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Senior benefits specialist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Daniel Eveleth Ph.D.,
Dr. Gregory Kordsmeier
Senior benefits specialist example skills
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical senior benefits specialist skills. We ranked the top skills for senior benefits specialists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 11.2% of senior benefits specialist resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a senior benefits specialist needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 senior benefits specialist skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use customer service:
  • Compiled benefit outlines and comparisons for new and existing products for use by claims examiners and customer service representatives.
  • Provide a consistently excellent customer service experience by maintaining the highest degree of courtesy, confidentiality and professionalism.

2. HR

HR stands for human resources and is used to describe the set of people who work for a company or an organization. HR responsibilities revolve around updating employee records and carrying out management processes like planning, recruitment, evaluation, and selection processes. HR is a key contributor to any company or organization's growth as they are in charge of hiring the right employees, processing payrolls, conducting disciplinary actions, etc.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use hr:
  • Interviewed prospective HR candidates, lead and conduct new hire orientation, open enrollment presentations/benefits presentation, and pension/retirement plan administration.
  • Launched research on prospective benefit consultants and facilitated meetings with HR Director and Senior Director to successfully retain benefits consultant.

3. HRIS

Here's how senior benefits specialists use hris:
  • Partnered with HRIS as key stakeholder in improving eligibility transmittal and transitioning from manual vendor enrollments to automated vendor file feeds.
  • Developed and maintained documentation of HRIS procedures.

4. Life Insurance

Here's how senior benefits specialists use life insurance:
  • Managed health and life insurance enrollments and communicated with service providers regarding administration.
  • Implemented new voluntary benefit plans such as long term care, voluntary life insurance, adoption assistance and group auto/homeowners insurance.

5. Benefits Administration

Here's how senior benefits specialists use benefits administration:
  • Provided leadership and direction within Benefits Department, ensuring consummate accuracy and regulatory compliance across all aspects of benefits administration.
  • Perform on-site dedicated consultation services pertaining to Benefits Administration, Payroll services, Underwriting and Technical Support as an Underwriter/Broker.

6. Cobra

COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) is a federal law that allows employers of 20 or more employees who provide health care benefits to offer the option of continuing this coverage to individuals who would otherwise lose their benefits due to termination of employment, reduction in hours or certain other events. It is a temporary coverage that provides cash for medical expenses up to 18 months. The policy is helpful for retirees, former employees, former spouses, dependent children and spouses, workers laid off, on strike, fired for work, etc.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use cobra:
  • Confirm that all insurance programs are administered in accordance with all legal requirements including COBRA administration and other regulations.
  • Calculated and distributed information regarding COBRA benefit costs on an annual basis, enhancing employee understanding of benefits.

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7. HIPAA

Here's how senior benefits specialists use hipaa:
  • Acted as liaison with vendors to insure accurate and timely claims processing according to HCFA, HIPAA and Medicare guidelines.
  • Help ensure compliance with applicable government regulations related to benefit programs, including ERISA requirements, FMLA, HIPAA.

8. ERISA

Here's how senior benefits specialists use erisa:
  • Administer ERISA Guidelines to formulate timely next steps to appropriately address/resolve any issues.
  • Coordinated and managed annual 401(k) audits ensuring adherence and compliance with all applicable ERISA laws.

9. Open Enrollment

Open enrollment means a duration that comes every year that a person can sign up for health insurance or change the plan that a person has, for instance, if a person needs to deregister. The activity always features in a few weeks or months within a year. It allows workers to alter their benefit plans, including vision, dental, health insurance, life insurance, and disability.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use open enrollment:
  • Supported the project manager for annual benefits open enrollment activities including benefit fairs, service center readiness, and educational workshops.
  • Directed open enrollment information sessions, developed open enrollment communications, assisted employees, and responded to plan design/eligibility inquires.

10. Long-Term Disability

Long-term disability is a kind of insurance policy that protects the income of workers when they sustain severe injuries or are bedridden with sicknesses that keeps them out of work for more than 3 months or more. The insurance scheme also covers a situation where the worker is permanently disabled and can no longer resume work.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use long-term disability:
  • Conducted quarterly short-term and long-term disability audits and resolved discrepancies.
  • Assessed policyholder eligibility for individual and long-term disability benefits.

11. FMLA

Here's how senior benefits specialists use fmla:
  • Administer FMLA, Workers Compensation, various leave of absences, death benefits, 401(k) and Pension.
  • Developed and managed leave of absence program in accordance with company policy, FMLA and applicable state laws.

