This is a backfill of an existing position that has been approved by Finance and Ria Bell.

Director, HR Shared Services Leave Management

Responsible for establishing, leading and managing activities for Advocate Health Leave Management. Position will provide servant leadership, planning, project coordination and management for the development of a cost-effective and highly efficient and effectual leave management service. High visibility role with lot of opportunity to design and think outside the box.

The Leave Management team, part of Advocate’s HR Shared Services organization, is accountable for timely and accurate responses and actions to leave related inquiries/processes from Advocate teammates across different geographies. The Director will build a high-performing team that champions continuous improvement and questions the way things get done. Position reports to the Assistant Vice President of Enterprise HR Shared Services.

The ideal candidate brings a passion and proven track record for being customer centric, driving continuous improvement, using data to advance organization, and implementing efforts that are scalable and achieve results - always. The Leave Management’s organization’s success, as well as Advocate Health’s mission, depends on role’s ability to successfully partner across and outside the health system, identify opportunities and challenges, provide strategic input, develop solutions, and build relationships with stakeholders and vendors.

Job Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary subject matter expert for leave programs, ensuring all programs support the overall business and benefits design and delivery strategy
• Development of performance metrics, service level agreements and quality assurance of programs
• Develop, monitor and report program performance measurement strategies against data analytics to understand key cost drivers, trends, optimization opportunity, and improvement of employee experience
• Opportunity to build and develop formal Return to Work guidelines, formal ADAAA process establishing accommodation opportunity across varying job functions, while ensuring compliance of the program with both processes, policies, various state and federal laws
• Collaborate with stakeholders in the leave process including HR Business Partners, managers, benefits, payroll, teammate relations and legal teams
• Coordinates, assigns and distributes workloads across the team for a consistent, efficient and timely service delivery
• Monitor eligibility, limitations, and restrictions of plan participation and ensures compliance with both plan provisions and government requirements
• Respond accurately and timely to employee questions and inquiries as well as resolve escalations expeditiously
• Ensure detailed work instructions, process flows and other process documents are created and maintained
• Provide periodic training/updates for HR and managers on the LOA policy, processes and procedures
• Resolve challenges related to process and procedures, and complex claim issues; troubleshoot issues and seek to remove barriers before, during, or after a leave event
• Train, coach and develop LOA team to enable optimal job performance while maintaining a personal touch to the work
• Address and respond to sensitive situations brought up by HR/Managers/Employees – keeping the human touch in a process that is necessarily driven by technology
• Respond to employee impacting issues that may arise during the leave event and ensure the right communication occurs at the right time
• Suggesting improvements or even changes to technology environment; work with IT and vendor partners on improvement opportunities
• Ensure a positive customer experience is delivered through effective teamwork, a commitment to responsiveness and focusing on our customer's needs
• Maintain thorough understanding of claim industry trends to assist in the identification of positive and adverse impacts
• Makes leave policy improvement suggestions which specifically would be beneficial to leave administration processes
• Assists with employee data auditing and reporting
• Maintain confidentiality of protected and sensitive data and ensure team compliance with HIPAA
• Participate in special projects and other duties as needed

Key Skills

• Strong relationship builder with internal and external stakeholders
• Exceptional interpersonal and written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to manage projects to ensure effective and timely execution
• Exercise sounds business judgement in making critical decisions
• Analyze, organize, and prioritize work while meeting deadlines
• Build high performing, culturally aligned teams
• Speak to a range of teammates by adjusting style level and speaking empathetically
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-performing environment where teamwork and collaboration are emphasized
• Exceptional critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The ability to analyze complex questions and determine the best course of actions or recommendation
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; able to effectively communicate with employees at all levels of the organization
• Ability to work with a sense of urgency, a capacity for making accurate decisions and the ability to exercise sound judgement in a demanding work environment.

Qualifications

• Previous experience managing people; building and managing a high performing team
• Degree in HR or related field, advanced degree strongly preferred
• 10+ years HR experience
• 7+ years of Leave Management experience including extensive knowledge of FMLA and ADA
• Experience managing vendors
• Experience in Mergers & Acquisitions

Licensure, Registration, and/or Certification Required:

• None Required.

Education Required:

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources or related field.

Experience Required:

• Typically requires 7 years of experience in human resources that includes developing, implementing and executing successful operations and technology strategies in a human resources service center. Includes 3 years of management experience in successfully leading and developing several direct reports in the area of human resources policies, procedures, processes and laws and regulations. Experience with high volume human resources operations supporting 15,000+ employees.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required:

• Advanced knowledge of state and federal laws and regulations that influence HR.
• Knowledge of HR functions such as compensation, benefits, employee relations and organizational development. Ability to integrate knowledge into design and implementation of integrated service center strategy.
• Ability to operate large contact center using contemporary call management and knowledgebase tools.
• Proven ability to examine procedures, formulate policy, design new strategies, develop sound proposals and successfully implement programs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead/mentor in a team environment where collaboration, motivation and the knowledge transfer process is critical for success.
• Ability to work within a fast-paced environment, fostering teamwork across HR functions. Proven ability to meet deadlines, prioritize demands and solve problems creatively.
• Exceptional analytical skills, working with large data sets, communicating findings and establishing/tracking program metrics.
• Excellent communication skills with ability to interface with all levels of the organization, influence decision makers and set and manage expectations.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, human capital management software, case management tools and web-based applications.

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions:

• Exposed to a normal office environment.
• This position requires travel so may be exposed to road and weather hazards.
• Operates all equipment necessary to perform the job.

This job description indicates the general nature and level of work expected of the incumbent. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the incumbent. Incumbent may be required to perform other related duties.