Senior Benefits Specialist - Analyst

NU USA Northeastern University; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 68,000 - 96,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Tuition assistance

Wellness program

Job summary

Northeastern University is seeking a Senior Benefits Specialist/Analyst to lead day-to-day health, welfare, and retirement benefits administration. You will analyze plan performance, generate insights, and ensure compliance while collaborating with vendors and internal stakeholders.

The role emphasizes strong customer service, data-driven decision making, and efficient multi-project management in a high-volume environment. A comprehensive benefits package is provided.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in HR, business, finance, or related field.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in benefits/retirement analytics or total rewards.

Responsibilities

• Serve as senior contact for escalated benefits inquiries from employees and retirees.
• Administer day-to-day health and welfare and retirement plan operations including enrollment and COBRA coordination.
• Partner with carriers/vendors to troubleshoot data discrepancies and billing reconciliation.
• Build and maintain reports and dashboards on benefits utilization and retirement participation.
• Support compliance activities and cross-functional projects within HR.

Skills

Benefits administration

Retirement program administration

Data analysis

Customer service orientation

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR/Business/Finance or related field

10+ years progressive experience in benefits/retirement analytics

Tools

Workday

Excel

Job description

About the Opportunity

Job Summary The Senior Benefits Specialist/Analyst is a subject-matter expert responsible for the day-to-day administration, analysis, and continuous improvement of the university's health and welfare and retirement benefit programs. This role serves as an escalation point for complex benefits and retirement inquiries, partners closely with vendors and carriers to ensure accurate plan administration, and delivers analytics that inform program design, compliance, and cost management decisions. The role requires a highly organized, detail-oriented professional with exceptional customer service instincts who thrives in a fast-paced, high-volume environment and is comfortable balancing competing priorities across multiple stakeholders. This position reports to the Associate Director, Benefits, with a dotted-line relationship to the Manager, Benefits on matters related to day-to-day benefits operations, retirement administration coordination, and team-level service delivery.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in benefits administration, retirement plan administration, or total rewards analytics, ideally within a large, complex organization.
• Demonstrated expertise administering health and welfare plans (medical, dental, vision, life, disability) and retirement/403(b)/401(k) programs, including eligibility, enrollment, and vendor file feeds.
• Strong analytical skills with proven ability to build reports, dashboards, and data analyses (advanced Excel required; experience with Workday or similar HRIS strongly preferred).
• Exceptional customer service orientation with a track record of building trust and rapport with employees, retirees, and leadership; skilled at translating complex benefits concepts into clear, accessible guidance.
• Working knowledge of applicable regulations, including ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, and IRS retirement plan rules.
• Proven ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities, deadlines, and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment, with sound judgment and discretion when handling sensitive employee data.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including experience developing employee-facing communications and job aids.
• Experience in higher education or another academic/nonprofit setting is a plus.
• CEBS, CBP, PHR, or SPHR certification preferred.

Key Responsibilities & Areas (KRAs)

1. Benefits Administration & Employee/Retiree Support
   • Serve as a senior point of contact for escalated benefits inquiries from employees and retirees, resolving complex eligibility, enrollment, billing, and claims issues.
   • Administer day-to-day health and welfare plan operations, including new hire enrollment, qualifying life events, open enrollment support, and COBRA coordination.
   • Partner with carriers and vendors to troubleshoot data discrepancies, file feed errors, and billing reconciliation.
   • Deliver consistently high-quality customer service, modeling a proactive, empathetic approach to employee engagement.
2. Retirement Program Administration
   • Administer the university's retirement program(s), including enrollment, contribution changes, loans/withdrawals coordination, and vendor data feed oversight.
   • Support annual retirement plan compliance activities (e.g., nondiscrimination testing coordination, Form 5500 support, plan audits).
   • Serve as the primary liaison with retirement plan recordkeepers and investment providers on day-to-day service issues.
   • Assist employees with retirement planning questions and coordinate financial wellness education sessions.
3. Analytics & Reporting
   • Build and maintain recurring and ad hoc reports and dashboards on benefits utilization, retirement participation, and plan costs to support decision-making.
   • Analyze plan performance data to identify trends, anomalies, and opportunities for cost savings or process improvement.
   • Support the Associate Director and Manager, Benefits with data and analysis for RFPs, renewals, and executive-level presentations.
4. Process Improvement & Compliance
   • Identify and implement process improvements to streamline benefits and retirement administration workflows.
   • Maintain accurate documentation of standard operating procedures and job aids.
   • Ensure administration practices remain compliant with applicable federal and state regulations.
5. Team Collaboration & Special Projects
   • Collaborate cross-functionally with HRBPs, Payroll, and HR Operations on benefits-related matters.
   • Support special projects, including open enrollment, vendor transitions, and system implementations, as assigned.

Financial Measures

This position does not have budget or financial approval authority. The role supports cost analysis and vendor invoice reconciliation activities that inform benefits and retirement program budget decisions.

Supervision

This position does not have direct reports. The Senior Benefits Administrator/Analyst may provide functional guidance and mentorship to Benefits Coordinators or junior team members on complex cases.

Working Conditions

Standard office environment with occasional flexibility for hybrid/remote work per university policy. Requires the ability to manage high transaction volumes and shifting priorities, particularly during open enrollment and other peak periods.

Position Type

Human Resources

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer. Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

Compensation

Grade/Pay Type: 109S Expected Hiring Range: $67,855.00 - $95,845.00 With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.

About Northeastern University

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. Our approach of integrating real-world experience with education, research, and innovation empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create worldwide impact. Our global university system provides our community and academic, government, and industry partners with unique opportunities to think locally and act globally. The system—including 14 campuses across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, 300,000-plus alumni, and 3,000 partners worldwide—serves as a platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions. The university’s residential campuses for undergraduate and graduate degrees are located in Boston, London, and Oakland, California. Our research and graduate campuses are in the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant; Arlington, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; Portland, Maine; Seattle; Silicon Valley, California; Toronto; and Vancouver. Northeastern’s personalized, experiential undergraduate and graduate programs lead to degrees through the doctorate in 10 colleges and schools across our campuses. Learning emphasizes the intersection of data, technology, and human literacies, uniquely preparing graduates for careers of the future and lives of fulfillment and accomplishment. Our research enterprise, with an R1 Carnegie classification, is solutions oriented and spans the world. Our faculty scholars and students work in teams that cross not just disciplines, but also sectors—aligned around solving today’s highly interconnected global challenges and focused on transformative impact for humankind.