Vice President, Global Benefits

BuddiesHR; United States; Remote; USD 200,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Job summary

Circana is seeking a VP, Global Benefits to lead the global benefits portfolio, governance, and centralized delivery. Collaborate with Total Rewards, HR Technology, Legal, Payroll, Finance, and Procurement to ensure compliant, competitive programs and scalable operations across regions.

The role emphasizes architecting a governance model, overseeing vendor relationships, and driving AI-assisted automation to reduce transactional work while enabling strategic, people-centric initiatives.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive benefits experience, including expertise in global benefits design, governance, vendor management, and regulatory compliance.
• Fluency in applying AI and automation to redesign operational processes within benefits.
• Experience building centralized or transformed benefits operations in multi-country environments.
• Strong vendor and broker management, including RFPs, contracts, and governance.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the global benefits strategy and governance.
• Oversee design across health, retirement, wellbeing, and voluntary benefits.
• Centralize benefits administration and align with enterprise strategy and budget.
• Lead cost management, vendor negotiations, and renewal activities with analytics support.
• Sponsor regulatory readiness and ensure compliance across countries.

Skills

Global benefits design

Vendor management

Regulatory compliance

AI & automation

People leadership

Job description

Circana is a leading provider of technology, AI, and data solutions for consumer packaged goods companies, manufacturers, and retailers. Our predictive analytics and Liquid Data® platform help clients measure market share, uncover consumer behavior, and drive growth—powered by six decades of expertise and an expansive, high-quality data set.

At Circana, we are fueled by our passion for continuous learning and growth, we seek and share feedback freely, and we celebrate victories both big and small in an environment that is flexible and accommodating to our work and personal lives. We’re a global company dedicated to fostering inclusivity and belonging. We value and celebrate the unique experiences, cultures, and viewpoints that each individual brings. By embracing a wide range of backgrounds, skills, expertise, and beyond, we create a stronger, more innovative environment for our employees, clients, and communities. With us, you can always bring your full self to work. Join our inclusive, committed team to be a challenger, own outcomes, and stay curious together. Circana is proud to be Certified™ by Great Place To Work®. This prestigious award is based entirely on what current employees say about their experience working at Circana. Learn more at www.circana.com.

The VP, Global Benefits partners with the Head of Total Rewards to execute Circana’s global benefits strategy, and is the primary owner of benefits governance, budget, vendor and broker management, regulatory compliance, and operational delivery. This role is accountable for centralizing benefits delivery currently dispersed across regional HR Business Partner teams into a consistent, governed, enterprise capability, in service of Circana’s HR vision of a simple, proactive, and scalable employee experience.

Working closely with Compensation, Total Rewards leadership, HR Technology, Legal, Payroll, Finance, Procurement, HR Business Partners, and business leaders, this role ensures benefits programs are designed and administered consistently, equitably, competitively, and in compliance with local regulatory requirements across all countries in which Circana operates.

The role provides strategic and operational leadership over the global benefits portfolio, builds the governance model, operating model, and data foundation needed for scalable delivery, and leads a growing team of benefits professionals as the function centralizes. This is a unique opportunity to help build and modernize Circana's global benefits capability at a pivotal stage of growth. This role is best suited for a leader who has successfully built, transformed, or centralized benefits capabilities and can quickly establish credibility, influence, and results in a complex global environment.

This is an evolving role, built for how work should be organized in an AI-enabled function. The leader will architect a global team, including virtual and flexible team members, anchored on the organization’s most important priorities (determined through our Business Strategy, HR Mission and Vision, and People Strategy), deliberately elevating team members to complex, judgment‑driven, and people‑centric work while putting automation and AI to work on repetitive, transactional tasks.

Job Responsibilities

Global Benefits Strategy Partnership

• Partner with the Head of Total Rewards to shape and execute the global benefits strategy, ensuring programs remain market‑competitive, cost‑effective, and aligned to Circana’s Total Rewards philosophy and talent priorities.
• Oversee execution of global benefit design, partnering with the Director, Benefit Design, who owns day‑to‑day design decisions across health & welfare, retirement/pension, wellbeing, and voluntary benefits.
• Partner with Compensation on the broader Total Rewards Framework to ensure benefits are positioned consistently with pay philosophy and market positioning.

Transformation & M&A Integration

• Oversee harmonization of benefits plan design led by the Director, Benefit Design, ensuring outcomes align to enterprise strategy and budget.
• Provide executive sponsorship for benefits due diligence and integration planning for future M&A activity, partnering with the Director, Benefit Design on design execution.
• Approve new‑country benefit program design led by the Director, Benefit Design, ensuring alignment to global strategy and budget.

Governance & Centralization

Build and lead the governance model, standards, decision rights, and operating framework needed to centralize benefits administration currently managed by regional HR Business Partners.

• Establish and lead the transition plan, timeline, and change management approach for migrating benefits from HRBP teams to a centralized Benefit function.
• Set the standards for global benefits policies, procedures, and documentation, and govern their consistent application across regions.
• Own broker, carrier, and third‑party administrator relationships and contracts globally for material renewals, partnering with Procurement on RFP mechanics and formal vendor process, and using AI‑assisted analysis for renewal‑package review and first‑pass prep.
• Lead negotiation and final decisions on broker/carrier renewals and RFP outcomes for material renewals, ensuring service quality and cost discipline; routine renewal documentation and coordination is supported by the Benefits Vendor & Systems Coordinator.
• Own the global benefits budget; monitor spending, forecast costs, and identify efficiency opportunities in partnership with Finance.

