Description
Position at IDEA Public Schools

About IDEA
At IDEA Public Schools, we believe in college for ALL and we are committed to ensuring that all of our students graduate from college. IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States sending 100% of our students to college. 50% of our students graduate from college in 6 years - that's 8 times the national rate for students in our communities!

IDEA was founded in 2000 as a single school with 150 students in the Rio Grande Valley. When interest exceeded building capacity, to meet the demands, IDEA's co-founders committed to serving more students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and beyond. We now serve nearly 45,000 students across Texas and Louisiana. By 2022, IDEA will serve 100,000 students. Be on the lookout for IDEA schools opening near you-with continued growth in our current regions and new launches in Tarrant County (Fort Worth/Arlington), New Orleans, Houston (2020), Permian Basin (2021), and Tampa Bay (2021)!

When you choose to work at IDEA, you are part of our IDEA Team and Family. You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day, are excited to continue to grow with IDEA, and work relentlessly to make college for all a reality.

To learn more about IDEA, check out this video .

Role Mission : IDEA Public Schools strives to ensure best in class benefits options for employees while ensuring maximum cost efficiencies for the organization. The Benefits Analyst provides Employee Benefits support by partnering with third party administrators and producers to enhance and solidify client relationships and by meeting or exceeding workflow standards with a strong focus on data integrity, analytics, and staff satisfaction.

Accountabilities

Proactively and reactively addresses employee concerns and issues with a high degree of professionalism and a customer service orientation.

• Communicates proactively with employees about anticipated adjustments and makes accommodations as deemed necessary
• Resolves any matters on behalf of staff members associated with misplacement of cards, claims issues, carrier issues, life changes, etc. and seek the matter all the way through until resolved
• Offer high-quality and exceptional level of customer service by going above and beyond expectations and ensure follow up with staff in all respects
• Assists with the new hire enrollment goal by providing support to staff members
• Continuously communicates with new hire and assists with the open enrollment rates by assisting staff members with enrollment either over the phone or in person
• Return calls within 24 to 48 hours to all staff members and problem solve within 48 hours.
• Executes end-of-year process & works closely with cross functional teams and supervisors to disseminate information to staff regarding premiums and coverage

Manages successful partnerships with third party administrators and cultivates and supports deliverables with producers.

• In most cases, works closely with third-parties to identify the cause of discrepancies and ensure a resolution
• Works through various challenges, including challenges with carriers where it may be difficult to obtain retro credits/charges by designated time. This requires consistency in communication and building an effective relationship with third party administrator
• Works with third party administrator for weekly file transmittals and data accuracy to include employee demographics, dependent information, life changes, etc.
• Ensures data accuracy between legacy system, enrollment platform, and carriers and resolves potential discrepancies

100% of critical reports and reconciliations are executed on time and accurately (Medical/Supplemental Reconciliations, Benefits Summary Report, Enrollment Platform, Census files, 1095-C Forms for ACA compliance)

• Completes reconciliations for all benefits plans (medical, supplemental, retirement) while significantly reducing adjustments by 15% compared to previous year and ensuring all premiums are collected within 3 months from either employer or employee
• Completes monthly reconciliations for all benefits plans (medical, supplemental) on time and by designated deadlines while working through additional responsibilities
• Maintain and audit staff data in Tyler Munis , partnering with HRIS team to ensure accuracy
• Coordinates with Accounting to ensure variances are matching against what was remitted to carriers and makes changes/revisions when necessary
• Partners with the Payroll Department to identify issues in their processes that impact the reconciliations
• Completes Benefits Summary Reports every month to compare healthcare costs against annual budgets and shares data with leadership team
• Executes all data and reports associated with Benefits program

Create system for maintaining data metrics and accuracy for all aspects of the benefits team; Ensures accuracy of Selerix (enrollment platform) and identifies any issues and works diligently to resolve them

• Monitors the clearance of all payroll adjustments and moves dates when necessary and where there is rationale
• Reports on write-offs and root causes to work towards improvements each month
• Runs audits to ensure address accuracy prior to W2s and 1095-C forms being sent out
• Identifies and enters adjustments while identifying reasons causing adjustments and trends in an effort to significantly reduce totals each year, and works with the PR team to ensure adjustments are clear by the scheduled date
• Create meaningful comparisons to use data to drive future results of the benefits functions
• Conducts audits to determine system accuracy on an ongoing basis.
• Monitors enrollment platform to ensure all functionalities are working appropriately including processing life events, changes, payroll deductions, etc.
• Works through payroll files to set up employees with benefit/deduction amounts and ensures accuracy of data
• Works through resolving multiple challenges with TPAs regarding Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) files

95% Newly hired staff completes enrollment within 30 days from date of hire; 95% of existing employees complete Annual Open Enrollment by 2019-2020 open deadline. Responsible for Engagement & Outreach during the annual Open Enrollment season.

• Provides support with open enrollment communication initiatives by engaging employees and ensuring they receive relative information.
• Sends communication (calls, emails, texts, etc.) to remind employees to enroll.
• Is accessible to employees during open enrollment via phone, email, or face to face (extended hours).
• Works with enrollment counselors provided by third party administrator to train and set expectations for customer service.
• Works flexible and extended hours during open enrollment season to provide support to our staff members exhibiting a "Whatever It Takes" attitude.
• Juggles through multiple tasks to ensure goal is being met while keeping up with the normal weekly and monthly deliverable.
• Creates profiles in the enrollment platform within 48 hours from an employee clearing new hire process and to allow employees immediate access to web-self enrollment option.
• Utilize various communication channels such as emails, phone calls, tasks assignments, etc. to reach out to New Hires and assist staff with changes and questions regarding benefits offered.
• Monitor enrollment status weekly to identify those staff members pending completion and persistently contact them and their supervisor to get them to complete enrollment.
• Schedule phone or in-person appointments to complete enrollment with staff members.
• Work through multiple challenges in order to achieve the goal.
• Supports with multi-state approach and research in order to establish plans in new regions.

We look for Team and Family who embody the followingvaluesand characteristics:

• Believes and is committed to our missionand being an agent of change: that all students are capable of getting to and through college
• Has demonstrated effectiveoutcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly
• Works with urgency and purpose to drive student outcomes
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationshipsin order toachieve outcomes
• We believe in education asa professionand hold ourselves to high level of conduct, professionalism and behaviors as models for our colleagues and students.

Competencies:

• Ability to work extended workdays to support business needs
• Attention to detail
• Excellent customer service skills, both written and oral, and maintain confidentiality in all matters
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and interpersonal skills to interact with carriers and staff at all levels in Spanish/English
• Excellent time management and organizational skills and the ability to handle multiple tasks in a demanding work environment

Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor's degree required. Relevant experience or equivalent combination of education and experience is also acceptable
• Experience: At least one-two years' experience
• Licenses or Certifications: CBS or other Benefits-related professional certification preferred
• Knowledge and Skills: Advanced Proficiency in Excel. Candidate must have the ability to research, analyze, report and make sound judgments.

IDEA Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the organization's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), may contact IDEA Human Resources at (956) 377-8000.