Senior Retirement Benefits Leader (Remote)

Newell Brands; Salem (OR); Remote; USD 84,000 - 116,000; Full time

Job summary

Newell Brands invites applications for a Lead, Retirement Benefits role supporting our defined contribution programs with an emphasis on governance, compliance, and financial wellbeing initiatives. The role operates remotely in the United States, reporting to the Director, Benefits, and has no direct reports.

You will drive end-to-end retirement plan administration, governance routines, and vendor management while partnering with Total Rewards leadership to deliver strategic programs that

Qualifications

• 4+ years of progressively responsible experience in retirement benefits, employee benefits, retirement plan administration, or a related field.
• Strong knowledge of defined contribution plans and applicable ERISA, Internal Revenue Code, fiduciary, governance, and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience setting program priorities and leading retirement plan operations, governance, compliance, vendor management, audits, internal controls, escalated issue resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated 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, including data validation, reconciliation, analysis, and reporting; experience with HRIS, payroll interfaces, retirement recordkeeping platforms, business intelligence, or dashboard tools.

Responsibilities

• Executes strategic direction and operating priorities for the company’s defined contribution benefit 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; escalation 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 experience

Regulatory knowledge

Governance & vendor mgmt

Financial wellbeing strategy

Excel & BI tools

Tools

HRIS systems

Payroll interfaces

Retirement recordkeeping platforms

BI dashboards

Job description

Newell Brands invites applications for a Lead, Retirement Benefits role supporting our defined contribution programs with an emphasis on governance, compliance, and financial wellbeing initiatives. The role operates remotely in the United States, reporting to the Director, Benefits, and has no direct reports.

You will drive end-to-end retirement plan administration, governance routines, and vendor management while partnering with Total Rewards leadership to deliver strategic programs that