Compliance & Regulatory Governance

• Ensure compliance with applicable benefits regulations across all countries of operation, including ERISA, ACA, and country‑specific statutory requirements.
• Partner with Legal and Total Rewards on regulatory readiness for initiatives such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive and country‑specific benefits mandates (e.g., India).
• Maintain audit readiness, required filings, and documentation for all benefits programs.

Administration, Systems & Data

• Ensure end‑to‑end benefits administration — including enrollment, life events, leave of absence coordination, and escalations — is delivered effectively by the Manager, Benefits – Administration & Delivery, determining outsourcing/co‑sourcing opportunities as needed.
• Partner with HR Technology/EE&T on benefits system configuration, data integrity, and integration with the broader HR technology ecosystem, including the Job Architecture data foundation.
• Establish benefits reporting and analytics that support decision‑making — cost, utilization, and compliance data framed to inform plan renewal, vendor negotiation, and design choices, not just tracked for visibility.
• Leverage AI and automation to redesign repetitive, transactional benefits processes — enrollment, eligibility, compliance monitoring, and reporting — freeing the team’s capacity for higher‑judgment, people‑centric work.

Employee Experience & Communication

• Ensure employee sentiment on benefits satisfaction is monitored and incorporated into program design, led by the Director, Benefit Design.
• Partner with the Director, Benefit Design, who owns the benefits journey map and end‑to‑end employee experience strategy, ensuring alignment with Circana’s talent strategy and HR Mission and Vision.
• Provide executive sponsorship for employee communication, education, and enrollment campaigns led by the Director, Benefit Design, in partnership with HR Business Partners and Talent Management.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex benefits matters, partnering with HR Business Partners during the centralization transition.

Cross-Functional Partnership & Team Leadership

• Partner with Compensation, Talent Management, Payroll, Legal, Finance, and HR Business Partners to ensure benefits programs support broader Total Rewards and talent strategy.
• Build and evolve a global team, including virtual and flexible team members, structured around the organization’s most important priorities; deliberately allocating complex, people‑centric work to team members and repetitive work to automation and AI as capabilities are built.
• Partner with Procurement on vendor sourcing, contracting, and cost management strategy for benefits vendors, brokers, and carriers.
• Leverage partners across the HR organization — including HR Business Partners, Talent Management, and HR Technology — to bring broader expertise and reach global benefits initiatives.
• Represent Global Benefits in Total Rewards leadership discussions and HRLT initiatives as needed.

Requirements

• 8+ years of progressive benefits experience, including demonstrated expertise in global benefits design, governance, vendor management, and regulatory compliance.

Strong global benefits and regulatory acumen, including deep knowledge of U.S. requirements (ERISA, ACA) and experience navigating multi‑country frameworks such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive. Demonstrated experience leading benefits strategy, administration, or governance across multiple countries and regions is required.

• Fluency in applying AI and automation to redesign operational and administrative processes, with a track record of shifting team capacity from transactional work toward higher‑judgment, strategic, and people‑centric priorities.

Demonstrated experience building, centralizing, harmonizing, or transforming benefits operations, ideally in a multi‑country, multi‑entity, or post‑merger environment.

• Proven vendor and broker management skills, including RFPs, contract negotiation, and performance governance.
• Strong financial acumen, with experience owning and managing a global benefits budget.
• Experience partnering with HR Technology teams on benefits systems, data integrity, and reporting.
• Excellent communication, consultation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to simplify complex benefits concepts for executive and employee audiences.
• People leadership experience, with a track record of building and developing high‑performing teams, including experience designing flexible, virtual, or hybrid team structures that flex with business priorities.
• Continuous improvement mindset with a track record of strengthening governance, controls, and scalable benefits solutions that support organizational growth.

Experience building new capabilities, operating models, governance structures, or shared‑service approaches within a benefits or Total Rewards function.

• Strong analytical and data‑driven decision‑making capabilities with experience leveraging technology and reporting to improve outcomes.

Beyond technical skills, experience, and role‑specific attributes, these shared behaviors are fundamental to our culture and success. We seek individuals who consistently demonstrate and champion these behaviors in their daily work:

• Stay Curious: Being hungry to learn and grow, always asking the big questions.
• Seek Clarity: Embracing complexity to create clarity and inspire action.
• Own the Outcome: Being accountable for decisions and taking ownership of our choices.
• Center on the Client: Relentlessly adding value for our customers.
• Be a Challenger: Never complacent, always striving for continuous improvement.
• Champion Inclusivity: Fostering trust in relationships engaging with empathy, respect, and integrity.
• Commit to each other: Contributing to making Circana a great place to work for everyone.

Location: Remote, USA. Candidates must be comfortable supporting a global workforce and working across multiple time zones, including North America and Europe, as needed.

The below range reflects the range of possible compensation for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This range may be modified in the future. An employee’s position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, seniority, geographic location, performance, shift, travel requirements, sales or revenue‑based metrics, any collective bargaining agreements, and business or organizational needs. The salary range for this position begins at $200,000 USD and will be determined based on experience, skills, qualifications, and overall alignment with the role. This position is also eligible for an annual bonus.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including paid time off, medical/dental/vision insurance and 401(k) to eligible employees.

An offer of employment may be conditional upon successful completion of a background check in accordance with local legislation and our candidate privacy notice. Your current employer will not be contacted without your permission.

You can apply for this role through the Circana careers website or Intranet site for internal candidates. This role is subject to AI‑assisted screening. Circana uses artificial intelligence (AI) to assess resumes for alignment with job requirements by helping locate details in resumes that relate to the job description.

This position is expected to remain open for approximately 30 days and may close earlier if sufficient qualified candidates are identified.

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