The Director of HR Benefits and Leaves provides strategic leadership and oversight for the District's employee benefits, wellness, leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodation processes. This position is responsible for ensuring the effective administration, compliance, communication, and continuous improvement of employee benefits and wellness programs, as well as all assigned employee leave programs, including assault leave, FMLA, TDL, UPL, catastrophic leave, sick leave bank, and voluntary transfer of days. The Director monitors claims, utilization, leave, absence, and accommodation-related data to identify trends, compliance considerations, service needs, and opportunities for process improvement. This position works collaboratively with District leaders, HR staff, employees, supervisors, vendors, third-party administrators, and other stakeholders to ensure timely, accurate, confidential, and employee-centered service delivery.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Benefits & Wellness Strategy, Planning, and Program Development

• Work with medical plan administrator to promote wellness events and screenings
• Develop and design benefit and wellness programs in alignment with District policies
• Collaborate with District leaders to ensure integration and execution of the District benefits and wellness platform
• Develop and manage timelines/calendars and the delivery of benefit milestones
• Develop and recommend the annual benefit and wellness budget in collaboration with the Business & Finance department
• Strategize regarding benefit plan design adequacy and plan improvements and report monthly regarding any outliers or movement in claims expenditures and member utilization
• Stay up-to-date on carrier services, products, websites, and capabilities
• Suggest educational opportunities for staff based on claims utilization and trends
• Ensure the integration of benefits and wellness information into New Employee Orientation

Benefits, Wellness, Vendor, and Event Administration

• Plan and oversee wellness and benefit events at various campuses/locations
• Coordinate and manage the renewal/marketing/RFP process and activities, as well as contract reviews and finalization
• Oversee and build relationships with third-party benefit and wellness providers, auditors and brokers
• Create and oversee the delivery of reports, carrier/TPA/vendor recommendations and relationship management
• Oversee, coordinate, and deliver benefits and wellness presentations
• Manage/coordinate benefit plan implementations
• Manage/coordinate/deliver enrollment meetings and activities
• Oversee the development and preparation of communication booklets in accordance with FBISD guidelines and the benefit timeline

Compliance, Leave Administration, and ADA Accommodations

• Ensure compliance of all benefit and wellness plans and programs with governmental regulatory agencies
• Provide strategic oversight for the District’s leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodation processes, ensuring consistent, timely, confidential, and compliant service delivery
• Oversee administration and coordination of all assigned employee leave programs, including assault leave, FMLA, TDL, UPL, catastrophic leave, sick leave bank, voluntary transfer of days, and other applicable leave programs
• Ensure leave and absence management processes are administered in alignment with District policy, applicable laws, administrative procedures, and established timelines
• Oversee ADA accommodation processes, including coordination of the interactive process, documentation, communication with employees and supervisors, and appropriate follow-up
• Deliver Health Reform and Compliance materials to employees
• Keep abreast of self-funding analytics

Employee Support, Communication, and Cross-Functional Coordination

• Ensure and maintain overall employee satisfaction and oversee the management of customer service delivery
• Research and answer escalated employee inquiries regarding benefits and deliver benefit-related communication to assigned campuses in a timely manner
• Develop, maintain, and communicate procedures, guidance documents, training materials, and employee-facing resources related to benefits, wellness, leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodations
• Provide guidance and support to HR staff, supervisors, and District leaders regarding employee leave, absence management, ADA accommodations, benefits, and wellness-related matters
• Manage escalated service issues involving benefits, leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodations with confidentiality, diplomacy, sensitivity, accuracy, and tact
• Coordinate cross-functional collaboration among Human Resources, Payroll, campus leaders, supervisors, vendors, third-party administrators, and other departments to support accurate leave, absence, ADA, benefits, and wellness administration
• Act as an advocate to negotiate and resolve issues involving employees

Analysis, Reporting, and Staff Leadership

• Monitor and analyze monthly claims utilization through the self-funded medical plan via medical carrier and consultant reports
• Monitor and analyze leave, absence, ADA, benefits, and wellness data to identify trends, compliance risks, service gaps, employee support needs, and opportunities for operational improvement
• Oversee the work of staff responsible for benefits, wellness, leave administration, absence management, and ADA-related operations
• Interview, select, and supervise benefits and wellness staff

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Directly supervises professional, technical, and administrative staff responsible for employee benefits, wellness, leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodation processes. Provides leadership, coaching, performance management, and operational oversight for approximately nine (9) direct reports and six (6) indirect reports. Responsible for staffing, employee development, goal setting, workload management, performance evaluations, and ensuring effective service delivery aligned with District goals and compliance requirements.

Qualification Requirements

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each of the above essential duties satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or abilities, required unless otherwise stated as preferred. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essentials functions.

• Bachelor's degree
• Master's degree preferred
• Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in Human Resources, employee benefits, leave administration, absence management, ADA accommodations, District leadership, campus leadership, or a closely related field.
• Operational knowledge of Word, Excel, Power Point, Publisher, and current Internet technologies
• High-level knowledge of health plans, benefits products, services, market dynamics, carriers/TPAs/vendors
• High-level knowledge of claims trends and opportunities
• Demonstrated knowledge of basic underwriting fundamentals
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize work
• Ability to work independently with a high degree of initiative and self-motivation
• Proven track record of success in executive-level relationship building, renewals, financial reporting and analysis, presentations, and revenue management
• Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to work with vendors and co-workers effectively through confidentiality, diplomacy, sensitivity, and tactfulness
• Good problem-solving and organization skills; very detailed-oriented
• Excellent customer relations skills
• Demonstrated knowledge of employee leave administration, absence management, ADA accommodation processes, and benefits-related compliance requirements
• Knowledge of FMLA, ADA, assault leave, TDL, UPL, catastrophic leave, sick leave bank, voluntary transfer of days, and related District leave processes
• Ability to interpret and apply policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements related to benefits, wellness, leave administration, absence management, and ADA accommodations
• Ability to manage confidential employee information and sensitive matters with sound judgment, discretion, diplomacy, and professionalism
• Ability to analyze benefits, claims, leave, absence, and accommodation-related data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities for process improvement
• Ability to communicate complex benefits, leave, absence management, and ADA information clearly to employees, supervisors, campus leaders, vendors, and District leadership

Physical Requirements/Working Conditions

The work environment characteristics and physical demands described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Work is performed in classrooms, offices, work stations and meeting rooms.

The position requires occasional walking, standing, sitting, bending, stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, and lifting/carrying work related items weighing less than 40 pounds, such as books, papers and presentation materials. The employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus. Attendance at conferences and professional development is required. Work involves everyday risks and discomforts which require normal safety precautions when operating equipment or performing job duties. May work prolonged or irregular hours and must be able to maintain emotional control under stress.

Additional Information

• This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. This job description may be revised upon development of other duties and changes in responsibilities.