Senior Manager Benefits and Compliance

About the Opportunity

The Senior Manager, Benefits & Compliance is the company's benefits subject-matter leader responsible for shaping, delivering, and continuously improving a comprehensive benefit and leave experience that supports employees while aligning with business priorities. This role blends leadership with hands-on execution, including participation in plan design, vendor management, budgeting and forecasting, and high-touch employee support through complex life events.

In partnership with cross-functional stakeholders and external partners, they will drive benefits related compliance, supporting timely, accurate regulatory benefit filings, required notices, and ongoing audit readiness. They will work in close partnership with VP, People in designing the overall company benefit strategy. This is a high-impact role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, multi-state environment and wants both hands-on ownership and strategic input across benefits, compliance, and vendor management.

This position reports to the SVP, Head of People.

Benefits Leadership

• Provide input and guide the direction of U.S. employee benefit programs, ensuring offerings are competitive, relevant, and aligned with company values.
• Actively participate in benefit plan design decisions including plan structures, coverage tiers, employer/employee contributions, eligibility rules, and program enhancements.
• Evaluate employee utilization, feedback, and market benchmarks to recommend improvements to benefit offerings.
• Partner with brokers and consultants to assess emerging benefit trends and innovations.
• Document and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and ensure SOPs are updated on a regular basis

Compliance

• Compliance calendar & filings
• Partner with Payroll, Finance, Legal, and external vendors to coordinate required regulatory filings and compliance obligations, including IRS Form 720 and PCORI fee payments, HCSO (San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance), CRD CA Pay Data

Report, and San Francisco Commuter Benefits Ordinance.

• Lead year-end Affordable Care Act (ACA) administration, including 1095-C preparation, filings, and required employee/state communications.

• Required notices & disclosures

• Coordinate Medicare Part D required notices, ensuring timely distribution and appropriate documentation.

• Oversee Summary of Benefits Disclosure (SBD) compliance, ensuring benefit materials accurately reflect current plan designs and are updated and available to participants in a timely manner.

• Support benefits governance activities, including ERISA calendar items, required filings and notices, and nondiscrimination testing.

• Controls, audits & readiness

• Conduct monthly compliance, eligibility/data, and election/expense allocation audits across benefit providers (including FSA and UMUM Voluntary Life & AD&D) to ensure accurate administration, appropriate accounting allocation, and regulatory adherence.

• In partnership with Legal, coordinate and complete nondiscrimination testing across all Section 125 plans and support any follow-up actions.

• Oversee the company's IIPP in accordance with the Kilroy IIPP and Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, including leading and coordinating IIPP activities.

• Maintain the AED portal and related actions.

Vendor Relationship Management

• Serve as the day-to-day owner of relationships with benefits brokers, carriers, leave administrators, and related vendors.
• Participate in vendor selection processes, renewals, performance reviews, and contract negotiations.
• Ensure vendors deliver accurate administration, regulatory alignment, and high-quality employee experience.
• Resolve vendor issues and escalate to SVP, Head of People for complex cases.

Budgeting, Costing & Financial Partnership

• Partner with HR Leadership to manage annual benefits budgets, renewals
• Partner with HR Leadership and support the modeling of financial impacts of plan design changes and enrollment trends.
• Partner closely with Accounting and Finance to provide accurate benefit forecasting, accrual information, and variance analysis.
• Ensure alignment between benefit costs, payroll deductions, and vendor invoicing. (partnership with Payroll)

Employee Support & Benefits Administration

• Serve as a trusted, high-touch resource for employees, providing clear guidance on benefit programs and policies.
• Drive open enrollment planning, communication, and execution as well as other benefit initiatives throughout the year.
• Support new hire onboarding, qualifying life events, and benefits-related offboarding including COBRA.
• Provide individualized guidance on medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental benefits.
• Support workers' compensation processes.
• Support applicable OSHA requirements related to employee health and safety.
• Employee Communication: Develop and implement communication strategies to educate employees about their benefits options.
• Partner with the HRIS Analyst and Payroll with the transfer of data to external vendors for services, premiums and plan administration.

Leave of Absence Administration

• Own the employee leave experience and internal oversight of the end-to-end lifecycle of all employee leaves including PDL, FMLA, CFRA, SDI/PFL-related leaves.
• Create and ensure the accuracy, compliance, and timeliness of leave summaries, employee communications, and leave notices
• Meet individually with employees to explain how leave programs apply to their circumstances, including sequencing, pay implications, and continuation of benefits.
• Conduct regular check-ins before and prior to return from leave, including coordination with any third-party administrator to ensure smooth transitions.
• Coordinate closely with Payroll to ensure accurate pay and deductions, and alignment with leave status and vendor data, as applicable.

Cross-Functional Partnerships

• Collaborate closely with HR, Payroll, Accounting, Legal, and external partners to ensure seamless program delivery.
• Partner with Legal to monitor regulatory developments and partner with stakeholders on required updates.

Required Qualifications

• 6 to 8 years of progressive experience leading U.S. benefits programs in a corporate environment
• Deep knowledge of U.S. benefits and leave programs.
• Extensive experience with high-touch leave of absence administration.
• Exceptional attention to detail with strong communication and collaboration skills.
• Highly organized with strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively
• Expert in MS Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint); proficient in extractions / reporting from Human Resource Information systems
• Strong analytical, problem solving and research skills.
• Clear written and verbal communication: you can explain a complex leave situation to an employee who has never heard the word FMLA.

What we offer

At Kilroy, base pay is one part of our total compensation package and is determined within a range. This provides the opportunity to progress as you grow and develop within the role. The base pay range for this role is between $130,000 and $160,000 and your base pay will depend on your skills, experience and training, knowledge, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. This role is eligible for an annual discretionary bonus as well.

Our comprehensive group health benefits program is built around your total health and provides employees and their families with care and coverage designed to help you thrive. Our health and wellness program offerings include medical, dental, vision, with FSA, HSA options, Group Life & Disability, LTD coverage and much more. Ancillary programs include a retirement savings plan with a competitive employer match, employee support programs like our parental leave coaching program, wellness, and commuter benefits, just to name a few. We invite you to visit our website at www.kilroyrealty.com to learn more.