Senior Manager, Employee Benefits

Job Description

The Role

As a Senior Manager, Employee Benefits, you will help shape the employee experience across the U.S. and Latin America through work spanning benefits strategy, retirement programs, health and welfare benefits, operational excellence, and M&A integration.

This role is ideal for a highly analytical, intellectually curious professional who excels at solving complex business problems and navigating ambiguity. While benefits experience is valuable, success in this role depends equally on critical thinking, stakeholder management, business judgment, and the ability to translate data and insights into practical solutions.

You will partner closely with leaders across People, Finance, Payroll, Legal, and external vendors to design, optimize, and integrate benefits programs that balance employee needs, regulatory requirements, and business objectives. The role offers significant exposure to senior stakeholders and provides an opportunity to influence decisions that directly impact employee experience, workforce effectiveness, and business performance.

Whether assessing the impact of a plan design change, evaluating an acquisition's benefits programs, improving operational processes, or recommending a strategic solution to a complex challenge, you will play a critical role in helping shape the future of Kroll's benefits programs.

The Team

The Benefits team designs and optimizes programs that directly impact workforce performance and engagement globally. We are responsible for the full lifecycle of health, retirement, financial wellbeing, leave, and income protection programs, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decision-making, operational excellence, employee experience, and cost effectiveness.

We are a highly visible, design and execution-focused team that partners across Compensation, People Systems, Payroll, Legal, Finance, and external advisors to solve complex business challenges and continuously improve outcomes. You will work closely with the Director, Americas Benefits and the Head of Global Benefits and Policy in a fast-paced, high-performance environment where initiative, ownership, and innovation are highly valued.

This position is hybrid and based in our New York City or Morristown, New Jersey office.

Day-to-Day Responsibilities:

Benefits Strategy, Design, & Delivery

• Analytics, Insights & Program Design: Utilize data, market intelligence, and employee insights to evaluate program effectiveness, identify opportunities, and develop recommendations that improve employee experience, workforce outcomes, and cost efficiency.
• Partner (internal and external) or Stakeholder Management: Build strong partnerships with vendors, consultants, and internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality benefit programs, resolve complex issues, and support a favourable employee experience.
• Benefits Strategy, Governance & Operations: Manage and optimize employee benefit programs across the U.S. and Latin America, ensuring effective governance, operational excellence, regulatory compliance, and alignment with business objectives.
• Retirement & Financial Wellbeing Programs: Oversee the administration and continuous improvement of the U.S. 401(k) program, leveraging participant data and industry best practices to drive engagement, retirement readiness, and program effectiveness.

M&A Benefits Integration

• Lead benefits-related due diligence and integration activities for mergers and acquisitions, assessing risks, costs, employee impacts, and opportunities for harmonization.
• Develop data-driven recommendations and integration strategies that balance employee experience, business objectives, compliance requirements, and operational considerations.
• Partner cross-functionally to deliver successful post-acquisition integrations, ensuring effective change management and a seamless transition for employees.

Compliance & Governance

• Oversee compliance and governance activities across employee benefit programs, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements and company standards.
• Partner with internal stakeholders, vendors, auditors, and consultants to manage filings, audits, compliance testing, risk mitigation, and governance processes.
• Assess regulatory developments, data integrity risks, and operational controls to proactively identify issues and recommend improvements that strengthen program compliance and effectiveness.

What Success Looks Like

The successful candidate will:

• Solve complex business problems using structured thinking, data, and sound judgment.
• Build strong relationships across stakeholders and influence outcomes in a collaborative environment.
• Balance market practice, compliance requirements, employee needs, and business priorities when developing recommendations.
• Demonstrate ownership and accountability while managing multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Bring creativity and pragmatism to benefits challenges, focusing on solutions rather than rigid adherence to standard practices.
• Continuously identify opportunities to improve employee experience, operational efficiency, and business outcomes.

Qualifications:

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Finance, Economics, Analytics, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of experience in Benefits, Compensation, Human Resources, Consulting, Finance, Operations, People Analytics, Project Management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience applying analytical and problem-solving skills to complex business challenges.
• Strong Excel, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning capabilities.
• Experience influencing stakeholders and presenting recommendations to varying audiences.
• Excellent communication, organization, and project management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively in a dynamic, evolving environment.

Preferred

• Experience supporting employee benefits programs.
• Experience supporting international benefits programs, particularly within Latin America.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, integrations, organizational change, or large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Knowledge of ERISA, IRS, DOL, ACA, and employee benefits regulatory frameworks.
• Experience with Oracle, Businessolver, or other HRIS and benefits administration platforms.
• Spanish and/or Portuguese language skills.
• CEBS or similar professional certification.

Essential Traits.

Exceptional Problem Solver: Able to break down complex challenges, identify root causes, and develop practical solutions in ambiguous environments.

Analytical and Data-Driven: Uses evidence, data, and critical thinking to challenge assumptions and inform decisions.

Strong Stakeholder Manager: Builds credibility and trust across diverse stakeholders and can effectively influence outcomes without direct authority.

Commercially Pragmatic: Balances best practice, regulatory requirements, employee needs, and business realities when making recommendations.

High Learning Agility: Demonstrates curiosity, adaptability, and the ability to quickly master new subject matter, environments, and challenges.

Ownership Mindset: Takes accountability for outcomes, proactively identifies opportunities, and drives initiatives forward with minimal oversight.

Change & Transformation Orientation: Thrives in fast-paced environments and enjoys solving new problems, building scalable processes, and leading through change.

Your recruiter will be happy to walk you through your U.S.-specific benefits, which include:

• Healthcare Coverage: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Time Off and Leave Policies: Generous paid time off (PTO), paid company holidays, generous parental and family leave.
• Protective Insurances: Life insurance, short- and long-term disability coverage, and accident protection.
• Compensation and Rewards: Competitive salary structures, performance-based incentives, and merit-based compensation reviews.
• Retirement Plans: 401(k) plans with company matching.

Please note that benefits may vary by region, department and role. We encourage you to speak with your recruiter to learn more about the specific benefits available for your position.

In order to be considered for a position, you must formally apply via careers.kroll.com.

The current salary range for this position is $70,000 to $200,000

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