Benefits Specialist Position Available In Albany, New York

Basics Schedule Location Job Specifics How to Apply Indicates whether if this vacancy posting is part of the

NY HELPS

Program. NY HELP No The agency in which the vacancy exists. Agency SUNY System Administration The job title for the vacancy. Title Benefits Specialist The job title for the vacancy. Occupational Category No Preference The salary grade for this vacancy. Salaries are determined by salary grade and bargaining unit. Salary Grade NS The collective bargaining unit to which this vacancy is assigned. Bargaining Unit M/C

• Managerial/Confidential (Unrepresented) The minimum and maximum of the salary range for this vacancy.

Salary Range From $56000 to $64000 Annually Indicates whether this job is full-time or part-time. If the job is part-time, an estimated percentage will be provided. Employment Type Full-Time This indicates the type of job, typically permanent, temporary, or provisional. ‘Provisional’ means that the appointment will be temporary until the incumbent takes and passes an appropriate civil service examination. Appointment Type Permanent Jurisdictional class is the indicator for how this job can be filled. The classified service is governed by the Civil Service Commission, and consists of competitive, non-competitive, exempt, and labor classes. ‘Competitive class’ indicates that the applicant must take and pass an appropriate civil service examination. ‘Non-competitive class’ indicates that the applicant’s qualifications will be evaluated without a civil service examination. ‘Exempt class’ indicates that the applicant will be evaluated by methods other than competitive or non-competitive, and that incumbents will not be granted tenure. ‘Labor class’ requires that applicants possess skills or other physical characteristics that cannot effectively be evaluated by other means. The unclassified service is legislatively defined, and includes such positions as elected officials, department and agency heads, and all academic personnel in public schools, colleges, and universities. Jurisdictional Class Non-competitive Class Estimates the percentage of time incumbents of this vacancy will be required to travel. Travel Percentage 0% This provides information on the expected workweek. Workweek Mon-Fri The number of hours in the workweek, typically 37.5 or 40 for full time, or any other number for part time. Hours Per Week 37.5 Workday The start time for this vacancy. If the agency employs flextime, this will be the earliest time this vacancy’s shift can start. From 8 AM The end time for this vacancy. If the agency employs flextime, this will be the latest time this vacancy’s shift can end. To 5 PM If checked, the agency allows flextime. Flextime allowed? No If checked, this vacancy includes mandatory overtime. Mandatory overtime? No If checked, this agency allows compressed workweek scheduling. Compressed workweek allowed? No If checked, this agency allows telecommuting for this position. Telecommuting allowed? No The county in which the vacancy is located. County Albany The street address where the vacancy is located. Street Address 353 Broadway The city where the vacancy is located. City Albany The state where the vacancy is located (the default is New York). State NY The zip code where the vacancy is located. Zip Code 12246 The duties that the incumbent of the vacancy will be expected to perform. Duties Description The Benefits Specialist is the main day-to-day benefits administrator, interacting directly with Human Resources and Benefits Administrators at our 29 New York State campuses, with our New York State Agency partners (Civil Service, Department of Budget, etc.), and with our benefits providers (The Standard) to administer and maintain the benefits offered to SUNY employees. Additional interactions with our 35 community college campuses, as well as with retirement plan administrators at New York State agencies participating in the NYS Voluntary Defined Contribution program, are also required on an as-needed basis. This team member will work closely with internal clients to assist in day-to-day operations, including problem resolution. In addition to daily and as needed responsibilities, the Benefits Specialist owns regular project work and performs recurring reporting duties.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Assume role of first and potentially main customer service representative for SUNY campus Benefits Administrators and potentially SUNY employees seeking assistance and issue resolution related to the benefits we sponsor and/or administer.
• Assist campuses with health care plan, workers’ compensation insurance, and other benefits questions, including tuition assistance, commuter assistance, daycare assistance, flex spending limits, etc.
• Assist with union benefit questions, including redirecting inquiries to proper authorities.
• Act as day-to-day operational liaison for SUNY vendors/business partners, the University-wide Benefits team, and SUNY Campus Administrators.
• Develop and manage strong relationships with administrators at State-wide University Campus, Community Colleges, and NYS agencies.
• Assist Benefits Manager in overseeing relationship with our Long-term Disability and Paid Family Leave insurance provider (currently The Standard), with a focus on their custom Ergonomic Assessment Program (EAP) for SUNY M/C and UUP employees.
• Owns coordination of The Standard’s Ergonomic Assessment program activities with participating campuses and the University-wide Benefits team.
• Provide Long-term Disability and Paid Family Leave administration, including reconciling billing, fielding questions, and addressing issues between insurance providers and campuses.
• Facilitate regularly scheduled ongoing calls to resolve retirement plan participant issues.
• Coordinate and monitor ongoing updates to information.
• Assist Benefits Manager with coordinating and project managing the biannual Benefits Administrators Meeting.
• Coordinate and schedule bi-monthly calls/virtual video meetings with State Campus Benefits Administrators and the University-wide Benefits team.
• Assist Director and Benefits Manager with evaluation of data, identifying trends, and exploring enhancements to programs.
• Oversee development of discount programs (maintaining vendors, fielding campus issues and questions).
• Assist Retirement Managers with retirement plan arrears calculations (verifying calculations from campuses, double-checking employee eligibility, etc.).
• Update benefits documents, announcements, and website pages as needed.
• Assist Retirement Managers with data collection and coordination of retirement plan issues and initiatives (forced distributions, look-backs, sponsorship reports, employee enrollment issues, etc.).
• Assist in developing educational and training materials with University-wide Benefits teammates, campus administrators, and business partners.