12. ACA

Here's how senior benefits specialists use aca:
  • Conduct audits, complete 5500's and comply with ACA requirements.
  • Spearheaded timely filing of ACA Forms 1094/1095 for all associates.

13. Plan Design

Plan design refers to preparing a benefits, insurance, or transportation plan for a specific person. Depending on what a company is able to offer to an employee, a different benefits or insurance plan may need to be created. This may require additional data research in order to determine what an employee may require from company benefits.

Here's how senior benefits specialists use plan design:
  • Organized company-wide annual enrollment and plan design change meetings for salaried/bargaining unit employees.
  • Collected and analyzed benefit plan data and recommended plan design modifications.

14. Benefit Programs

Here's how senior benefits specialists use benefit programs:
  • Recommended and implemented new benefit programs resulting in higher employee satisfaction with company benefits and resources.
  • Assisted with analysis, planning and implementation of cost-effective ancillary benefit programs consistent with company objectives.

15. Health Insurance

Here's how senior benefits specialists use health insurance:
  • Gathered data and performed analysis to develop strategy pertaining to health insurance design plans.
  • Completed a major health insurance carrier change, including all medical, pharmacy, EAP, FSA, and HSA components.
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What skills help Senior Benefits Specialists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on senior benefits specialist resumes?

Daniel Eveleth Ph.D.

Professor of Management and Human Resources, University of Idaho

Given this emphasis on the candidate, employee, and manager experiences, what skills are needed:

-Empathy skill - able to look at "our processes" through the eyes of the candidate, employee, manager. It is their journey, not our process.
-Relationship building - given the demand for talent, we often need to play the long game; rather than posting a job announcement and praying for applications to "process," we may need to develop connections with passive job seekers, for example, who may not be ready to apply; we need to think about how we reject candidates so that they pass on positive word of mouth to others and possibly reply/apply when a better fit appears. We may need to develop our relationships with hiring managers to help them make quicker hiring decisions, help them avoid biases when interviewing, learn more from them about their talent needs and preferences.
-Ability and willingness to search for talent. There are excellent job seekers who don't know your organization exists or that you have a culture, positions, etc., that would be a good fit. This is particularly critical for helping a company meet its DEI goals.
-Interpersonal communication skills:
-Job candidates prefer recruiters who are both warm/approachable and knowledgeable about the jobs and the company.
-Hiring managers and other business partners often have varying degrees of experience with recruiting, selection, onboarding, development practices and have unique needs and often unique personalities, work styles, etc. Communication with them is critical and sometimes includes having challenging conversations.
-Tools-oriented skills:
-Data analysis skills
-Journey/Experience mapping
-Data visualization (e.g., Tableau)
-Knowledge of applicant tracking systems
-Success using social media to engage followers (e.g., managed a fraternity's social media sites to engage alumni)
-Familiarity with managing conversations via remote technology.
-Interest in the company/industry.

What senior benefits specialist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Gregory Kordsmeier

Director, Institute for Learning and Teaching, Indiana University Southeast

Many employers are looking for the skills that sociology majors have developed over the course of their major, but many of these employers will not phrase it as looking for a sociology major. Skills like working in teams, data analysis and communication, written and oral visualization, and an ability to work with diverse populations are all prized by employers and common among sociology majors. Your job as a recent graduate is helping translate the work that you did and the skills you developed in college into terms that prospective employers can understand.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about senior benefits specialist

List of senior benefits specialist skills to add to your resume

Senior benefits specialist skills

The most important skills for a senior benefits specialist resume and required skills for a senior benefits specialist to have include:

  • Customer Service
  • HR
  • HRIS
  • Life Insurance
  • Benefits Administration
  • Cobra
  • HIPAA
  • ERISA
  • Open Enrollment
  • Long-Term Disability
  • FMLA
  • ACA
  • Plan Design
  • Benefit Programs
  • Health Insurance
  • Vendor Management
  • Payroll System
  • Data Entry
  • Process Improvement
  • Plan Administration
  • DOL
  • Leave Management
  • Strong Analytical
  • Plan Provisions
  • Federal Regulations
  • Status Changes
  • Social Security
  • IRS
  • Discrimination Testing
  • Legislative Changes
  • Benefit Issues
  • FSA
  • Hippa
  • Insurance Carriers
  • HSA
  • Short-Term Disability
  • Medical Claims
  • PeopleSoft
  • ADP
  • Problem Resolution
  • Benefit Changes
  • Leave Administration
  • Benefit Calculations
  • Pension Plan
  • Issue Resolution
  • RFP
  • STD
  • Regulatory Compliance
  • Vendor Relationships

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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