Benefits Associate 

The Benefits Associate serves as the Health & Welfare and Pension specialist within the firm’s Benefits function. The Benefits Associate will collaborate closely with People & Culture (P&C) teams including HR Operations, Talent Acquisition, Diversity & Inclusion, Payroll, and Global Mobility to ensure effective delivery of benefits.

Reporting to the Health and Welfare Plan Manager (or EMEA Benefits Lead), the Benefits Associate is responsible for administering firmwide Health & Welfare and Pension arrangements. This role has responsibility for handling Health and Welfare and retirement plan issues, H&W invoice processing, and administering distributions of the defined benefit plans. 

In addition, this role will be cross-trained to team with other department BAs to support overall workload needs under the collaborative direction of the H&W Manager, Retirement Plan Manager and Director of Benefits.

The BA serves as a key member of the Benefits infrastructure in the support of firmwide benefit goals and objectives, and works with the P&C community to manage risk and monitor regulatory compliance.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Become knowledgeable and supportive of the strategy and business priorities of the firm and ensure alignment of H&W and retirement strategy to those of the firm.
• Team lead on assisting Firm employees with questions that come into the group mailboxes.
• Administers Employees’ Retirement plans and supports the partner retirement plans.
• Identifies issues and works with the appropriate department or vendor to solve problems. 
• Compiles data and metric information used to help identify problems and find trends. 
• Uses critical thinking abilities to anticipate future or outlying matters. 
• Completes invoice processing for Health and Welfare Plans
• Supports managing risk other regulatory compliance matters in collaboration with ERISA counsel, broker/consultants, vendors, and P&C Leadership.
• Supports the execution of the firm strategy and work-life integration strategies that support the “whole self” and align with and support our employment brand proposition.
• Ensure procedural documentation is updated accordingly and plan procedures, plan documents and notices are housed appropriately.
• Updates the firm’s Intranet and ensures all required documents are posted and current.
• Reviews compliance reporting requirements and prepares communications to plan participants. 
• Provides requested materials and works closely with auditors during the retirement plan audits. 
• Administers benefit changes for Global Mobility employees and coordinates between both GT-US and Global Mobility payroll systems to ensure compliance with IRS regulations. 
• Works with payroll, HRIS and other P&C communities to address issues holistically. 

Qualifications & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, Finance, or related discipline
• CIPD, QFA, or relevant benefits/pensions qualification desirable
• Past experience functioning as a Benefits Specialist or Administrator preferably within consulting or professional services environment
• Strong verbal and written communication & presentation skills
• A reputation for discretion, integrity, judgment, responsiveness, strong attention to detail and common sense
• Excellent PC skills with proficiency in MS Office
• A business-minded Benefits professional with 1-2 years of increasingly responsible Benefit responsibilities with demonstrated ability to thrive in a culture that is collaborative, service-oriented, and administrative.     
• Experienced in prioritization and negotiation with demonstrated ability to be effective in supporting multiple business leaders/partners working across different business functions.
• Collaborative and action-oriented, with ability to influence outcomes and lead change.
• Confident with strong personal initiative and someone who is willing to get out in the field, roll up their sleeves, and do whatever it takes to get the job done.
• Operationally focused with ability to think strategically and deliver tactically.
• Metrics-focused with ability to use analytics to solve problems and develop solutions.

Skills and Attributes:

Functional Expertise

• Ensures documentation supports compliance and audit readiness
• Independently manages standard benefit investigations
• Uses HR systems and reporting tools to identify trends
• Demonstrates ongoing professional development

Relationship Management

• Builds strong relationships with insurers, trustees, brokers, payroll, and employees
• Establishes reputation as trusted and business-focused
• Promotes collaborative working across P&C

Consultation

• Provides clear, compliant guidance on benefits
• Identifies recurring issues and proposes solutions
• Confident delivering benefit information sessions

Leadership & Influencing

• Recommends process improvements
• Supports implementation of new or enhanced benefit programmes
• Demonstrates flexible, solution-oriented decision-making

Critical Thinking & Evaluation

• Interprets pension and benefit data to identify risks and trends
• Connects regulatory, payroll, and operational impacts
• Manages workload independently with high quality output

Communication

• Adapts communication style to stakeholder needs
• Produces clear, compliant written materials
• Facilitates workshops and presentations effectively

Business Acumen

• Understands pension structures and insurer pricing mechanisms
• Identifies efficiencies and cost-containment opportunities
• Leverages HR technology and analytics to support business objectives

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