Senior Benefits Specialist

Apptronik; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Apptronik, a human-centered robotics company in Austin, seeks a Senior Benefits Specialist to own benefits design, administration, and execution across health, retirement, and wellness programs.

The role requires deep knowledge of benefits administration, ERISA/ACA/HIPAA/COBRA, and strong cross-functional collaboration with HR, Finance, and Legal. This is a hands-on, individual-contributor position.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree plus 8+ years of relevant benefits/total rewards experience.
• Deep knowledge of benefits plan design, administration, and compliance (health & welfare, retirement, wellness).
• Experience managing vendor/broker relationships and negotiating service contracts.
• Strong analytical skills with frameworks to measure program impact and satisfaction.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills for senior stakeholders and partners.

Responsibilities

• Administer benefits plans end to end including enrollment, eligibility, and changes.
• Ensure programs comply (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA) and cost-effectively run daily.
• Write and maintain benefits policies and procedures for new or ambiguous cases.
• Create employee-facing communications (open enrollment materials, notices, FAQs).
• Manage vendor/broker relationships, RFPs, contract terms, and SLAs.
• Track program performance (cost, utilization, service levels, satisfaction).
• Build reporting tools to measure benefits impact over time.
• Serve as go-to resource for benefits/HR staff on complex questions.
• Coordinate with legal, finance, and external brokers to resolve issues.

Skills

Benefits plan design

Vendor/broker management

Compliance (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA)

Analytical skills

Communication & influencing

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Job description

Apptronik is a human-centered robotics company developing AI-powered robots to support humanity in every facet of life. Our flagship humanoid robot, Apollo, is built to collaborate thoughtfully with people, starting with critical industries such as manufacturing and logistics, with future applications in healthcare, the home, and beyond.
We operate at the cutting edge of Applied AI, applying our expertise across the full robotics stack to solve some of society's most important problems. You will join a team dedicated to bringing Apollo to market at scale, tackling the complex challenges like safety, commercialization, and mass production to change the world for the better.
We are seeking a Senior Benefits Specialist to own the day-to-day design, administration, and execution of our benefits programs — health insurance, retirement plans, and wellness initiatives. This is an individual-contributor role for a deep subject-matter expert who delivers results through hands-on expertise and cross-functional execution, resolving complex plan administration issues and managing vendor and broker relationships.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES or KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Administer benefits plans end to end — health insurance, retirement programs, and wellness initiatives — including enrollment, eligibility, plan changes, and day-to-day troubleshooting, resolving complex or escalated issues that require in-depth evaluation of competing factors (cost, compliance, employee impact).
• Execute benefits initiatives in partnership with HR, Finance, and Legal, ensuring programs run compliantly (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA) and cost-effectively day to day.
• Write and maintain the policies and procedures that govern benefits administration; determine the right course of action for new or ambiguous cases where existing procedure doesn't fully cover the situation.
• Produce and manage employee-facing benefits communications (open enrollment materials, plan change notices, FAQs) so employees have clear, accurate, timely information.
• Manage vendor and broker relationships on an ongoing basis, coordinating RFPs, negotiating contract terms, and tracking service-level performance to keep delivery on track.
• Track program performance against operational metrics (cost, utilization, service levels, employee satisfaction) and run improvement initiatives to fix identified gaps.
• Build and maintain reporting/measurement tools that track benefits program impact and employee satisfaction over time.
• Serve as a go-to resource for other benefits and HR staff on complex administration questions, sharing practical know-how and troubleshooting approaches.
• Coordinate with contacts outside the immediate function (legal, finance, external brokers and consultants) as needed to resolve complex administration issues.

SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree plus approximately 8+ years of relevant benefits/total rewards experience, or a
• Deep, advanced knowledge of benefits plan design, administration, and compliance (health & welfare, retirement, wellness).
• Demonstrated experience managing vendor/broker relationships and negotiating service contracts.
• Strong analytical skills, with experience building frameworks to measure program impact and satisfaction.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills; proven ability to adapt style and advise senior stakeholders and partners outside one's immediate area of expertise on complex matters.
• Working knowledge of relevant employment and benefits law (ERISA, ACA, HIPAA, COBRA, etc.); experience partnering with Legal and Finance on compliance matters.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Vision to read printed materials and a computer screen
• Hearing and speech to communicate clearly with employees, vendors, and internal teams
• This is a direct hire. Please, no outside Agency solicitations.

Apptronik provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.