Strategic Benefits Manager – Open Enrollment & Compliance

AppFolio Inc; Richardson (TX); On-site; USD 115,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio is seeking a Benefits Manager to lead strategy, administration, and continuous improvement of our employee benefits programs. This role operates as a trusted SME on health, welfare, retirement, and well-being programs and partners across senior leadership to ensure competitive, compliant offerings.

You will own end-to-end compliance, annual Open Enrollment, and vendor relationships, while driving data-driven recommendations that balance employee experience with cost discipline.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in benefits management, including ownership of plan administration, compliance, and Open Enrollment.
• Experience in a high-growth public SaaS or tech environment strongly preferred.
• Deep knowledge of US benefits compliance: ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, Section 125, 5500 filings, non-discrimination testing.
• Demonstrated track record managing broker and vendor relationships at scale.
• Proven project management experience leading Open Enrollment or comparable annual benefits programs.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical orientation; comfortable working with benefits data, utilization metrics, and cost analyses.

Responsibilities

• Be the subject matter expert. Serve as the primary technical authority on health, welfare, retirement, and well-being programs; guide plan design and market positioning.
• Own compliance end to end; ensure programs meet ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, 5500 filings and audits.
• Lead Open Enrollment end to end with timelines, dependencies, stakeholder management, and post-mortem learning.
• Drive benefits strategy by monitoring market trends and cost discipline with data-driven recommendations.
• Manage broker and vendor relationships; evaluate renewals and vendor performance.
• Design employee-facing education and communication; collaborate with People, HRBPs, and Marketing.
• Use data to improve benefits utilization and program effectiveness.
• Support scaling and M&A with close collaboration across Total Rewards, Legal, and Finance.
• Steward documentation and operational rigor with up-to-date plan documents and SPDs.

Skills

Trusted advisor

Project management

Attention to detail

Vendor partnership

Strong communication

Dot connector

Job description

AppFolio is seeking a Benefits Manager to lead strategy, administration, and continuous improvement of our employee benefits programs. This role operates as a trusted SME on health, welfare, retirement, and well-being programs and partners across senior leadership to ensure competitive, compliant offerings.

You will own end-to-end compliance, annual Open Enrollment, and vendor relationships, while driving data-driven recommendations that balance employee experience with cost discipline.