Director, Benefits

Apply Description Who We Are Fencing Supply Group (FSG) is the leading North American distributor of fencing products, serving professional contractors across residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure markets. Through national scale and strong local execution, FSG partners with customers to deliver reliable service, product availability, and growth solutions across more than 80 branches nationwide. As FSG continues to grow through organic expansion and acquisitions, strong benefits leadership is essential to supporting employees, maintaining compliance, integrating acquired teams, and ensuring benefit programs operate accurately and consistently across the organization. Why This Role Matters The Director, Benefits is responsible for leading enterprise benefits administration, annual open enrollment, leave administration, vendor management, compliance reporting, acquisition benefits support, and employee benefit issue resolution. This role is both strategic and hands-on, ensuring benefit programs are well-managed, compliant, employee-ready, and accurately connected to HRIS, payroll, carrier, and vendor systems. Success in this role directly impacts: Employee understanding of, access to, and confidence in FSG benefit programs Accurate open enrollment execution, payroll deductions, carrier files, and benefit funding Compliance with retirement, health and welfare, COBRA, ACA, CMS, PCORI, and related benefits regulations Effective vendor, carrier, broker, and recordkeeper management Timely leave, FMLA, disability, COBRA, and dependent administration Smooth benefits onboarding and integration for acquired employee populations Clear visibility into risks, audit findings, deadlines, and process controls Position Summary The Director, Benefits serves as FSG's benefits operations and compliance leader, overseeing all benefit-related activities, employee support, leave administration, vendor coordination, benefits compliance, systems management, and payroll-related benefit processes. This role leads the annual open enrollment process end to end, including renewal analysis and recommendations, project plan management, system testing, vendor coordination, employee communications, targeted reminders, post-enrollment audits, and manual carrier or contribution updates where required. The Director also manages recurring compliance activities, acquisition benefit integration, 401(k) administration support, vendor billing, carrier file transmissions, benefit-related payroll controls, and escalation support for employees, managers, HR, and Finance. What Success Looks Like Open enrollment, payroll deductions, carrier updates, contribution funding, and compliance filings are executed with strong process discipline. Benefit elections, payroll deductions, carrier files, HSA/FSA contributions, and 401(k) funding are accurate and reconciled. Benefit-related risks, exceptions, and deadlines are identified early and escalated appropriately. Acquired employees receive clear benefits information and are integrated into FSG benefit programs with minimal disruption. Benefits vendors, carriers, brokers, and recordkeepers are managed with clear accountability and timely issue resolution. Required filings, notices, audits, and compliance processes are completed timely and defensibly. Leave, FMLA, disability, COBRA, dependent, and qualified life event processes are administered consistently and accurately. HR, Payroll, Finance, and leadership have clear visibility into benefits risks, deadlines, process gaps, and required decisions. FSG has scalable benefits processes that support continued growth, acquisitions, and a national employee population 1. Benefits Strategy, Plan Administration & Employee Support Own day-to-day administration of FSG health, welfare, retirement, HSA/FSA, COBRA, leave, and related benefit programs. Serve as the escalation point for employee, manager, and HR questions involving plan coverage, premium issues, ID cards, qualified life events, claims concerns, leave status, and vendor issue resolution. Maintain accurate benefit records across Paylocity, Bswift, vendor portals, carrier systems, and related integrations. 2. Annual Open Enrollment Leadership Lead annual open enrollment from planning through post-enrollment audit, including renewal analysis, executive recommendations, project planning, vendor coordination, benefit system configuration, testing, communications, and employee presentations. Create open enrollment communications, system announcements, presentations, targeted reminders, and employee-facing resources in English and Spanish as needed. Audit payroll deductions, enrollment files, benefit rates, and election data before the first payroll of the new plan year; resolve discrepancies and coordinate manual carrier or COBRA updates during blackout periods. Manage HSA/FSA annual contribution rounding and year-end correction processes to ensure employee and employer contributions are accurate. 