Operations / Administration Associate, Benefits, Team Talent Operations
Job Description
Start Date: Immediate
Team: Team Talent Operations
Location: Brooklyn, NY or New Haven, CT or Providence, RI
About Achievement First:
Achievement First, a non-profit 501(c)3 charter school management organization, operates 37 public charter schools in Brooklyn, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The mission of Achievement First is to deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all children, regardless of race or economic status. Achievement First currently educates 13,500 students in historically underserved neighborhoods, with over 90% of our students identifying as Black and Latino. With its college-preparatory focus, the Achievement First approach is attaining breakthrough academic gains throughout the network. Beyond our students and schools, Achievement First is an engaged and prominent partner in the larger conversation about how to improve public education and student achievement in our country.
Achievement First’s approach to teaching and learning enables every student to succeed at the highest levels. This involves:
- Recruiting and developing successful teachers and school leaders and empowering them to use student data to strategically drive instruction;
- Creating a joyful school culture where it is “cool to be smart” that emphasizes character education and focuses students on college;
- Providing students with more time on task and intense intervention when they are struggling so that no child falls through the cracks.
For more information about Achievement First’s mission, approach, schools and team, please visit our website at www.achievementfirst.org.
Summary:
Achievement First exists to close the achievement gap and address inequity facing the communities that we are honored to serve. We have a two pronged approach: people and program. In terms of program, we know that our curriculum, assessments, and school design are key to our success. But they are not enough – and they will not have impact without the right highly talented teams in place to execute, innovate, and make our network a place of excellence. Therefore, our ability to attract and keep the right (extremely talented) people is equally mission critical. While our school leaders work to create school environments that allow our teachers and deans to meet their full potential, we must also build network-wide structures, policy, strategy, and ethos that drives culture across AF.
Achievement First’s Talent Operations team ensures strong talent practices are effectively and consistently implemented across the AF network as the organization adapts to scale. The team also seeks to create a world-class employee experience such that all employees feel valued and want to stay at AF to relentlessly support student success. The team accomplishes this by:
- Overseeing comprehensive performance evaluation systems
- Offering competitive total rewards package
- Fueling people leadership practices with strong talent data, clear guidance, and efficient processes
- Creating avenues for employee input and feedback through various talent management surveys
The Talent Operations Team is laser-focused on redesigning and automating current talent-facing systems across the network, in service of providing a best-in-class work experience for our employees. While every school site has on-site HR support through their Director of School Operations (or DSO), our team is responsible for managing every employee benefit and the relationship between AF and those vendors.
Reporting to the Director, Employee Relations & HR Policy, the Benefits Associate will play a critical role in overseeing all AF benefit programs and assist in the execution of upgrading all resources, plans, services, and communications for all AF employees. You will come to be THE face of benefits at AF as the content expert.
Responsibilities of the Benefits Associate will include but are not limited to:
Benefits Administration
- Manage day-to-day benefits support and coordination for all employee benefit programs (e.g., medical, dental, vision, disability, 403(b), life, dependent care, etc.) through ADP, knowledge management Many Minds site, Zendesk ticketing system, and all other internal communication portals.
- Manage daily benefit processing enrollments, terminations, and changes in ADP.
- Set up benefit plan and ensure ongoing maintenance of all benefit plans in ADP.
- Assist with new hire communication and follow through surrounding benefits enrollment.
- Manage annual open enrollment process, including communications and training, for the entire network after benefits renewal approval.
- Maintain benefits material to ensure the most current information is provided to employees.
- Serve as a project team lead in identifying and executing on process improvements regarding benefits, including internal communications and stakeholder engagement (e.g., payroll, school operations, Network Support managers, etc.).
- Ensure effective invoice processing, including serving as the main point of contact for all benefit vendors and sending reminders to the school sites.
- Take the lead in proactively supporting DSOs with their benefits related issues and questions.
Compliance & Data Management
- Assist in filing and execution of claims for leave of absence programs, including but not limited to FMLA and NY Paid Family leaves.
- Review, track, and process all leave of absence requests for Network Support employees.
- Coordinate the mailing/posting of all required 403(b) retirement plan notices.
- Calculate the 403(b) plan match annually and coordinate any QNECs throughout the year.
- Manage annual ACA notices and employer requirements in ADP.
- Manage all internal and vendor benefit audits on a quarterly or bi-annual basis.
- Research and execute on new file options for current/future benefits vendors.
- Manage weekly fallout reports from benefits vendors.
- Take the lead on all data file integrations from ADP, including manual feeds to current benefits vendors (e.g., Bright Horizons, TRS and Dependent Care).
- Lead troubleshooting and resolution efforts for any ADP connection issue.
- Manage COBRA vendor relationship.
- Review, troubleshoot, and resolve data integrity issues, including ensuring accuracy of staff database via audits and system correction.
Talent Operations Team Support
- Assist the Director of Employee Relations & HR Policy with in-person training and support of school sites and our DSO cohort.
- Analyze benefits and leave of absence Zendesk ticket topic trends on a monthly basis, such that improvements can be made to our existing resources and practice.
- Assist with filing of documents and records in employee personnel files.
- Provide backup support for all incoming Zendesk tickets when first line of support is out of office.
- Provide thoughtful and deliberate support and feedback to other members of the Talent Ops team.
Skills and Characteristics
- Advanced experience with Excel (e.g., advanced formulas and pivot tables) is required
- Prior experience with Microsoft Access and/or SQL is preferred
- Prior experience managing a HRIS is preferred
- Excellent data analysis and project management skills
- Attention to detail and quality is critical
- Continuous improvement mindset: seek out ways to improve our systems and processes and execute flawlessly
- Customer service mindset: responding to and partnering with end users to solve challenges is a must
- Communication and critical problem solving: able to explain complex processes at both detailed and high levels, in writing and in conversation
- Adept at giving and receiving feedback
- Show humility, strong work ethic, and a sense of humor
- Strong sense of discretion and empathetic outlook
- Belief in the Achievement First mission and educational model
Educational Background and Work Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required
- 2+ years of work experience required
- At least 1 year of human resources administration, particularly in benefits administration, in a large organization setting preferred
- Willingness to travel to our schools and offices throughout Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, as needed, is required
Compensation
Salary for this position is competitive and commensurate with experience. Additionally, Achievement First offers a comprehensive benefits package.
Apply
Please click here to apply.
Achievement First is an equal opportunity employer and an organization that values diversity. People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus.
You can learn more about diversity at Achievement First here: http://www.achievementfirst.org/about-us/diversity/.
