Benefits Specialist

City of Myrtle Beach; Myrtle Beach (SC); On-site; USD 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

No Cost Health Insurance

401K & 457 Plans

State Retirement

Wellness Clinic

Flexible Spending

Employee Assistance

Job summary

City of Myrtle Beach is seeking a Benefits Specialist to administer employee benefit programs, communicate benefits, and coordinate with vendors and payroll. The role emphasizes open enrollment, outreach, and supporting retirees and new hires.

The position requires an Associate degree or higher and 2 years of related benefits administration experience, with strong communication and data management skills. On-site work with benefits events and wellness programs is expected.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of benefits administration and related laws.
• Experience with health, life, and retirement benefits preferred.
• Excellent communication and organizational abilities.

Responsibilities

• Assist applicants, employees, and retirees with benefits questions and enrollment.
• Coordinate benefits data with vendors, payroll, and providers.
• Prepare benefits communications and open enrollment materials.
• Support outreach, on-site events, and health programs.
• Maintain compliance with regulations and privacy standards.

Skills

Benefits knowledge

Risk management

Customer service

Organizational skills

Time management

Data entry

Analytical thinking

Communication

Problem solving

Education

Associate degree or higher

Job description

City of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

JOB DESCRIPTION

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform the essential job functions satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the primary job functions herein described. Since every duty associated with this position may not be described herein, employees may be required to perform duties not specifically spelled out in the job description, but which may be reasonably considered to be incidental in the performing of their duties just as though they were actually written out in this job description.

Benefits Specialist

JOB SUMMARY

The purpose of this position is to perform administrative and technical work in assisting applicants, employees, and retirees with benefits questions and account administration, with an emphasis on benefits communication, outreach, and vendor oversight. The position plays a key role in keeping employees, prospective new hires, and retirees informed about their benefits throughout the year and in supporting the organization’s benefits partners, including onsite health and wellness programs. The position supports a primary employee group and/or a retiree group and provides cross‑coverage for the other as needed.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Benefits Administration & Vendor Management

• Administers employee benefit programs, such as health, disability and life insurance, employee assistance, retirement, deferred compensation, unreimbursed medical and dependent care, COBRA, and other plans as required; files and mails employee forms; researches information; answers questions; and resolves problems.
• Maintains employee benefits/payroll data in automated human resources information systems; coordinates transfer of data to external vendors, plan providers, and payroll; and prepares check requests for payment to vendors.
• Verifies employment information; reconciles insurance billings; and assists in the production of bi‑weekly payroll.
• Participates in evaluating and recommending services, coverage, and options available through insurance to determine which programs best meet the needs of the organization.
• Supports broker management, including maintaining a benefits consultant performance scorecard.
• Works with appropriate vendors to ensure wellness incentive payments are paid out correctly.
• Contacts vendors to participate in the annual employee benefit fair.

Benefits Communication, Outreach & Employee Support

• Assists with annual open enrollment, employee benefits meetings, and new hire benefits orientations; provides benefits information, including changes, to all eligible employees; prepares information packets; explains benefits and enrollment procedures; collects enrollment information from employees; enters enrollment information and changes into the computer database; and submits enrollment information to the appropriate benefit provider.
• Develops and delivers year‑round benefits messaging, including formats that reach employees without regular computer access.
• Coordinates and staffs department “road trips” to provide on‑site benefits information, answer questions, and support enrollment.
• Coordinates with appropriate vendors to schedule and promote onsite health services, including mobile mammography visits, onsite dental clinics, flu clinics, etc.
• Prepares and distributes retiree‑specific benefits communications.
• Supports retiree benefits administration by tracking Retiree Health Reimbursement Account (RHRA) balances and coordinating payments for City insurance coverage; notifying retirees of their account balances quarterly; and assisting retirees with submitting RHRA reimbursement claims and with the yearly update of their premium reimbursement requests.
• Prepares and communicates information to employees, retirees, and Council members regarding benefit program changes, procedures, and government‑mandated disclosures.
• Addresses routine questions or complaints; researches problems/complaints and initiates problem resolution; and answers inquiries from the public.
• Serves as the primary contact for the assigned employee group and provides cross‑coverage others as needed.

General Administrative, Compliance & Communication

• Prepares, completes, and produces a variety of benefits forms, reports, correspondence, invoices, policies and procedures manuals, brochures, pamphlets, reference materials, and other documents; reviews, completes, processes, forwards, or retains as appropriate.
• Performs other administrative tasks in support of department activities.
• Maintains awareness of new government regulations, products, methods, trends, techniques, and advances in the profession.
• Complies with related laws and rules.
• Communicates with supervisor, employees, retirees, benefit providers, vendors, City officials, the public, outside agencies, and other individuals as needed to coordinate work activities, review status of work, exchange information, resolve problems, or give/receive advice/direction.
• Operates a personal computer, general office equipment, or other equipment necessary to complete essential functions, including word processing, spreadsheet, database, or other software.

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS

• Performs other related duties as required, requested, and assigned.

Education and Experience

Requires an Associate’s degree or higher, preferably with coursework in human resources, business, public administration, communications, or insurance; and two (2) years of related experience in employee benefits administration, preferably including group health and life insurance. Experience in employee communications or customer service is desirable.

Licenses or Certifications

Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS), Group Benefits Associate (GBA), or similar benefits‑related certification preferred.

Special Requirements

None.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of benefits administration.
• Knowledge of risk management.
• Knowledge of customer service principles.
• Skill in figuring out the processes necessary to get things done;
• Skill in organizing.
• Skill in persuading.
• Skill in managing time.
• Skill in performing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; calculating decimals, percentages; and fractions; and interpreting graphs.
• Skill in coordinating activities of a project, program, or designated area of responsibility.
• Ability to establish effective work relationships.
• Ability to listen.
• Ability to build rapport.
• Ability to get more out of fewer resources.
• Ability to meet deadlines.
• Ability to evaluate, audit, deduce, and/or assess data using established criteria.
• Ability to operate, maneuver and/or control the actions of equipment, machinery, tools, and/or materials used in performing essential functions.
• Ability to utilize a wide variety of reference, descriptive, and/or advisory data and information.
• Ability to interpret instructions furnished in written, oral, diagrammatic, or schedule form.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment to adopt or modify methods and standards to meet variations in assigned objectives.
• Ability to exercise judgment, decisiveness and creativity in situations involving evaluation of information against measurable or verifiable criteria.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The work issedentary work. The employee is occasionally required to exert up to 10 pounds of force to move objects. Additionally requires:feeling, handling, hearing voices, manual dexterity, mental acuity, pulling, pushing, repetitive motion, speaking, standing, expressing ideas by the spoken word, visual acuity in data/color, and walking. Tasks may require the ability to: sit for extended periods of time at a keyboard or workstation.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Work is performed primarily indoors where essential functions are regularly performed without exposure to adverse environmental conditions. Work is performed in a relatively safe, secure, and stable work environment.

The City of Myrtle Beach has the right to revise this job description at any time. This

description does not represent in any way a contract of employment.

City of Myrtle Beach Benefits

• No Cost Health, Dental & Vision Insurance for Fulltime Employees
• 401K & 457 Plans Available
• State Retirement
• Employee Wellness Clinic
• Flex Spending Account
• Employee Assistance
• And much more

Equal Opportunity Employer

The City of Myrtle Beach commits to a policy of equal employment opportunity for applicants and employees, complying with local, state and federal laws. The City’s policy is to employ qualified persons without discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic, including race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, political affiliation, veteran’s status, age, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, to include transgender status, disability or status in any other group protected by federal/state/local law.