As Senior Director, North America Benefits, you will set the strategy and lead end-to-end execution of Ecolab’s benefits portfolio across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico—guided by enterprise-wide principles and closely aligned to our Total Rewards philosophy. In partnership with North America HR/Benefits, Finance, Accounting, Legal, and key business stakeholders, you will oversee the design, governance, and administration of programs that support employees’ health, financial security, and overall well-being. You will be accountable for a benefits budget of approximately $600M and for ensuring Ecolab’s offerings remain market-competitive, cost-effective, compliant, and easy for employees to understand and use. This is a highly visible leadership role with the opportunity to shape an employee experience that attracts, retains, and engages top talent while enabling strong business performance.
This position will be based out of our corporate offices (hybrid) in St Paul, MN (Ecolab Global Headquarters).
What You Will Do
- Strategic Leadership
- Develop and execute a comprehensive North America benefits strategy aligned to Ecolab’s business priorities, workforce needs, and Total Rewards philosophy.
- Benchmark and evaluate programs against market data and emerging trends to maintain competitiveness and differentiated value.
- Translate strategy into a multi-year roadmap with clear outcomes, governance, and measures of success.
- Program Design, Delivery & Compliance
- Oversee health, welfare, wellness, and leave programs for North America employees.
- Ensure strong compliance and risk management across applicable requirements (including ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, and related federal, state/provincial, and local regulations).
- Lead annual plan renewals, including plan design, cost-sharing strategy, and funding recommendations.
- Establish controls and governance to ensure accurate plan documentation, filings, audits, and required notices.
- Employee Experience & Communications
- Drive a benefits experience that is inclusive, simple to navigate, and responsive to diverse employee needs.
- Partner with Communications and HR partners to deliver clear, engaging education and decision support—especially during life events and open enrollment.
- Champion well-being initiatives spanning physical, mental, and financial health.
- Financial Stewardship
- Own forecasting, budgeting, and ongoing financial management for the North America benefits portfolio (~$600M).
- Use data to understand cost drivers, utilization, and outcomes; identify opportunities to improve value, manage trend, and enhance employee experience.
- Partner with Finance on reserve assumptions, accruals, and financial reporting as applicable.
- Vendor, Broker & Partner Management
- Lead vendor strategy and performance management across carriers, administrators, wellness partners, and consultants; run RFPs and negotiate contracts and service level expectations.
- Ensure operational excellence, issue resolution, and strong controls around eligibility, billing, and data feeds.
- Analytics, Governance & Technology
- Build a measurement framework (experience, utilization, cost, health and well-being outcomes) to inform decisions and continuously improve programs.
- Partner with HRIS/HR Operations and IT to optimize benefits technology, data integrity, and vendor integrations; strengthen reporting and insights.
- Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of benefits professionals; set clear priorities and a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.
- Partner with HR and commercial leaders to anticipate workforce needs, manage change, and deliver solutions at scale.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on benefits strategy, emerging trends, and risk trade-offs.
- Support due diligence and integration activities for mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures as they relate to benefits programs and vendors.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field
- 10+ years of progressive experience in benefits strategy and administration, including 5+ years leading a benefits function and/or consulting for large, complex organizations
- Prior vendor management and negotiation experience
Preferred Qualifications
- Deep knowledge of U.S. benefits regulations and compliance requirements; ability to partner effectively with Legal and external counsel
- Demonstrated success designing and implementing large-scale benefits programs, driving measurable improvements in cost, experience, and compliance
- Exceptional strategic, financial, and governance abilities within human resources, benefits and/or finance
- Excellent communication, leadership, and change management capabilities
- Experience leveraging benefits technology platforms and people/benefits analytics to drive insights, improve decision-making, and elevate the employee experience
- Strong executive presence with the ability to influence, simplify complex topics, and lead through change in a matrixed environment
- Post-graduate degree in business, human resources, finance preferred
- Benefits credential (e.g., CEBS) and/or HR certification (e.g., SHRM-SCP, SPHR) preferred
- Exposure to Canada benefits programs and related regulatory environment (provincial health coverage, statutory plans) is a plus
- Intellectual curiosity to learn a multinational and multi-faceted business portfolio in a complex matrix environment
- Team orientation to effectively engage and partner with regional teams and corporate functions
- Ability to think strategically and handle difficult and complex issues that cut across multiple functions and businesses
- Demonstrated ability to navigate conflict, negotiate, and make trade-offs as required to achieve stated goals and objectives
- Courageous
- Flexible and agile
Annual or Hourly Compensation Range
The base salary range for this position is $167,600.00 - $251,400.00. This position is eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentives based on performance, per plan terms. Many factors are taken into consideration when determining compensation, such as experience, education, training, geography, etc. We comply with all minimum wage and overtime laws.
Ecolab strives to provide comprehensive and market-competitive benefits to meet the needs of our associates and their families.Click here to see our benefits.
If you are viewing this posting on a site other than our Ecolab Career website, view our benefits at jobs.ecolab.com/working-here.
