Overview In this role you lead the operational excellence and administration of Ford's U.S. health care benefits programs. You will partner with the Strategy and Design leader to ensure strategy is executable and compliant, driving flawless plan implementations. You manage benefits operations, vendor relationships, and governance, influencing cost, compliance, and member experience. You'll work with cross-functional partners and executive leadership to enable effective, scalable benefits that support a diverse workforce.
Compensation / Benefits- Immediate medical, dental, vision and prescription coverage
- Flexible family care days and paid parental leave
- Tuition assistance
- Vehicle discount program for employees and family
- Paid time off and holidays
- Paid community service time
Responsibilities- Own day-to-day administration of health care programs across union and non-union populations with accuracy and compliance
- Manage health care benefits budget execution, cost tracking, and financial reporting in collaboration with Finance and actuarial teams
- Lead annual enrollment, vendor readiness, communications rollout, and issue resolution
- Partner with Strategy and Design to feasibility-test plan design changes and vendor strategies
- Serve as senior negotiator for health care benefits in collective bargaining and translate agreements into implementation roadmaps
- Oversee vendor governance, due diligence, and contract administration/renewals
- Ensure governance, policies, and procedures for compliant delivery of benefits across regulations (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA)
- Build and lead a team focused on operational excellence and service delivery
- Support change management for benefits transformation initiatives
- Act as a trusted operational partner to cross-functional stakeholders (Finance, Legal, IT, HR, Labor Relations)
Key requirements- 7-10 years of progressive employee benefits experience, with 4-6 years in health care benefits administration in a large organization
- Experience in unionized environments and labor negotiations support preferred
- Vendor management, performance management, and contract administration experience in health care benefits
- Strong operational execution skills from strategy to action with process discipline
- Ability to work autonomously and support executive leadership
- Proven team leadership and development abilities in service delivery and operational excellence
- Solid knowledge of ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, ERISA and compliance requirements
- Strong analytical skills to interpret data and advise on feasibility
- Excellent communication with executive leadership and cross-functional collaboration
- Project management and coaching experience in fast-paced settings
- Professional certification such as CEBS or equivalent
- Experience with self-insured plans, actuarial valuation processes, and claims analytics
- Experience in automotive/large industrial/heavily unionized sectors
- Legally authorized to work in the United States, Visa sponsorship not available
- leadership
- clear communication with executives
- collaboration across functions
- benefits administration
- vendor management
- budgeting and financial reporting
