Principal Associate, Benefits Plan Program Management

Capital One National Association; Richmond (VA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Capital One National Association is seeking a Principal Associate for Benefits Plan Program Management to oversee on-site clinics, dental, vision, life insurance and more, driving program governance and vendor relationships. The role emphasizes operational excellence, data-driven improvements, and cross-functional collaboration with HR and policy teams.

The Candidate will manage vendor performance, support RFP/RFI processes, and ensure smooth program administration while focusing on associate

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or military experience.
• 3+ years of experience working with H&W employee benefit plan vendor management.
• MBA or Master’s Degree preferred.
• CEBS or CBP designation preferred.
• 4 years of experience in H&W employee benefits for large organizations.
• 5 years of experience with benefits vendor management.
• Experience with benefits governance practices.
• Strong analytical skills and knowledge of statistical analysis.

Responsibilities

• Own Plan Program Management for on-site clinics and pharmacies and other benefits vendors; build trusted relationships with vendors and cross-functional partners.
• Monitor SLAs and performance guarantees to ensure contracts are fulfilled.
• Coordinate with Enterprise Supplier Management (ESM) for governance tasks and risk mitigation.
• Handle annual program implementation changes with vendors and ensure proper testing.
• Maintain administration tasks for assigned plans and keep internal communications up to date.
• Lead complex escalations end-to-end and drive process improvements.

Skills

Vendor management

Governance

Data analytics

Project management

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA

Tools

SLA tracking tools

Job description

Principal Associate, Benefits Plan Program Management

The Principal Associate, Benefits Plan Program Management plays a critical role in ensuring the seamless delivery, administration, and continuous improvement of the organization’s Health & Wellness and voluntary benefit programs. This individual serves as a key operational anchor, managing a portfolio of vendors (e.g., on-site clinics, dental, vision, mental health, education, family support and commuter), resolving complex issues, and supporting the successful execution of strategic initiatives and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes. This individual must be able to work independently to drive work forward with support from internal and external partners.

1. Vendor Management & Governance

• Own Plan Program Management for on-site clinics and pharmacies, dental, vision, life insurance, LTD, AD&PL, mental health, family formation and support, MSK, executive physicals, and commuter benefits. Develop a network and build trust-based relationships with vendors and cross-functional partners to get work done.
• Performance Monitoring: Attend regular partner meetings and actively monitor vendor adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and performance guarantees (PGs) to ensure vendors deliver on contracts.
• Partner with Enterprise Supplier Management (ESM) to execute all required vendor management tasks to ensure compliance and mitigate risk (e.g., business reviews, risk assessments, data share requests).
• Manage processes for on-site clinic staffing, including updating access in our vendor management portal and ensuring physical access to the campus.
• Continuous Improvement: Create analytics to leverage data to generate insights on vendor capabilities and recommend plan or program improvements based on benchmarking data, areas of employee abrasion, compliance updates, or emerging market trends. Considers broader and longer term impact to create value. Stay up to date on new programs or offerings from vendors and support the Policy & Design team with input on investment decisions.

2. Operations & Program Administration

• Issue & Escalation Resolution: Maintain comprehensive, up-to-date issue logs for each vendor. Drive timely resolution of tracking items and document outcomes.
• Manage annual program implementation changes with vendors (excluding Workday feeds). Ensure changes are properly implemented and tested.
• Core Administration: Handle all administrative tasks related to the assigned plans with a sense of urgency, while balancing quality, to ensure smooth day-to-day operations. Navigate any ambiguity to assess various situations to determine the proper course of action.
• Internal Communications: Own and maintain internal intranet pages for your plans to ensure benefit program information, FAQs, and resources are accurate and accessible. Partner with HR Communications to make needed changes.

3. Associate Experience

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Own complex, tier-3 employee escalations for your plans end-to-end. Work with members to understand the situation, investigate root causes, interface with vendors for resolutions, and implement processes or solutions to prevent future errors.
• Understand associate experience (how claims flow, customer service support, etc) to recommend and execute improvements.
• Oversee the monthly benefits and wellbeing newsletter to increase plan utilization and drive awareness of benefits. Develop a project plan with monthly themes, partner with stakeholders to provide relevant content, socialize as needed to support key HR initiatives, and work with HR Communications on production.
• Leverage data to support key messages and partner with HR Communications to design and execute on a communications plan to drive understanding of benefit and how to access/ use. Review communications recommended by vendors and partner with HR Comms on a view point for which should be sent, and timing. Provide input into the monthly wellbeing newsletter.

4. Strategic Initiatives & Growth

• RFP & RFI Support: Support team members responsible for plan design with Request for Proposals (RFPs) and Request for Information (RFIs) for new or expiring benefit programs, including evaluating vendor bids and participating in stakeholder reviews
• Implementation Support: Handle program implementation changes with vendors; ensure changes are properly implemented and tested.
• Proactively seeks out benefits knowledge to stay current on benefits products, industry innovations, and regulatory changes by attending webinars, reading industry publications, and participating in conferences.

5. Documentation

• Process Documentation: Author and maintain standard operating procedures (SOPs) for vendor management and escalation workflows to ensure team business continuity.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or military experience
• 3+ years of experience working with H&W employee benefit plan vendor management

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or Master’s Degree
• Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) or Certified Benefits Professional (CBP) designation
• 4 years of experience in H&W employee benefits for organizations with 10,000+ employees
• 5 years of experience with benefits vendor management
• Experience with benefits governance practices
• Solid business acumen, strategic thinker, and problem solver
• Strong analytical skills and knowledge of statistical analysis

At this time, Capital One will not sponsor a new applicant for employment authorization for this position.

The minimum and maximum full-time annual salaries for this role are listed below, by location. Please note that this salary information is solely for candidates hired to perform work within one of these locations, and refers to the amount Capital One is willing to pay at the time of this posting. Salaries for part-time roles will be prorated based upon the agreed upon number of hours to be regularly worked.

McLean, VA: $120,800 - $137,900 for Prin Assoc, BenefitsRichmond, VA: $109,900 - $125,400 for Prin Assoc, Benefits

Candidates hired to work in other locations will be subject to the pay range associated with that location, and the actual annualized salary amount offered to any candidate at the time of hire will be reflected solely in the candidate’s offer letter.

This role is also eligible to earn performance based incentive compensation, which may include cash bonus(es) and/or long term incentives (LTI). Incentives could be discretionary or non discretionary depending on the plan.

Capital One offers a comprehensive, competitive, and inclusive set of health, financial and other benefits that support your total well-being. Learn more at the Capital One Careers website. Eligibility varies based on full or part-time status, exempt or non-exempt status, and management level.

Capital One is an equal opportunity employer (EOE, including disability/vet) committed to non-discrimination in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws. Capital One promotes a drug-free workplace. Capital One will consider for employment qualified applicants with a criminal history in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable laws regarding criminal background inquiries, including, to the extent applicable, Article 23-A of the New York Correction Law; San Francisco, California Police Code Article 49, Sections 4901-4920; New York City’s Fair Chance Act; Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Act; and other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding criminal background inquiries.