Senior Specialist - Benefits

Wood Mackenzie Inc.; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Wood Mackenzie Inc. in Boston seeks a Senior Specialist – Human Resources (Benefits) to administer benefits across the Americas, including onboarding, open enrolment, COBRA, leaves, and payroll coordination.

The role requires strong communication, vendor management, and proficiency with Workday, ensuring compliant, accurate benefits data while guiding employees through options and changes.

Qualifications

• 4+ years of benefits administration, ideally across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Experience working with HR systems such as Workday.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work collaboratively across teams.

Responsibilities

• Enter and validate employee benefit elections during onboarding or open enrolment.
• Process benefit cessation and ensure correct end dates for leavers.
• Review and approve life event requests and update benefit selections accordingly.
• Coordinate COBRA notifications, enrolment, and continuation coverage administration with the vendor following qualifying events.
• Manage end‑to‑end leave cases including approvals and employee/manager co‑ordination.
• Communicate leave status and related changes to payroll to ensure accurate pay and benefit deductions.
• Ensure benefits continue or adjust correctly during periods of leave.
• Provide first‑line guidance on benefit plans, enrolment, coverage, and processes.
• Send standard communications to employees.
• Investigate and resolve complex benefit issues escalated from employees, managers, vendors, or HR teams.
• Work with vendors to resolve denied or complex insurance claims
• Advise employees on benefit options and coverage implications
• Resolve benefit‑related payroll issues, deductions, adjustments, and reimbursements in partnership with payroll
• Guide employees on steps needed for benefit changes or compliance.

Skills

Benefits administration

Communication

Workday

Tools

Workday

Job description

Wood Mackenzie is the global leader in analytics, insights and proprietary data across the entire energy and natural resources landscape. For over 50 years our work has guided the decisions of the world’s most influential energy producers, utilities companies, financial institutions and governments. Now, with the world’s energy system more complex and interconnected than ever before, sector‑specific views are no longer enough. That’s why we’ve redefined what’s possible with Intelligence Connected. By fusing our unparalleled proprietary data with the sharpest analytical minds, all supercharged by Synoptic AI, we deliver a clear, interconnected view of the entire value chain. Our trusted team of 2,700 experts across 30 countries breaks siloes and connects industries, markets and regions across the globe. This empowers our customers to identify risk sooner, spot opportunities faster and recalibrate strategy with confidence – whether planning days, weeks, months or decades ahead. Wood Mackenzie Intelligence Connected WoodMac.com Wood Mackenzie Brand Video Wood Mackenzie Values Inclusive – we succeed together Trusting – we choose to trust each other Customer committed – we put customers at the heart of our decisions Future Focused – we accelerate change Curious – we turn knowledge into action

Role Purpose

The Senior Specialist – Human Resources (Benefits) will support the delivery of benefits provision across the Americas region. This role is responsible for benefits administration across the regions by managing our BAU activities, along with supporting annual renewals and projects. The successful candidate for this position must have experience and a thorough knowledge of benefits and payroll practices across the Americas region (US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil). The ideal candidate will have experience working in a fast‑paced, rapidly changing environment and be willing to guide, support, and engage with the wider HR and payroll/finance teams.

Key Responsibilities

Benefits Administration

• Enter and validate employee benefit elections during onboarding or open enrolment
• Process benefit cessation and ensure correct end dates for leavers
• Review and approve life event requests and update benefit selections accordingly
• Coordinate COBRA notifications, enrolment, and continuation coverage administration with the vendor following qualifying events.
• Manage end‑to‑end leave cases including approvals and employee/manager co‑ordination
• Communicate leave status and related changes to payroll to ensure accurate pay and benefit deductions.
• Ensure benefits continue or adjust correctly during periods of leave

Employee Support

• Provide first‑line guidance on benefit plans, enrolment, coverage, and processes.
• Send standard communications to employees.
• Investigate and resolve complex benefit issues escalated from employees, managers, vendors, or HR teams.
• Work with vendors to resolve denied or complex insurance claims
• Advise employees on benefit options and coverage implications
• Resolve benefit‑related payroll issues, deductions, adjustments, and reimbursements in partnership with payroll
• Guide employees on steps needed for benefit changes or compliance

Vendor Management

• Serve as day‑to‑day liaison between company and benefit providers/brokers
• Manage complex vendor/service issues not resolved via standard channels

Compliance

• Monitor and ensure all benefits comply with relevant regulations
• Produce and submit statutory filings and employee compliance communications
• Provide documentation and responses during internal or external audits

Operational Excellence

• Continue supporting HR operations processes where needed
• Ensure employee data accuracy in HR systems (e.g., Workday)

Workday Maintenance

• Perform system testing for benefit changes, upgrades, or renewals
• Oversee system interfaces between HRIS, payroll, and benefit vendors
• Monitor and reconcile benefits data across systems

Billing

• Validate carrier invoices against enrolment and eligibility data
• Correct historical billing discrepancies and backdated changes
• Manage employer contributions and funding processes for savings plans

Key Relationships

Principal Specialist – Reward Payroll External Vendors

About You

• 4+ years of benefits administration, ideally across the US, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to analyze situations and recommend solutions
• Experience working with HR systems such as Workday
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and work collaboratively across teams

The salary range for this position is $90,000- $100,000, which represents base pay only and does not include short-term incentive compensation or commission. When determining base pay, as part of a final compensation package, we consider several factors such as location, experience, qualifications, and training. This base salary maps to the Boston Location.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. This means we are committed to recruiting the best people regardless of their race, colour, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), national origin, disability or protected veteran status. You can find out more about your rights under the law at www.eeoc.gov

If you like wild growth and working with happy, enthusiastic over‑achievers, you’ll enjoy your career with us! Our Work Experience is the combination of everything that’s unique about us: our culture, our core values, our company meetings, our commitment to sustainability, our recognition programs, but most importantly, it’s our people. Our employees are self‑disciplined, hard working, curious, trustworthy, humble, and truthful. They make choices according to what is best for the team, they live for opportunities to collaborate and make a difference, and they make us the #1 Top Workplace in the area.