3. Compliance, Reporting & Required Filings Manage required benefit plan audits and reporting, including annual 401(k) audit, 401(k) and health and welfare 5500 filings, Summary Annual Report distributions, PCORI filings, CMS creditable coverage notices and certification, ACA dashboard maintenance, and 1094/1095 reporting. Respond to and administer National Medical Support Notices, including dependent enrollment, payroll deduction coordination, carrier updates, agency responses, and employee notification. Review and process quarterly 401(k) loan default reports and required minimum distribution reports in partnership with the plan recordkeeper. 4. Vendor, Carrier & Invoice Management Manage benefits vendors and carrier relationships, including monthly billing, invoice review, approvals, ad hoc invoice processing, system updates, annual renewals, escalations, and recurring issue resolution. Administer Unum self-bill processes for disability, life insurance, supplemental benefits, and FMLA-related coverages, including monthly data pulls, premium template completion, payment approval, and Finance support documentation. Monitor and resolve EDI and demographic file transmissions between Bswift, Paylocity, carriers, and other vendors. 5. Payroll, Funding & System Controls Ensure benefit-related payroll processes are accurate for bi-weekly and off-cycle payrolls, including 401(k) contribution funding, loan repayments, employer match, HSA/FSA agency set-up, and deduction accuracy. Review, validate, and approve daily WebLink files for benefit enrollments, terminations, coverage changes, and payroll deduction updates. Set up and audit HSA agency checks in Paylocity for new HSA participants and coordinate corrective actions when contributions must be delayed and later trued up. 6. Leave of Absence, FMLA & Disability Administration Manage employee, vendor, HRIS, payroll, and carrier processes related to leave of absence, FMLA, disability, return-to-work status, and benefit continuation during leave. Initiate claims and submit required forms or intake information to Unum, respond to inquiries regarding earnings, taxability, benefit status, and return-to-work information, and coordinate payroll and HR updates. Partner with HR on employees who exhaust available leave, including coordination of ADA accommodation review, return-to-work planning, termination review, or other next steps. 7. M&A and Acquisition Benefits Integration Support benefit onboarding and integration for acquisitions, including acquisition benefits presentations, manual election forms, employee benefit enrollment, carrier updates, temporary ID card coordination, and accumulator carryover where applicable. Coordinate acquired-employee 401(k) transition activities, including account balance merger support, contribution set-up, and auto-enrollment processes based on deal structure and prior plan design. Requirements Required Qualifications & Experience Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or related field, or equivalent professional experience. 8+ years of progressive benefits, HR operations, retirement plan administration, benefits compliance, or total rewards experience. Strong knowledge of health and welfare plan administration, retirement plan processes, open enrollment execution, COBRA, ACA reporting, CMS creditable coverage requirements, 5500 filings, SAR distribution, PCORI filing, leave/FMLA coordination, and benefits-related payroll controls. Experience managing benefits vendors, brokers, recordkeepers, carriers, third-party administrators, HRIS/benefits systems, and payroll integrations. Demonstrated ability to manage complex annual processes, audits, reporting deadlines, employee communications, vendor escalations, and cross-functional project plans. High attention to detail and ability to validate data, reconcile files, audit payroll deductions, and resolve system or carrier discrepancies. Strong employee service orientation, judgment, confidentiality, executive communication, and partnership skills across HR, Payroll, Finance, Legal, and Operations. Preferred Experience in a multi-state, multi-entity, acquisition-oriented, private equity-backed, or high-growth organization. Experience with Paylocity, Bswift, John Hancock, Unum, WEX, Optum Bank, or similar HRIS, benefits administration, payroll, recordkeeper, and carrier systems. Experience supporting acquisition integrations, plan transitions, HSA/FSA administration, dependent verification, EDI file monitoring, and employee communications in English and Spanish. Professional certification such as CEBS, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, or similar credential.