Manager, U.S. Health Care Benefits Administration

Ford; Dearborn (MI); Hybrid; USD 116,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Parental leave & family benefits

Vehicle discount program

Job summary

Ford's Human Resources team seeks a leader for U.S. Health Care Administration to oversee benefits administration, budgeting, compliance, and vendor governance in a large, union-influenced environment. This hybrid role requires on-site presence in Dearborn, MI at least four days a week.

You will partner with strategy and design to test plan changes, support negotiations, and deliver execution roadmaps while building strong relationships with union leadership and cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 7–10 years in employee benefits with 4–6 years in health care benefits administration
• Experience navigating union environments and labor negotiations is a plus
• Strong knowledge of ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA requirements

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day administration of health care programs across union and non-union populations
• Manage benefits budget execution, cost tracking and reporting with Finance and actuarial teams
• Lead annual enrollment, vendor readiness and communications rollout
• Serve as senior escalation point for complex administrative and compliance issues
• Translate negotiated agreements into actionable implementation roadmaps and drive execution

Skills

Benefits administration

Operational leadership

Vendor management

Labor negotiations support

Strategic planning

Financial & budget analysis

Team leadership

Regulatory compliance

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/BA/Healthcare Administration

Master's degree (preferred)

Job description

As part of our Human Resources team, you’ll help us attract, hire and retain the top talent we need to achieve our bold vision. You’ll play a vital role in defining, developing and maintaining the winning culture that empowers diverse individuals to work together and create the impossible. We’re seeking change leaders, talent strategists, employee advocates and culture architects to enable our teams, partners, and businesses to do and be their best.

In this position...

The Manager, U.S. Health Care Administration leads the operational excellence, administration, and execution of Ford's U.S. health care benefits programs. This role partners closely with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to ensure strategy is grounded in administrative feasibility and executed flawlessly. The ideal candidate is a strong operational leader with deep expertise in benefits administration, compliance, and vendor management, who can serve as a critical execution partner to the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design.

This role is hybrid and requires at least 4 days per week onsite in Dearborn, MI.

What you'll do...

Operational Excellence and Plan Administration:

• Own the consistent, accurate, and compliant day-to-day administration of health care programs across union and non-union populations.
• Manage the health care benefits budget execution, cost tracking, and financial reporting; partner with Finance and actuarial consultants on funding administration.
• Drive continuous improvement in processes, systems, and service delivery, ensuring adherence to collective bargaining agreements, regulatory requirements, and internal policy.
• Lead annual enrollment execution, including vendor system readiness, communications rollout, and issue resolution.
• Serve as primary escalation point for complex administrative and compliance issues, with direct visibility to the Executive Director on significant matters.

Strategy Feasibility Analysis and Execution:

• Partner with the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design to pressure-test proposed plan design changes, vendor strategies, and negotiations proposals for administrative feasibility, implementation risk, and member experience impact.
• Provide operational data, historical administration performance, and process expertise to inform strategy development.
• Lead the detailed implementation planning and execution once strategy and negotiated outcomes are finalized, ensuring smooth, well-sequenced rollout.

Labor Negotiations Support:

• Serve as a senior negotiator for health care benefits in collective bargaining, shaping proposals that balance business sustainability with union partnership and employee value.
• Develop detailed bargaining strategies, scenario modeling, and long-term cost projections to inform executive decision-making and negotiation positioning.
• Build strategic relationships with union leadership to foster collaboration, mutual understanding, and creative problem-solving for complex health care challenges.
• Translate negotiated agreements into actionable implementation roadmaps, then lead team to implement.

Vendor Relationship Management:

• Manage day-to-day vendor relationships to consistently deliver operational excellence, ensuring industry leading service level agreements and performance standards are met.
• Lead vendor benchmarking and market testing processes (e.g., RFPs, RFQs) by evaluating proposals for strategic fit and administrative and operational feasibility, coordinating due diligence, and ensuring seamless implementation once vendors are selected.
• Design and oversee best-in-class vendor governance frameworks; elevate performance issues and manage contract administration and renewals.

Plan Governance and Compliance:

• Implement governance structures, policies, and procedures to ensure equitable, compliant, and consistent benefit delivery.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state, and local regulations (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA) and applicable collective bargaining agreements.
• Identify and mitigate operational and compliance risks through proactive monitoring and audit support.

Team Leadership and Development:

• Build and lead a team focused on operational excellence, coaching members to strengthen operational excellence, build technical expertise, and deliver best-in-class member experience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Manage change execution for benefits transformation initiatives, ensuring smooth adoption and minimal disruption.
• Act as a trusted operational partner to the Manager, U.S. Health Care Strategy and Design and cross-functional stakeholders (Supply Chain, Finance, Legal, IT, HR, Labor Relations).

You'll have...

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Health Care Administration, or a related field (Master's preferred).
• Minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in employee benefits, with at least 4-6 years focused on health care benefits administration in a large, complex organization (Fortune 500 or comparable experience strongly preferred).

Even better, you may have...

• Demonstrated experience administering health care benefits in a unionized environment; exposure to labor negotiations support is a plus.
• Experience managing vendor relationships, performance management, and contract administration in the health care benefits space.
• Strong operational execution skills, with demonstrated ability to translate strategy into action and drive results through process discipline.
• Comfort operating with autonomy and directly supporting executive leadership.
• Track record of building and leading teams focused on service delivery and operational excellence.
• Solid knowledge of federal and state benefits legislation (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA) and compliance requirements.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, assess feasibility, and generate actionable recommendations.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to communicate clearly and confidently with executive leadership and collaborate effectively with a peer strategy leader.
• Proven project management and coaching skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Professional certification such as CEBS (Certified Employee Benefit Specialist) or similar.
• Experience with self-insured health plans, actuarial valuation processes, and claims analytics.
• Experience in automotive, large industrial, manufacturing, or other heavily unionized industries.

As an established global company, we offer the benefit of choice. You can choose what your Ford future will look like: will your story span the globe, or keep you close to home? Will your career be a deep dive into what you love, or a series of new teams and new skills? Will you be a leader, a changemaker, a technical expert, a culture builder...or all of the above? No matter what you choose, we offer a work life that works for you, including:

• Immediate medical, dental, vision, and prescription drug coverage.
• Paid parental leave, new parent ramp-up programs, subsidized back-up child care and more.
• Family building benefits including adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility treatments and more.
• Vehicle discount program for employees and family members and management leases.
• Tuition assistance.
• Established and active employee resource groups.
• Paid time off for individual and team community service.
• Generous vacation time, sick/personal time, and paid holidays, including between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.

This position is leadership level 6 and ranges from $115,500-$218,100.
Final determination of salary grade will be based on candidate's skills and experience, and base salary will be set within the applicable range according to job scope, responsibility and competitive market value.

Internal applicants: moving into this role may result in an adjustment to your current compensation based on the posted pay range for this role, taking into consideration your qualifications and other relevant factors.

Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Candidates for positions with Ford Motor Company must be legally authorized to work in the United States. Verification of employment eligibility will be required at the time of hire.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, age, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status or protected veteran status. In the United States, if you need a reasonable accommodation for the online application process due to a disability, please call 1-888-336-0660.

This position is hybrid with a requirement to be onsite four or more days per week.