The minimum qualifications required for this vacancy.

Minimum Qualifications Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Ability to receive, prioritize, and complete tasks from multiple sources with minimal supervision
• Proven customer service skills.
• Ability to self-manage in a fast-paced environment and to troubleshoot issues as they arise.
• Excellent interpersonal, analytical, and written communication skills.
• Ability to think creatively and solve problems and must be able to work effectively and efficiently within strict deadlines as part of a team.
• Proficient project/task management skills with the ability to track the collection of data and manage correlating reporting requirements.
• Ability to work in a hybrid environment, adept at maintaining work communications, and relationships to fulfill responsibilities in a remote work situation.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Three years of relevant work experience is highly preferred, ideally in a customer service focused and/or Human Resources/Benefits/Retirement Plan work environment.
• Three years of experience administering employee benefits or insurance benefit information.
• A strong knowledge of Excel, including formulas and pivot tables, is highly preferred.
• Independent, highly organized worker with proven project management experience is preferred.
• Operations management with financial transaction experience preferred.
• Experience or familiarity with SUNY Benefit Plans preferred.
• Has desire to work in team environment with long-term professional development objectives.

Additional comments regarding the vacancy.

Additional Comments Additional Information:

• Salary is dependent on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, experience, education, training, and certifications. The range for this position is $56,000
• 64,000 annually.

• State Title:

  Personnel Associate (Grade MP5) and is a Management Confidential position.

• Excellent Benefit Package which includes: NYS health insurance, free dental and vision coverage, competitive retirement options, tuition assistance, parental leave at full pay, and generous vacation, sick, and holiday time.

13 days of paid holidays per year; 21 days of vacation, and 21 days of sick time accrued each year. Please see our MC benefits summary for additional information: https://www.suny.edu/media/suny/content-assets/documents/benefits/benefit-summaries/MC13-Unclassified-Benefits-at-Glance.pdf

• Management/Confidential appointments work under the leadership and discretion of the appointing authority and are not represented by a union.
• This position will be based in Albany, NY. Limited travel is required to the SUNY Global Center (located in New York City). All travel is coordinated by the Director and Benefits Manager.
• This position has an anticipated start date of May 5, 2025.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. VISA sponsorship is not available for this position. Some positions may require additional credentials or a background check to verify your identity. The name of the contact person for this vacancy. Name Human Resources The telephone number to use for questions about this vacancy. Telephone The fax to use for this vacancy. Fax Email address for emailing applications, or to ask questions about this vacancy. Email Address hr@sysadm.suny.edu Address The street address of the contact for this vacancy. Street 353 Broadway The city for the contact for this vacancy. City Albany The state of the contact for this vacancy (the default is New York). State NY The zip code for the contact for this vacancy. Zip Code 12246 Instructions for potential applicants. Notes on Applying Please apply using this link: http://sunysystem.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?

JOBID=185063