Job Description

About Lumina Foundation
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation committed to creating opportunities for learning beyond high school for all. Through research, strategic partnerships, policy, and investments, Lumina works to build a more equitable, accessible, and responsive education-to-workforce system that prepares individuals for informed citizenship, economic mobility, and long-term success.

As one of the nation’s largest private foundations focused on postsecondary education and workforce outcomes, Lumina operates at the intersection of systems change, innovation, and social impact. The organization is deeply committed to improving outcomes for learners across diverse backgrounds and communities while helping shape the future of education and workforce development in the United States.

At Lumina, how we approach the work is as important as what we accomplish. Candor, collaboration, and connection are the organization’s core values and everyone at Lumina strives to live these values through their words and actions. Employees are highly engaged, intellectually curious, and passionate about the organization’s mission and impact. The culture is collaborative, evolving, and solutions-oriented, with leaders and teams continuously working to strengthen systems, improve experiences, and thoughtfully adapt to the needs of a changing workforce.

For professionals who enjoy building, modernizing, and improving organizational infrastructure within a mission-driven environment, Lumina offers the opportunity to contribute meaningfully while helping shape the next phase of the organization’s people operations and employee experience.

The Benefits Manager serves as the organization’s primary lead for benefits administration, total rewards operations, and related people operations processes at Lumina Foundation. Reporting to the Director of Culture and Talent, this role is responsible for ensuring Lumina’s employee benefits programs are delivered accurately, compliantly, and with a high-touch, employee-centered experience that reflects the organization’s values and evolving workforce needs.

This position combines hands-on operational leadership with process improvement, helping ensure benefits and people operations are delivered consistently, efficiently, and effectively. The Benefits Manager will oversee the administration of Lumina’s health and welfare, retirement, and ancillary benefit programs while helping strengthen and evolve the organization’s people operations infrastructure to better support a geographically dispersed and highly engaged workforce.

Lumina is seeking a systems-oriented and proactive professional who can balance white-glove employee support with operational scalability, process improvement, and thoughtful benefits strategy. The ideal candidate will bring strong expertise in benefits administration and HR operations while identifying opportunities to strengthen workflows, optimize system utilization, enhance documentation and SOPs, and support a positive employee experience.

This role will partner closely with Finance, Legal, IT, brokers, consultants, and organizational leadership to support both day-to-day operations and longer-term operational enhancement initiatives, including benefits systems optimization, workflow automation, and continuous improvement efforts. The Benefits Manager will play a key role in helping Lumina continue strengthening operational consistency and scalability while preserving the organization’s highly collaborative and personalized culture.

The role operates within a lean and highly collaborative people operations structure supported by a network of external consultants, brokers, and subject matter experts. The Benefits Manager will play an important role in coordinating these resources effectively while helping strengthen the organization’s operational infrastructure.

This is an ideal opportunity for a professional who enjoys improving processes, strengthening operations, and delivering exceptional employee support within a mission-driven organization.

Key Responsibilities
Benefits Administration & Employee Support
Provide responsive, employee-centered administration of Lumina’s benefits programs while delivering a high-touch experience that helps employees confidently navigate complex offerings and resources.

• Lead the day-to-day administration of Lumina’s health and welfare, retirement, and ancillary benefit programs, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and a high-quality employee experience
• Support onboarding and new hire transition processes by ensuring employees receive clear, accessible guidance regarding benefits enrollment, systems access, and available resources
• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee benefits questions, issue resolution, and benefits guidance, providing responsive and employee-centered support
• Help employees navigate complex benefits offerings by translating technical information into clear, accessible guidance
• Oversee benefits eligibility, enrollments, life event changes, terminations, and leave-related benefits administration processes
• Lead open enrollment planning and execution, including communications, employee education, vendor coordination, system readiness, and issue resolution
• Partner with brokers, consultants, carriers, and third-party administrators to support ongoing benefits administration and service delivery
• Monitor employee engagement and utilization trends related to benefits offerings and identify opportunities to strengthen employee understanding and experience
• Prepare and analyze benefits-related reports, utilization data, and operational insights to support decision-making, compliance activities, and program administration
• Support a benefits experience that balances Lumina’s highly personalized, relationship-driven culture with scalable and accessible service delivery for a geographically dispersed workforce

Total Rewards and Benefits Continuous Improvement
Support the ongoing evolution and modernization of Lumina’s total rewards programs and benefits operations to better align with the needs of an evolving, geographically dispersed workforce.

