Senior Leave & Disability Benefits Leader

Saputo Inc.; Milwaukee (WI); Hybrid; USD 107,000 - 141,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Development opportunities

Competitive compensation

Community involvement

Job summary

Saputo Cheese USA Inc. is seeking an experienced HR leader to oversee leave, disability and workers’ compensation programs. You will manage costs, ensure regulatory compliance, and drive process improvements within the HRSS ecosystem.

You will lead a team to administer FMLA, ADA, state leaves, and absence programs, partnering with HR, Legal, Payroll, Benefits and IT to implement system updates and effective communications. Hybrid in-office arrangement offered.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in leave, disability and worker’s compensation.
• Bachelor’s Degree required.
• Strong knowledge of state and federal benefit regulations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; adept at building relationships with internal teams and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the workers’ compensation program, including vendor partnerships, claims oversight, cost containment strategies, and return-to-work programs.
• Oversee short-term disability, long-term disability, and absence programs ensuring compliant administration of statutory and company sponsored policies.
• Serve as the primary owner for Absence in the HRSS ecosystem (e.g., Workday Absence/Workforce), managing policy and operational requirements.
• Lead the administration and continuous improvement of leave and absence programs, including FMLA, ADA, state and local paid leave programs, and company leaves.
• Draft and maintain plan documents, policies, and employee communications related to leave and disability programs.
• Partner with HR, Legal, Payroll, Benefits, and IT to assess impacts of regulatory changes and business initiatives; convert new requirements into system updates, communication needs, and operational readiness plans.
• Facilitates with business stakeholders to understand requirements for absence plan design/ configuration; demonstrating understanding of business needs and recommend design based on system functionality.
• Partner with third-party administrators to ensure accurate and compliant program administration with evolving regulatory requirements.
• Analyze utilization trends and program costs to support design, optimization and strategic improvements.
• Lead return-to-work and accommodation strategies, partnering with business leaders to reduce lost time, enable safe transitional work, and support sustainable reintegration into the workforce.
• Lead, coach, and mentor a team responsible for Workers’ Compensation, Short‑Term Disability, Long‑Term Disability, and related absence programs.
• Ensure full regulatory compliance with federal, state, and local requirements (e.g., Workers’ Compensation statutes, ADA, FMLA coordination, state disability laws), including audits, reporting, and documentation standards.
• Serve as the senior escalation point for complex, high-risk, or sensitive cases involving serious injuries, prolonged disability, litigation, return-to-work challenges, and union populations.
• Serve as the subject matter expert for leave, disability, workers compensation and absence-related compliance.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, systems integration, and employee experience.

Skills

Leave & disability programs

Workers’ compensation

Communication skills

Time management

Teamwork / collaboration

MS Office

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Tools

Workday

Job description

Saputo Cheese USA Inc. is seeking an experienced HR leader to oversee leave, disability and workers’ compensation programs. You will manage costs, ensure regulatory compliance, and drive process improvements within the HRSS ecosystem.

You will lead a team to administer FMLA, ADA, state leaves, and absence programs, partnering with HR, Legal, Payroll, Benefits and IT to implement system updates and effective communications. Hybrid in-office arrangement offered.