Director, Benefits & Wellness

Position Summary: At The Clearing House, the Human Resources Department partners with business leaders to attract, develop, engage, and retain exceptional talent while delivering operational excellence across the employee lifecycle. As trusted advisors, we provide strategic guidance on organizational effectiveness, talent management, compensation and benefits, HR compliance, and workforce planning.

The Director of Benefits and Wellness role is responsible for the administration and continuous improvement of employee benefits programs, HR systems, regulatory compliance, and HR reporting. The role serves as the organization's subject matter expert for benefits, and wellness program development that aligns with the needs of the employees.  Works collaboratively with HR leadership, for all plan governance and compliance.

This position combines strategic leadership with operational excellence and plays a critical role in enhancing the employee experience while ensuring compliance with all applicable regulations.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

Strategic Benefits Leadership

- Develop and execute the organization's benefits strategy to ensure competitive, cost-effective programs that support business objectives and employee engagement.
- Evaluate market trends, benchmarking data, and utilization metrics to recommend enhancements to benefit offerings.
- Lead annual benefits planning, Open Enrollment strategy, employee communications, and implementation activities.
- Serve as the senior advisor to leadership on benefits strategy, compliance, and emerging industry trends.

Benefits Administration & Compliance

- Oversee administration of all employee benefit programs including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, retirement plans, COBRA, pension, and wellness programs.
- Ensure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations governing employee benefits.
- Ensure preparation and submission of all required compliance reporting, including Form 5500, Summary Annual Reports, EEO-1, ACA reporting, and other regulatory filings.
- Partner with Legal, Finance, and external advisors to proactively identify and mitigate compliance risks.
- Provide strategic oversight of the Benefits in HRIS, ensuring data integrity, process efficiency, and system optimization.
- Direct regular audits of HR Benefit system to ensure accuracy, compliance, and reporting integrity.
- Develop wellness programming for each year that aligns with the organization’s core values and the needs of our employees. Reviewing utilization data available in conjunction with employee feedback to bring programming that can be impactful.

Vendor & Financial Management

- Manage relationships with benefits brokers, insurance carriers, third-party administrators, and external consultants.
- Lead vendor performance reviews, contract negotiations, and service delivery evaluations.
- Oversee benefits budgeting and invoice reconciliation.
- Identify opportunities for cost optimization while maintaining competitive employee offerings.

HR Analytics & Reporting

- Analyze trends related to benefit enrollment and claim utilization data.
- Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership to support organizational planning.
- Drive continuous improvement through data-driven insights.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

- Lead enterprise-wide HR projects and process improvement initiatives.
- Mentor and develop junior HR team members while promoting knowledge sharing and professional growth.
- Develop, maintain, and continuously improve HR policies, procedures, and standard operating documentation.
- Collaborate closely with Payroll, Finance, Legal, Risk, and business leaders to ensure seamless HR service delivery.
- Complete strategic initiatives and special projects as assigned by leadership.

Qualifications Required:

- 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience, preferably within financial services, asset management, investment banking, or other highly regulated industries.
- Demonstrated experience partnering with senior leadership to develop and implement HR strategies aligned with business objectives.
- Extensive experience leading Benefits Administration, HR Operations, HRIS management, employee leave administration, compliance, and HR analytics.
- Strong knowledge of medical, dental, vision, retirement (401(k)), COBRA, life insurance, disability, wellness, and leave administration.
- Comprehensive understanding of federal, state, and local employment regulations related to employee benefits, ERISA, ACA, COBRA, FMLA, ADA, HIPAA, and related compliance requirements.
- Experience managing third-party vendors, consultants, brokers, and external benefit administrators.
- Hands-on Workday HCM experience, including benefits administration, reporting, and data reconciliation
- Advanced HRIS experience, with strong reporting and data analytics capabilities.
- Proven experience leading cross-functional initiatives and driving process improvements in a fast-paced environment.
- Demonstrated ability to influence stakeholders across all organizational levels.

Qualifications Desired:

- Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
- Strategic thinker with the ability to balance long-term planning and day-to-day execution.
- Proven leadership experience mentoring and developing HR professionals.
- Strong analytical, financial, and project management skills.
- Advanced Workday HCM experience, including benefits configuration, integrations, process optimization, and troubleshooting
- Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to translate complex data into meaningful business insights.
- Commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple enterprise-wide initiatives simultaneously

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

The working environment is generally favorable. Lighting and temperature are adequate, and there are no hazardous or unpleasant conditions caused by noise, dust, etc. Work is generally performed within an office environment, with standard office equipment available. Candidates will report to the office three days each week. Occasional travel is expected.

About The Clearing House: The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C. is a bank-owned industry utility that shapes the payments landscape and provides infrastructure for safe, reliable, and efficient payments. We see an economy where everyone is connected and a future where modern payments make life easier. The Clearing House operates four payment systems: a high-value wire-transfer system (the CHIPS® network), the country’s first and largest instant payments system (the RTP® network), an automated clearinghouse network (the EPN® network), and a check image exchange network (the Image Exchange Network). TCH also operates a bank account number tokenization service, runs a payments association known as the TCH Payments Authority, and maintains the rules for private-sector check image exchange through its ECCHO® business line.