Open Healthcare Leadership Positions

Health Benefits and Wellness Manager

The Kansas University Health System

The University of Kansas Health System is Seeking a Health Benefits and Wellness Manager.

Position Filled ✓

The Opportunity

We are seeking a dynamic leader to manage two dedicated teams: one focused on benefits and the other on wellness, to support our employee population and align with overarching HR strategies. As a senior leader, you will play a critical role in shaping our benefit competitiveness and driving program advancements.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role in shaping a comprehensive benefits and wellness strategy that supports the Health System’s mission and values. Join us in advancing our commitment to employee health and well-being.

Duties and Responsibilities

Health & Wellness Strategy Administration: Administer and align comprehensive health and wellness strategies with the organization’s Vision, Mission, and Values.
Committee Leadership & Presentations: Lead benefits committee meetings and present recommendations to senior leadership for input and approval.
Program Analysis & Improvement: Analyze and recommend improvements to existing or proposed benefit and wellness programs, fostering positive relationships with internal departments, external providers, brokers, and vendors. Study and identify new benefit options through program analysis and consultant advice.
External Best Practices & Updates: Keep abreast of best practices and relevant changes in the benefits field and communicate updates to leadership, ensuring our programs remain market competitive.
Support Decision Making: Analyze benefit options and predict future costs to support management in decision-making.
Financial Oversight: Assist in managing the benefits and wellness operational budgets, monitor expenditures, analyze variances, and implement corrective actions to achieve financial objectives.
Cost Containment: Research and recommend cost containment strategies by utilizing analysis from consultants and carriers.
Benefit Plan Administration: Under the direction of the Director of Total Rewards, manage the employee benefits plan, including health, dental, vision, EAP, group life, and voluntary programs.
Record-Keeping & Employee Support: Maintain accurate benefit records, initiate new-hire benefits, and resolve employee questions related to benefit policies and procedures. Reconcile benefits accounts by approving billing statements.
Reporting: Prepare special reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends related to benefit and wellness programs.
Metrics & Reporting: Create and report on clear metrics to measure the success of benefits and wellness programs and committees.
Customer Service & Plan Administration: Provide plan administration, participant communication, and customer service for the health system’s benefits and wellness plans.
Wellness Initiatives: Assist in planning, developing, implementing, and monitoring employee wellness initiatives, including programs to raise awareness and promote healthy lifestyles. Launch and monitor population health efforts.
Wellness Champions Network: Facilitate and develop a network of employee Wellness Champions to promote wellness programs across the organization.
Continuous Professional Development: Stay up to date with industry trends and best practices by attending workshops, reviewing publications, and engaging with professional networks and societies.
Pharmacy Benefit Design: Collaborate with dedicated pharmacy staff to design the pharmacy benefit, review reporting, and assess drug utilization. Will be closely involved in creation of a custom formulary.
Employee Communications: Partner with the communications team to provide year-round employee-facing communications aimed at educating employees about the benefits package.
Annual Enrollment: Lead, plan, and execute the Annual Enrollment process, providing employee support and ensuring clear communications.
Professional Competency: Demonstrate the professional, clinical, and technical competencies required for the role.
Additional Responsibilities: Other duties may be assigned as needed, depending on the department or unit’s needs.

Qualifications and Requirements

Education

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in related field of study from an accredited college or university.
High School Graduate
3 or more years of experience in broad-based health and welfare, as well as wellness program strategy, design, and administration.
3 or more years of experience as a manager or supervisory leadership of benefits professionals.

Preferred Education and Experience

Prior experience working for a hospital or health system as a benefit subject matter expert.
10 or more years of benefits and/or human resources experience.

Experience

Proven experience in benefits management and wellness programming.
Strong leadership and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across teams and senior leaders.
In-depth understanding of employee benefits, wellness programs, and population health strategies.
Ability to drive competitive benefit offerings that support employee engagement and well-being.
Comprehensive knowledge of market health and welfare benefits and wellness best practices.
Comprehensive knowledge of design, develop, and implementation of a comprehensive health and welfare benefits design, including self-funding, consumer-driven, domestic/supplemental or narrow networks.
Excellent communication skills in both mass and personal/small group formats. Comfortable speaking in front of groups, including executive management.
Must demonstrate good judgment, strong business acumen, effective influencing and leadership skills.
Must also have key technical skills including project management, program management, and strong assessment and analytical skills.

Licenses/Certification

Preferred Licensure and Certification

Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) – Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) OR
Professional in Human Resources (PHR) – Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) OR
SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) – Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS).

Special Skills

Additional

The Ideal Candidate

We are seeking a dynamic, results-driven, professional with proven expertise in health benefits and wellness leadership, ideally within a healthcare setting, and with experience in HR and Total Rewards. This individual will play a pivotal role in three key focus areas, while remaining flexible and creative in expanding services and advancing the health system’s population health strategies, which are designed to support employee well-being. These 3 focus areas are benefits, wellness, and benefit specialization.