• Partner with the Director of Culture and Talent to support the ongoing evaluation and evolution of Lumina’s total rewards and benefits offerings
• Help assess the effectiveness, utilization, and employee experience of existing benefits programs, including non-ERISA offerings
• Bring forward recommendations, observations, and market insights related to benefits trends, workforce needs, and operational improvements
• Support ongoing enhancements to benefits operations, accessibility, and employee self-service processes to better support a geographically dispersed workforce
• Help evaluate and improve how benefits programs are communicated, accessed, and experienced across a distributed workforce
• Contribute recommendations related to benefits program effectiveness, operational improvements, employee wellness initiatives, and evolving workforce needs

Human Resources Operations and Systems Administration
Strengthen and maintain effective people operations processes, systems, and workflows that support operational efficiency, consistency, and a seamless employee experience.

• Serve as the primary administrator and operational owner of HR systems and benefits-related processes, including Paylocity
• Ensure employee data accuracy and integrity across HRIS, payroll, and benefits platforms
• Partner cross-functionally to improve workflows, streamline manual processes, and strengthen systems coordination and process alignment.
• Support implementation and optimization of electronic data interchange (EDI) connections between HRIS, payroll, and benefits vendors
• Identify opportunities to improve operational workflows, strengthen process consistency, and reduce manual administrative work while maintaining strong employee support
• Support employee communications and adoption of benefits, systems, and operational process updates
• Develop, document, and continuously improve SOPs, process documentation, and knowledge management practices to strengthen operational continuity and reduce dependency on tribal knowledge
• Support onboarding, offboarding, leave administration, and personnel records management processes
• Manage benefits billing, reconciliations, and coordination with Finance and Payroll
• Partner with Finance, Legal, IT, and external vendors to support operational alignment and systems-related initiatives

Compliance, Governance & Risk Management
Ensure benefits programs and related operations are administered in compliance with applicable regulations, internal governance standards, and organizational stewardship responsibilities

• Ensure benefits programs are administered in compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including ERISA, ACA, COBRA, FMLA, and related requirements
• Coordinate annual compliance activities, audits, filings, nondiscrimination testing, and reporting requirements
• Maintain and update plan documents, SPDs, required notices, and related compliance documentation
• Support benefits governance activities and stewardship responsibilities in partnership with leadership, legal counsel, and external advisors
• Participate in Lumina’s internal Benefits Committee and contribute to ongoing oversight of benefits-related programs and processes
• Monitor emerging compliance trends, regulatory updates, and operational risks related to benefits administration

Cross-Functional Partnership & Vendor Management
Build collaborative partnerships across the organization and effectively manage external relationships to support operational excellence and effective service delivery.

• Build strong collaborative relationships across Finance, Legal, IT, and organizational leadership teams
• Manage relationships with brokers, consultants, carriers, and external service providers
• Evaluate ongoing vendor and consultant utilization, including identifying when additional support, expertise, or expanded capacity may be needed to support organizational priorities and evolving operational demands
• Operate as a trusted thought partner within a lean and evolving people operations environment
• Contribute to a collaborative, solutions-oriented culture focused on operational excellence, and employee experience

Formal Education or Equivalent
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required

Relevant Experience
A minimum of five years of relevant experience, including direct, hands-on ownership of employee benefits administration (health and welfare and retirement programs), with a track record of managing programs end-to-end and improving processes or systems.

Skills, Competencies, and Characteristics

• Strong expertise in employee benefits administration, including health and welfare, retirement, and ancillary benefit programs
• Working knowledge of applicable laws and regulations, including ERISA, ACA, COBRA, FMLA, and related compliance requirements
• Strong operational and systems-thinking mindset, with the ability to identify opportunities to improve workflows, strengthen consistency, and enhance employee experience
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational execution in a highly collaborative environment
• Experience supporting process improvement, workflow redesign, systems integration, or operational modernization initiatives
• Strong project management, organizational, and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and operational responsibilities simultaneously
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to assess issues, exercise sound judgment, and implement practical solutions
• Comfort operating in evolving environments where systems, processes, and infrastructure continue to mature
• Ability to work independently while building strong collaborative relationships across functions and stakeholders
• Strong communication and employee support skills, including the ability to simplify complex benefits information and provide high-touch guidance to employees
• Experience managing external vendors, consultants, brokers, and service providers, including assessing and coordinating resources to support operational needs
• Ability to proactively identify gaps, bring forward recommendations, and contribute to continuous improvement efforts
• High attention to detail and ability to manage sensitive and confidential information with discretion and sound judgment
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion, with the ability to apply an equity lens to people operations and employee experience practices
• Proficiency with HR systems, HRIS platforms, and Microsoft Office applications

Work Environment and Physical Demands

• Hybrid work environment, based out of Indianapolis, Indiana
• Work is performed in an office environment, mostly sedentary.
• Extensive use of various forms of technology.
• Occasional travel may be required, including overnight stays.