Director, Benefits and Leave Administration

Job Title: Director, Benefits and Leave Administration

Location: Irvine, CA (Hybrid; onsite preference 4 days/week)

Employment Type: Direct Hire

Salary: $170K+ 20% bonus

Our client, a leading North American employer with a workforce of more than 300,000 employees across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, is seeking a strategic and experienced Director of Benefits & Leave Administration to lead health and welfare benefits, leave programs, compliance, and team development in a highly complex, multi-state environment.

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a benefits professional who thrives in large-scale organizations and enjoys balancing strategy, compliance, operations, vendor management, and people leadership.

This position supports a highly complex benefits operation that includes multiple employee populations, union and non-union workforces, leave administration programs, and extensive compliance requirements across North America.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead administration and strategy for health and welfare benefit programs
• Oversee enterprise leave programs, including FMLA, ADA, paid leave, military leave, and state-specific leave laws
• Ensure compliance with ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, ADA, IRS, and DOL requirements
• Manage Form 5500 filings, audits, reporting, and regulatory compliance activities
• Lead annual renewals, open enrollment, and employee communication initiatives
• Manage relationships with brokers, carriers, TPAs, consultants, and outside counsel
• Analyze claims, utilization, and cost trends to support business decisions
• Provide leadership and mentorship to the benefits and LOA team
• Support benefit-related integrations during mergers and acquisitions
• Partner closely with HR, Finance, Legal, Payroll, and Executive Leadership