Senior Specialist, Benefits

Working at Abbott

• At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You’ll also have access to:
• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• Employees can qualify for free medical coverage in our Health Investment Plan (HIP) PPO medical plan in the next calendar year.
• An excellent retirement savings plan with high employer contribution
• Tuition reimbursement, the Freedom 2 Save student debt program and FreeU education benefit - an affordable and convenient path to getting a bachelor’s degree.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

The Opportunity

This position works out of our Abbott Park, IL location. This is not a remote role.

• Own day-to-day retiree health operations, ensuring accurate eligibility, seamless service delivery, and clear, consistent retiree communications.
• Support Open Enrollment (OE) strategy and execution across active and retiree populations.
• Lead case management research and resolution, partnering across HRTS, HRSC, Payroll, and Businessolver (outsourced benefits administration vendor).
• Manage benefit related invoices, driving accuracy, timeliness, and issue resolution.
• Provide communications support for retiree and active benefit programs, including reviewing, coordinating, and maintaining accurate, accessible benefit content across internal and external channels.
• Contribute to special projects including M&A activities.

What You’ll Work On

• Manage day-to-day retiree health operations, including post65 Medicare offerings, eligibility updates, and ongoing retiree communications.

• Lead case management research and issue resolution, ensuring timely, accurate responses and strong documentation in partnership with Businessolver, carriers, and other vendor partners.

• Support OE strategy, readiness, testing, and execution for active and retiree populations; document issues, monitor defects, and follow through to resolution.

• Analyze, consolidate, and roll up plan utilization data from ben admin, carriers, and point solution vendors into clear dashboards and insight summaries for leadership, QBRs, and continuous improvement.

• Evaluate vendor performance using a comprehensive, data driven approach (financials, utilization trends, quality indicators, and member feedback) and recommend improvements or corrective actions.

• Coordinate and schedule largescale benefits events and cross functional presentations to enhance program understanding.

• Manage Level 1 administrative appeals in collaboration with Businessolver and internal Legal partners; ensure accurate, compliant recommendations.

• Support survey and benchmarking requests; assist with project plans and coordinate execution of benefits initiatives.

• Review, reconcile, and validate benefit related invoices; investigate variances; coordinate corrections with vendors, HRIS, Payroll, and Businessolver to ensure accurate, timely payment.

• Maintain operational controls, documentation, and reporting to ensure accuracy, compliance, and a seamless employee/retiree experience.

• Oversee data integrity across systems; expedite root cause analysis and coordinate remediation with HRIS, HRSC, Payroll, and Businessolver.

• Lead the review, coordination, and maintenance of retiree and benefit program communications across internal and external platforms, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and alignment with vendor partners.

• Manage day-to-day retiree health operations, including post65 Medicare offerings, eligibility updates, and ongoing retiree communications.

• Lead case management research and issue resolution, ensuring timely, accurate responses and strong documentation in partnership with Businessolver, carriers, and other vendor partners.

• Support OE strategy, readiness, testing, and execution for active and retiree populations; document issues, monitor defects, and follow through to resolution.

• Analyze, consolidate, and roll up plan utilization data from ben admin, carriers, and point solution vendors into clear dashboards and insight summaries for leadership, QBRs, and continuous improvement.

• Evaluate vendor performance using a comprehensive, data driven approach (financials, utilization trends, quality indicators, and member feedback) and recommend improvements or corrective actions.

• Coordinate and schedule largescale benefits events and cross functional presentations to enhance program understanding.

Key Responsibilities

Retiree Health Operations

• Day-to-day oversight of retiree health programs, including post65 Medicare offerings and eligibility management.
• Coordinate retiree communications and ensure content remains current and accurate.

Case Management & Issue Resolution

• Lead case research and resolution, ensuring comprehensive documentation and coordinated stakeholder alignment (HRIS, HRSC, Payroll, Businessolver, and vendors).
• Track issues/defects, drive root cause remediation, and document corrective actions.

Utilization & Performance Insights

• Aggregate and roll up plan utilization information across Businessolver and point solution vendors (active and retiree).
• Build recurring dashboards/scorecards and prepare insight packs for QBRs, leadership reviews, and continuous improvement.
• Translate utilization trends into actionable recommendations (plan design levers, vendor action plans, member communications).

Open Enrollment (OE) Support

• Support active and retiree OE preparation, testing, documentation review, issue tracking, and hypercare activities.
• Monitor configuration readiness with Businessolver and validate post deployment outcomes.

M&A and Special Projects

• Support due diligence, data gathering, and integration tasks; coordinate vendor actions and timelines.
• Contribute to project plans, status tracking, and risk/issue management.

Communications

• Lead oversight of the vendor communication inventory and ensure all benefit content remains accurate, current, and aligned with program requirements.
• Coordinate communication updates across Businessolver, HRTS , HRSC, Payroll, and benefit vendors to ensure consistency and clarity.
• Manage periodic team reviews of benefit information across internal and external websites, retiree portals, and vendor platforms.
• Support creation, refinement, and delivery of benefit communications for retiree notifications, OE periods, plan updates, and special projects.

Operational Excellence & Controls

• Maintain dashboards and reporting for eligibility, utilization, and service metrics.
• Oversee data integrity controls and issue remediation SLAs across vendors.
• Manage invoice reconciliation and validation processes, ensuring accurate billing, timely resolution of discrepancies, and alignment with Finance, Payroll, HRIS, and vendors.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• 4–6 years of experience in benefits operations with exposure to retiree programs, Medicare, and benefits vendor management
• Knowledge of and hands-on experience with Medicare and Medicare Advantage programs.
• Experience in supporting Open Enrollment delivery and M&A activities.
• Proficiency with advanced Excel functions and analytical tools.
• Strong expertise in health & welfare plans, vendor administration, and project coordination.
• Experience working with providers and/or vendors, including account and contract support.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced, changing environment.
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and professional speaking skills.