Benefit Consultant/Senior Benefit Consultant
As a Senior Benefit Consultant you are responsible to oversee strategy, financial analysis, benefit design, plan renewals, benchmarking, and overall service delivery for Employee Benefits clients. You will also effectively communicate Christensen Group’s value proposition and latest industry trends to active clients and join the sales teams in prospective client sales pitches.
Salary Range: $96,300 - $140,000
Salary is dependent on collective experience, knowledge, and skillsets for the posted role.
Job details
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Develops sophisticated benefit design and renewal strategies and drives the development of solutions to address complex client issues.
- Present to clients the strategies and financials for pre-renewal and renewal meetings.
- Works closely with account management /or client service teams on pre-renewal strategy, RFP distribution, open enrollment strategy and post renewal analysis.
- Handles the rate negotiations with carrier partners.
- Demonstrate strategic thinking and innovation based on knowledge of the market, carriers and products, including understanding of important technical/financial issues.
- Maintains a full understanding of the insurance markets, funding alternatives, networks and benefit plan options.
- Communicates and educates clients on their claim data reporting.
- Clearly establishes and communicates timelines with the client service team(s) and keeps them apprised of changes and renewal updates.
- Participates in team sales situations with other producers and support personnel.
- Oversees the on-boarding of new clients by working collaboratively with client service team(s) to establish the implementation plan, team and timeline.
- Ensures client service team(s) exceeds client expectations, in partnership with Employee Benefits Service Leader.
- Cultivates and maintains strong relationships with clients and carriers.
- Assists, educates and develops other staff members in new client sales situations and existing client service requirements.
- Establishes effective carrier/vendor relationships to serve clients in benefits procurement and administration.
- Attends carrier events to remain up to date and knowledgeable of carrier plans and changes, as well as maintain strong relationships.
- Remains fully knowledgeable on compliance issues governed by legislation and regulations impacting employer sponsored health and welfare plans such as ACA, HIPAA, ERISA, Tax Code SEC 125, PPACA and state sponsored health insurance exchanges.
- Management of benefit account revenue.
- Knowledge of total account revenue; business insurance, 401K, personal lines and any other revenue sources.
- Growth of account revenue-based on new lines of coverage, growth of company that automatically produces additional revenue, assistance in adding business insurance, 401K etc. to the account.
- Knowledge related to profitability of client and responsibility to co-manage with producer.
Other Duties and Responsibilities
- Works individually or with other consultants to finalize projects, and monitors time spent and project budget at first level.
- Assist with special projects as determined by Employee Benefits Leaders.
- Develops and maintains interdivision/intercompany relationships consistent with our company culture.
- Fosters a culture of learning and development and engages in mentorship activities with other employees.
- Represents and demonstrates professionalism of Christensen Group brand.
Job requirements
- 4-year degree (preferred).
- 10 years of Employee Benefit insurance experience (desired).
- Active resident Life and Health License (required)
- Knowledge of group medical, dental, disability, life, voluntary products, COBRA, ERISA, Flex and Health Savings Account plans (required).
- Understand fully insured and self-insured products (required).
- Ability to influence and effectively interact with members of the C-suite (required).
- Practical knowledge of quoting process and tools (required).
- Ability to organize and prioritize work responsibilities (required).
- Excellent communication skills – verbal and written
- Ability to maintain confidential information
- Ability to learn and understand a variety of issues, including client and staff needs related to human resources and benefits business
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office (strong math and Excel background)
- Working knowledge of a client management system
Who is Christensen Group?
Founded in 1952 and 100% employee-owned, Christensen Group is the largest locally owned, independent insurance and employee benefits agency in Minnesota. At Christensen Group, we treat our employees like people. We care about our clients; we care about the carrier partners and we care about one another; professionally and personally. We’re committed to understanding the businesses we serve and finding solutions that enable those businesses to grow. As an employee, that means you are constantly learning and developing through on-the-job experiences to best serve your clients.
Learn more about usEmployee owned
An important part of our compensation package is the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This is one of the best retirement plans around — and is provided to all employees. Be sure to ask us all about ESOPs and we would be happy to explain the ins and outs.
On-site amenities
Most people spend the majority of their adult lives at their workplace — and we know that burning some energy is important during the day. Our new office gives you access to a fitness center, a personal trainer, a golf simulator, a raquetball court, walking treadmill desks and an event center.
Comprehensive benefits
We offer a competitive total rewards package. The benefit programs offered reflect our commitment to keeping our staff healthy and secure. We understand that your situation is unique, so our benefits package can be molded and shaped by you to fit your needs.