a team of benefits professionals and partner closely with Rewards leaders, and serve as the company's most senior expert on everything from global insurance architecture to retirement plan governance to wellness strategy.

You will be empowered to:
Set the Strategy

JLL's benefits programs should be a genuine competitive advantage - with the checks and balances of affordability. You will define the philosophy, build the roadmap, and ensure every major program decision is anchored in data, employee insight, and a clear view of the competitive landscape. You will partner with Finance to make the business case for investment, and you will have the credibility and command of the numbers to win those conversations.
Drive Stewardship of a $700M+ Portfolio

You will own the financial management of a large operating expenditure. That means active management of insurance design, disciplined vendor negotiations, multi-national pooling strategy, cost variance analysis, and a relentless focus on ensuring every dollar is working as hard as it should. You will develop the analytics infrastructure to make performance visible - dashboards, trend analysis, benchmarking - and you will use that data to drive decisions, not just report on them.
Enhance the Employee Experience

A benefits program that employees don't understand is a benefits program that isn't working. You will lead the design of communications, enrollment tools, and education strategies that close the gap between what JLL offers and what employees actually use. You will bring a marketer's sensibility to benefits communication - clear, relevant, differentiated by population - and you will measure engagement and utilization to know whether it's landing.

The Work, Specifically
Global Benefits Strategy & Governance

• Define and continuously evolve JLL's global benefits philosophy, ensuring alignment with business priorities, workforce needs, and the competitive marketplace
• Provide strategic oversight of benefit plan design across all geographies, identifying opportunities to improve quality, close gaps, and manage financial risk
• Lead governance across the global benefits portfolio, including regulatory compliance (ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, and local equivalents globally), plan documentation, and fiduciary oversight of retirement programs
• Direct due diligence for M&A activities - identifying benefits-related risk, designing integration approaches, and ensuring acquired populations are onboarded effectively

Financial Management & Analytics

• Partner with Finance to build and manage benefits budgets globally, providing regular reporting on costs, utilization, and performance against targets
• Develop a robust analytics capability - benchmarking, trend analysis, actuarial review - that drives proactive decision-making rather than reactive reporting
• Lead cost optimization initiatives including insurance design, multi-national pooling, and vendor fee management, with accountability for measurable outcomes
• Build and maintain executive-level dashboards that give senior stakeholders a clear, current view of benefits cost, performance, and risk

Vendor Management & Broker Relationships

• Own the company's relationships with benefits brokers, TPAs, actuaries, insurers, and specialized service providers globally
• Lead competitive RFP processes and contract negotiations, ensuring performance guarantees and financial terms that reflect JLL's scale and expectations
• Implement a structured vendor governance model with regular performance reviews, escalation paths, and continuous improvement accountability

Americas Benefits Leadership

• Directly oversee benefits design, administration, communication, and employee experience for JLL's Americas population where our largest spend resides
• Ensure full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local benefits regulations
• Lead open enrollment strategy and execution, including vendor coordination, communication campaigns, and post-enrollment analysis

Wellness & Wellbeing Strategy

• Partner across HR and business leadership to evolve JLL's approach to holistic wellbeing - physical, mental, financial, and social - with a focus on programs that move the needle on workforce health outcomes
• Lead wellness program delivery and provide strategic direction globally, ensuring programs are evidence-based and measurable

Team Leadership & Stakeholder Partnership

• Lead, develop, and inspire a team of benefits professionals, setting clear expectations for performance, growth, and the standard of work
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to HR Business Partners, business leaders, and senior executives on benefits matters
• Build strong collaborative relationships with Finance, Legal, HR Operations, and regional Rewards leaders to ensure seamless delivery globally

What We're Looking For

You bring at least 15 years of progressive experience leading benefits for a large, complex, multinational organization. You have operated at the intersection of strategy and execution - comfortable making the case for investment, and equally capable of rolling up your sleeves to solve a vendor performance problem or untangle a compliance issue in a new market.

You understand healthcare economics. You can read an actuarial report, interrogate a vendor's medical loss ratio, and explain stop-loss structure to a CFO. You know what pharmacy trend means for next year's renewal and you have opinions about it - informed ones.

You are a strong leader of people. You build teams that are proud of their work, hold high standards without burning people out, and invest in development because you genuinely care about your team's careers, not just their output.

And you communicate well - to employees who just want to know what's covered, to benefits brokers who need clear direction, and to the CHRO who needs to understand the implications of a $40M cost variance.
Qualifications

• 15+ years of benefits leadership experience in a large, global organization
• Deep expertise in U.S. health and welfare plan design, retirement programs, and global benefits structures
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-hundred-million-dollar benefits budgets with accountability for financial outcomes
• Strong command of benefits-related regulations: ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, and equivalent frameworks globally
• Proven track record of complex vendor negotiations and multi-national broker/insurer management
• Experience leading benefits due diligence and integration in M&A environments
• Exceptional analytical skills - comfortable building a business case, reading actuarial data, and designing dashboards that drive decisions
• Experience developing and executing benefits communication strategies that demonstrably improve employee engagement and utilization
• Proven team leadership across both direct reports and matrixed global partners
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or professional certification (CEBS, CBP) preferred

This position does not provide visa sponsorship. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship.

Estimated compensation for this position:

279,000.00 - 342,000.00 USD per year

This range is an estimate and actual compensation may differ. Final compensation packages are determined by various considerations including but not limited to candidate qualifications, location, market conditions, and internal considerations.

Location:

On-site -Chicago, IL

If this job description resonates with you, we encourage you to apply, even if you don't meet all the requirements. We're interested in getting to know you and what you bring to the table!

Personalized benefits that support personal well-being and growth:

JLL recognizes the impact that the workplace can have on your wellness, so we offer a supportive culture and comprehensive benefits package that prioritizes mental, physical and emotional health. Some of these benefits may include:

• 401(k) plan with matching company contributions
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental & Vision Care
• Paid parental leave at 100% of salary
• Paid Time Off and Company Holidays
• Early access to earned wages through Daily Pay