Director of Workers' Compensation & Unemployment

Confidential Jobs; Columbus (OH); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Jobs seeks an experienced Director of Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment to lead both programs across a multi-state staffing organization. You will oversee claims, strengthen compliance, control costs, and establish standardized processes across employees, locations, and client partnerships.

The ideal candidate will be a hands-on leader with high-volume claims experience and will partner with HR, Safety, Risk Management, Legal, Payroll, Finance, and Operations to ensure timely

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field.
• 7+ years in workers’ compensation, unemployment claims, or related risk management.
• 3+ years in management or leadership roles.
• Experience with multi-state operations and high-volume claims.
• Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills.
• Proficiency with claims systems and Excel.

Responsibilities

• Lead workers’ compensation program from incident to closure.
• Oversee injury reporting, investigations, and coordination with carriers and legal.
• Review claim status, reserves, treatment progress, and settlements.
• Develop return-to-work and transitional duties processes with branches and providers.
• Partner with Safety and Operations to address injury trends and corrective actions.
• Monitor program costs, duration, and claim severity for improvements.
• Support renewals, audits, and accurate payroll/classification data with Finance and Payroll.

Skills

Workers' compensation

Unemployment claims

Leadership

Return-to-work programs

Multi-state operations

Data analysis

Communication

Excel

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR / Business / Risk management

Tools

Claims management systems

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Director of Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment

Location: Columbus, Ohio

Reports To: Executive Leadership

Position Summary

We have a client who is seeking an experienced Director of Workers’ Compensation and Unemployment to lead both programs across our multi-state staffing organization. This leader will oversee claims management, strengthen compliance, control costs, and establish consistent processes that support our employees, multiple locations, and client partnerships.

The ideal candidate is a hands‑on leader with experience managing high‑volume claims or another distributed, labor‑intensive organization. This individual will partner closely with Human Resources, Safety, Risk Management, Legal, Payroll, Finance, and Operations to ensure timely reporting, accurate documentation, fair claims handling, and effective resolution.

Key Responsibilities

• Direct the workers’ compensation program from initial incident reporting through claim resolution and closure.
• Oversee timely injury reporting, claims investigation, documentation, and coordination with insurance carriers, third-party administrators, medical providers, and legal counsel.
• Review claim status, reserves, treatment progress, litigation exposure, and settlement recommendations with appropriate partners.
• Develop and manage return-to-work and transitional-duty processes in coordination with branches, clients, and treating providers, consistent with medical restrictions.
• Partner with Safety and Operations to identify injury trends, address repeat incidents, and support corrective actions at client locations.
• Monitor claim duration, lost workdays, claim severity, and total program costs to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Support insurance renewals, audits, loss-run reviews, and accurate payroll and classification information in partnership with Finance, Payroll, and insurance partners.
• Escalate complex, disputed, or potentially fraudulent claims through appropriate investigative and legal channels.

Unemployment Claims Management

• Lead unemployment claims administration across all operating states, including responses, determinations, protests, appeals, and hearings.
• Establish processes to meet state-specific deadlines and maintain complete, accurate, and defensible records.
• Partner with multiple locations and Human Resources to document separations, assignment endings, reassignment opportunities, work availability, and offers of suitable work.
• Ensure claims responses reflect the facts of each case and applicable requirements.
• Coordinate hearing preparation, supporting evidence, witness participation, and representation with internal teams, vendors, and counsel as appropriate.
• Review benefit charges and account statements, identifying and challenging inaccurate charges when warranted.
• Analyze unemployment claim activity, outcomes, vendor performance, and cost trends.
• Partner with Payroll and Finance to monitor state unemployment tax rates and identify appropriate opportunities to improve program administration.

Leadership, Compliance, and Support

• Lead, coach, and develop the workers’ compensation and unemployment team, establishing clear responsibilities, service expectations, and accountability.
• Create standardized procedures, reporting requirements, escalation paths, and quality controls across the branch network.
• Train branch leaders on injury reporting, claims documentation, separation records, reassignment procedures, and hearing preparation.
• Monitor regulatory changes with Legal and other subject‑matter experts, updating processes and training as needed.
• Protect confidential employee information and maintain accurate, secure records.
• Manage carrier, administrator, and vendor relationships, including service performance and issue resolution.
• Build dashboards and present program performance, financial trends, significant exposures, and improvement recommendations to executive leadership.
• Conduct periodic audits to identify documentation gaps, missed deadlines, and opportunities to strengthen controls.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Risk Management, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Seven or more years of progressive experience in workers’ compensation, unemployment claims administration, or closely related risk management functions, including meaningful oversight of both programs.
• Three or more years of management or leadership experience.
• Experience supporting multi‑state operations and a high volume of claims.
• Strong knowledge of claims administration, return-to-work programs, unemployment appeals, and hearing preparation.
• Demonstrated ability to improve claims outcomes, manage costs, and strengthen operational processes.
• Experience working with carriers, third‑party administrators, state agencies, and legal counsel.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and team leadership skills.
• Proficiency with claims management systems, Microsoft Excel, and performance reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in manufacturing, logistics, or another organization with a large hourly workforce.
• Experience supporting a geographically dispersed branch network.
• Familiarity with workers’ compensation loss analysis, experience modification factors, and state unemployment tax reporting.
• Relevant professional certifications in risk management, insurance, or human resources.