Employee Benefits Consultant

The Health & Welfare Benefits Consultant supports the day-to-day operations of the Health & Welfare (H&W) team by providing ongoing administration and oversight of group benefit programs and vendors and serving as a primary contact for vendors and internal HR partners.

The successful candidate has experience in benefit plan administration and vendor management, along with strong analytical and problem-solving skills. The role should be a confident communicator with a customer service focused mindset and the ability to work effectively and efficiently both independently and in a team environment.

This position will be filled as a grade level 5 or 6 depending on relevant experience.

JOB DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

This role will work under the direction of the Supervisor, Health & Welfare to achieve the goals of the H&W team and support alignment with broader Total Rewards priorities, including high-value benefit programs, employee experience, operational efficiency, governance, and data-informed decision making.

Benefits Administration

• Facilitate implementation of new benefit plan design features and update plan documentation, procedures, and related materials to reflect plan design changes

• Support compliance with legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements related to benefit plans and vendor administration

• Partner with H&W leadership to develop and deliver benefit-related communications 

• Provide support for complex benefit-related inquiries and escalated participant issues, as needed

• Maintain effective communication with internal stakeholders on benefits-related matters or requests for benefits and/or vendor support (e.g. presenting at business meetings)

• Coordinate resolution of member claims, appeals and escalated cases – partner with internal and external resources for timely execution 

Vendor Management

• Manage day-to-day relationships with vendors, monitoring trends, issues, and customer service levels, raising appropriate risks, opportunities, and enhancements to leadership

• Analyze vendor-related issues and recommend solutions 

• Monitor vendor service delivery and data interfaces; identify opportunities to improve operating efficiency using data and trends to inform recommendations

• Develop and maintain plan and vendor summaries

• Coordinate plan and vendor audits, identify trends or issues affecting participants and processes, and recommend or implement appropriate follow-up actions

• Actively monitor, evaluate and report on plan and vendor performance using established key performance indicators

• Support new vendor selection and current vendor renewal activities 

• Coordinate with vendors, as needed, to support Annual Enrollment processes

• Support or lead assigned projects to improve customer experience, vendor efficiency, and cost effectiveness

• Support vendor invoice review and coordination, as needed

Total Rewards Alignment

• Support execution of broader Total Rewards priorities by helping ensure Health & Welfare programs are competitive, sustainable, and aligned with business and workforce needs. 

• Bring an enterprise Total Rewards perspective to day-to-day work by connecting Health & Welfare activities to employee experience, operational effectiveness, and long-term program success and value. 

• Collaborate across Total Rewards, HR, vendors, and internal stakeholders to support integrated solutions and a consistent employee experience across rewards programs.

• Contribute to a One Team approach by collaborating on initiatives that integrate Health & Welfare, wellbeing, retirement, and other rewards programs where appropriate.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, business, finance, or related field preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience

Experience

• Must have a minimum of 4 years of progressive experience in employee benefit plan administration, vendor management, or related benefits operations required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Effective critical thinking and problem-solving skills: skilled at relating and comparing data from different sources, identifying issues, securing relevant information, critically evaluating situations, and presenting sound factual reports

• Confident and skilled to work independently as well as in a team environment

• Flexible and adaptable – able to learn new technologies and applications quickly

• Demonstrates effective project management skills – able to multi-task seamlessly

• Exhibits the highest level of customer service focused on ownership, speed, responsiveness, and accuracy 

• Demonstrates strong communication skills – ensures key stakeholders are updated and informed; experience developing successful working relationships to drive effectiveness

• Demonstrates behaviors consistent with the Southern Company culture: Safety First, Intentional Inclusion, Act with Integrity, Superior Performance