[Hiring] Benefits Manager @Talkiatry

Role Description

Talkiatry is seeking an experienced Benefits Manager who can turn our benefits strategy into programs employees can easily use and trust. This role owns the day-to-day administration, compliance, and continuous improvement of our health, retirement, and wellbeing offerings. The successful applicant will lead a priority initiative: transitioning our medical plan(s) from level funded or fully insured to self funded, in partnership with the VP of HR Operations & Total Rewards, and stakeholders within our Finance and Legal teams. The ideal candidate has run this transition before and pairs that experience with strong ACA compliance, benefits reconciliation, and open enrollment ownership.

Responsibilities

• Benefits Reconciliation & Administration:
  • Own monthly benefits reconciliation across all carriers and both legal entities; identify, research, and resolve billing discrepancies.
  • Maintain data integrity between HRIS, payroll, and carrier systems; document root causes and corrective actions for recurring issues.
  • Manage full ownership of benefits programs: medical, dental, vision, life, disability, 401(k), and voluntary/ancillary offerings.
• ACA & Compliance:
  • Manage ACA compliance end to end, including monthly affordability and eligibility tracking, measurement period administration, and IRS reporting.
  • Prepare and file 1094-C/1095-C forms; respond to IRS notices and manage penalty risk.
  • Ensure ongoing compliance with ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, PCORI, and applicable state benefits mandates across both entities, including required annual notices and non-discrimination testing.
• Self Funded Transition & Plan Strategy:
  • Lead the end to end transition from level funded or fully insured to self funded medical plans, including plan design, stop loss selection, and implementation timeline.
  • Build and maintain funding and claims exposure models in partnership with Finance; monitor claims experience against projections post-transition.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact with brokers, TPAs, and stop loss carriers on renewals, plan design, and performance.
• Open Enrollment:
  • Own the full open enrollment cycle: strategy, timeline, vendor coordination, system configuration, and testing.
  • Develop clear, plain language employee communications and education sessions for a clinical and administrative workforce.
  • Lead post-OE audit and reconciliation to confirm elections, deductions, and carrier feeds are accurate before go-live.
• Analytics & Vendor Management:
  • Analyze benefit utilization, cost trends, and market benchmarking data to recommend program enhancements and cost efficiencies.
  • Manage broker and carrier relationships, including renewal negotiations, RFPs, and service level accountability.
  • Partner with HRIS/technology teams on benefits configuration, life event tracking, and vendor data integrations.
  • Manage escalated benefits inquiries and educate cross-functional teams on plan administration, OE changes, and policy updates.
  • Partner cross-functionally with Payroll, HRIS, Legal, and Finance; escalate appropriately based on complexity or risk, using independent judgment on when support is needed.
  • Build and maintain SOPs and process documentation for benefits operations to support consistency and audit readiness.

Qualifications

• 5 to 8+ years of progressive employee benefits experience, including direct plan ownership (P3/P4 scope).
• Strong working knowledge of ACA reporting, ERISA, COBRA, HIPAA, and PCORI requirements.
• HRIS experience (ADP Workforce Now or similar) and strong Excel/analytical skills.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Requirements

• Direct, hands-on experience leading a transition from a level funded or fully insured medical plan to self funded, including funding arrangement design, stop loss procurement, and financial risk modeling.
• Proven ownership of benefits reconciliation: monthly carrier billing audits, eligibility discrepancies, and payroll/HRIS/carrier data integrity.
• Deep benefits compliance and ACA management and reporting experience: affordability testing, eligibility tracking, and 1094-C/1095-C filing.
• Full lifecycle open enrollment ownership, from strategy and vendor coordination through employee communications and post-OE audit.

Preferred

• Multi-entity and/or multi-state benefits administration experience.
• Experience supporting benefits in a fast-paced healthcare, clinical, or matrixed organization.
• Experience maintaining a benefits knowledge base and ticketing system for employee inquiries.
• CEBS, CBP, or equivalent HR/benefits certification.

Benefits

• Top-notch team: we're a diverse, experienced group motivated to make a difference in mental health care.
• Collaborative environment: be part of building something from the ground up at a fast-paced startup.
• Excellent benefits: medical, dental, vision, effective day 1 of employment, 401K with match, generous PTO plus paid holidays, paid parental leave, and more!
• Grow your career with us: hone your skills and build new ones with our Learning team as Talkiatry expands.
• It all comes back to care: we’re a mental health company, and we put our team’s well-being first.