Senior Retirement Benefits Lead - Remote & Financial Wellness

Newell Brands; Columbus (OH); Remote; USD 84,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Newell Brands is seeking a Lead, Retirement Benefits who will provide operational leadership for the company’s retirement programs and financial wellbeing strategy. This role sets program direction, oversees plan administration, compliance, and fiduciary responsibilities while advising Total Rewards leadership and governance committees on risks and investment decisions.

The role focuses on optimizing retirement readiness, employee communications, and analytics using dashboards and scorecards to

Qualifications

• 4+ years of progressively responsible experience in retirement benefits or related field.
• Strong knowledge of defined contribution plans, ERISA, Internal Revenue Code, fiduciary, governance, and compliance requirements.
• Experience leading retirement plan operations, governance, compliance, vendor management, audits, internal controls, escalated issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Experience developing and executing employee financial wellbeing, financial security, or retirement readiness strategies with defined objectives, measurable outcomes, and integrated communications and education.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills with data validation, reconciliation, analysis, and reporting; experience with HRIS, payroll interfaces, retirement recordkeeping platforms, BI, or dashboards.

Responsibilities

• Execute strategic direction and operating priorities for the company’s defined contribution plan, balancing employee needs, fiduciary responsibilities, financial stewardship, operational excellence, and alignment with the broader Total Rewards strategy.
• Lead end-to-end retirement plan administration and governance; establish annual objectives, operating standards, decision frameworks, risk controls, and performance expectations to ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient program delivery.
• Own relationships with recordkeepers, trustees, actuaries, consultants, and other partners; direct governance routines, evaluate performance and fees, enforce service-level commitments, resolve escalated issues, and hold vendors accountable for timely corrective action and continuous improvement.
• Manage annual compliance, fiduciary, and governance activities, including nondiscrimination testing, contribution limit monitoring, government filings, participant notices, plan audits, committee materials, and required data collection; elevate material risks and ensure timely remediation.
• Execute a comprehensive employee financial wellbeing and financial security strategy that improves retirement readiness across key financial life stages. Assess workforce needs and behaviors, establish priorities and measurable goals, and integrate retirement savings, emergency savings, budgeting, debt management, investing, and retirement income education with broader Total Rewards and business objectives.
• Lead the design process, implementation, and ongoing management of financial wellbeing programs, tools, resources, and vendor solutions. Establish the program roadmap, prioritize initiatives, sponsor change, address service gaps, and ensure offerings are accessible, inclusive, relevant, scalable, and cost-effective.
• Define and monitor financial wellbeing success measures, including engagement, utilization, retirement preparedness, savings behaviors, and employee outcomes. Use workforce insights to direct targeted interventions and present recommendations to Total Rewards leadership on program priorities and investments.
• Act as the retirement benefits subject matter expert for employee communications and education; set the communication and education strategy, approve content, guide campaigns and events, and partner with internal stakeholders and vendors to deliver clear, accurate, engaging, and inclusive decision-support resources.
• Own the quarterly retirement plan dashboard and scorecard; establish key performance, risk, service, and employee outcome measures; validate insights; and present trends, emerging issues, and recommended actions to Total Rewards leadership and plan governance committees.
• Direct analysis of plan, participant, demographic, payroll, and vendor data to identify trends, risks, disparities, and opportunities; translate findings into strategic recommendations and ensure agreed actions are implemented and measured.
• Maintain management oversight of reconciliations, corrections, controls, procedures, plan records, calendars, and audit-ready documentation; assign accountability, monitor issue resolution, identify root causes, and sponsor sustainable preventive improvements.
• Monitor legislative, regulatory, market, and industry developments; assess strategic, plan, operational, financial, and communication impacts; brief leadership; and lead implementation of required or recommended changes.

Skills

Retirement benefits expertise

Leadership

Vendor management

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in a related field

Tools

Microsoft Excel

HRIS

Payroll interfaces

BI dashboards

Job description

Newell Brands is seeking a Lead, Retirement Benefits who will provide operational leadership for the company’s retirement programs and financial wellbeing strategy. This role sets program direction, oversees plan administration, compliance, and fiduciary responsibilities while advising Total Rewards leadership and governance committees on risks and investment decisions.

The role focuses on optimizing retirement readiness, employee communications, and analytics using dashboards and scorecards to