This leadership role will oversee a team of nine direct reports and six dotted-line staff members. The ideal candidate should have experience working closely with C-suite executives and senior leaders, providing data-driven insights, sharing key metrics, and influencing decisions through strong leadership.

We are looking for a collaborative leader with excellent communication skills and a commitment to customer service. This individual should be confident in tracking financials and metrics to ensure that health plans remain both effective and affordable. They will work closely with finance, revenue cycle teams, providers, the payor contracting team, and legal to align on goals and achieve optimal outcomes.

More About the Organization

4000 Cambridge St

Kansas City,

Kansas

66160

The University of Kansas Health System in Kansas City is a world-class academic medical center and destination for complex care and diagnosis. We offer more options for patients with serious conditions because of our expertise and leadership in medical research and education. Our physicians are researchers and educators expanding the boundaries of medical knowledge. Their major breakthroughs lead to the life-changing treatments and technologies of the future.

As part of an academic health system serving the people of Kansas, the region and beyond, The University of Kansas Health System will enhance the health and wellness of the communities we serve. This is our mission.

We are committed to providing the highest quality care to all Kansans – not only in Kansas City, but across the state and region. It’s our responsibility to extend the reach of academic medicine to more Kansans so patients can stay closer to home and receive the most advanced care possible.
We’ve been working to fulfill this mission since 1998, when The University of Kansas Hospital began as an independent authority.
When people get their healthcare close to home, they can focus on healing rather than the many stresses of travel. That’s why we support keeping care close to home.
We do this by supporting the continued operation of hospitals and clinics and by expanding into communities across Kansas:

Main Campus in Kansas City, Kansas
Great Bend Campus, including Great Bend Family Medicine and St. Rose Medical Pavilion, in Great Bend
Indian Creek Campus in Overland Park
St. Francis Campus in Topeka
Olathe Health Medical Center in Olathe, KS – Olathe Health joined The University of Kansas Health System in January 2023. Since that time, we have been collaboratively planning for Olathe Health to integrate into The University of Kansas Health System in a way that respectfully supports both organizations’ patients, physicians and employees.

We also keep care close to home by using technology and communication to bring advanced healthcare services into communities across the state. Examples include:

Investing in technology

Through technology, we can expand our services to patients while they remain in their communities. For example, people in western Kansas with complex neurological disorders like ALS participate in telemedicine appointments with neuroscience specialists in Kansas City. These specialists work with a local care team to assess each patient’s condition and provide ongoing care.

Providing expert physicians to more communities

Our physicians, many of whom specialize in treating complex illnesses, travel to communities throughout Kansas to provide care that would otherwise not be available. For example, our kidney transplant physicians based in Kansas City conduct clinics in Wichita for those who are waiting for organ transplantation and those who need follow-up care after transplant.

Improving care through The University of Kansas Health System Care Collaborative

Our physicians and other clinicians collaborate with care providers across Kansas through this network of more than 50 hospitals, plus additional clinics and EMS teams, in 56 Kansas counties. Together, collaborative members work to improve the health of people living in rural and urban communities, using evidence-based models of care to improve outcomes and decrease costs. Care areas include heart attack, stroke, heart failure and sepsis.

Partnering in joint ventures

Our health system partnered with Ardent Health Services to ensure continued healthcare services for the Topeka area. Together, we purchased St. Francis Health, which otherwise would have closed, to form The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus. This joint venture also preserved hundreds of jobs at the hospital.

Acquiring facilities when it makes sense for the communities

In today’s healthcare environment, smaller communities can find it difficult to sustain their local hospitals. By joining The University of Kansas Health System, hospitals within these communities ensure access to better healthcare close to home. They also preserve a key driver of the economy in their community.

As part of the region’s premier academic medical center, we take our responsibility to provide the best care for Kansans very seriously. As we reimagine healthcare for Kansas City, our region and beyond, we strive to create innovative ways to give citizens access to nationally ranked care close to home.

We embraced this mission in 1998 when The University of Kansas Hospital began as an independent authority. We have driven progress for more than 2 decades and have no plans to stop.

Our steadfast commitment to healthcare excellence has earned our health system accolades that inspire confidence in patients and their loved ones. You have choices when evaluating healthcare options. These distinctions can help you determine which hospitals provide the best care for routine and serious or complex conditions.

Our recognition includes:

Earned 4 consecutive Magnet designations from the American Nurses Accrediting Center for nursing excellence. Fewer than 9% of U.S. hospitals have attained Magnet designation, and far fewer have earned it 4 times.
Recognized as a Leader in LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign. Our health system is 1 of 495 healthcare facilities in the nation to earn Leader status.
While we appreciate these honors, they don’t mean our work is finished. In fact, they signify a journey that is only beginning. They underscore our position and charge to extend leading academic medicine across the state of Kansas – and beyond.