People Operations Specialist

Role Summary

Akebia is seeking a self-motivated, hands-on People Operations Specialist with extraordinary organizational and critical thinking skills who can help the People Team continue to deliver excellent customer service to Akebia employees. The People Operations Specialist will provide direct support to business processes and perform tasks to support the People Team. Additionally, they will have experience with benefits, FSA and HSA plans. The position reports to the Associate Director, People Operations.

Responsibilities

• Organizes and conducts onboarding and orientation of staff and contractors, including coordinating with respective internal systems and administrative areas; making sure those involved are informed, and required information is accurate and complete.
• Coordinates the employee exit process. Sends out exit materials for offboarding, explains exit process to employees and ensures all systems are updated accordingly.
• Provides guidance and assistance to employees on benefits, payroll, HR policies and HR systems inquiries, ensuring they receive timely and accurate information.
• Assists with benefits administration for all employee offerings including enrollment, life events, inquiries, and discrepancies.
• Proactively identifies process gaps and recommends audits, updated workflows, and tools to ensure data integrity
• Manages human resource records (electronic and paper). Ensures employee files (current and terminated) are properly established and maintained in accordance with legal requirements including CV or resume, offer letter, job description, performance evaluations, and I9 forms.
• Monitors and processes unemployment, workers compensation, insurance claims and correspondence.
• Provides administrative support for budget management. Including tracking spend, invoices and coordinating the PO request and contract approval processes.
• Maintains People Intranet Portal and updates when necessary. Posts information on benefits, HR initiatives, special programs or other HR related information on the relevant communication channels.
• Coordinates the verification of employment process with third-party vendor
• Conducts regular audits to ensure all enrollments match between our vendors and payroll system. Addresses any discrepancies and implements corrective actions as needed to maintain consistency between all systems.
• Reviews and audits all bills related to benefits; address discrepancies as needed and submits for processing.
• Maintains HR tracking systems such as the employee lifecycle calendar, compliance calendar.
• Provides operational/administrative support with various HR projects and initiatives.

Qualifications

• Required: Minimum 2 years‚Äô experience in HR, benefits administration, billing and working with vendors and experience in employee benefits administration.
• Required: Bachelor‚Äôs Degree in HR or related field.
• Preferred: HR certification
• Preferred: Attention to detail and ability to prioritize and complete tasks in an environment with frequent interruptions.
• Preferred: Ability to work effectively autonomously, as well as collaboratively in a team.
• Preferred: Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Power Point)
• Preferred: Excellent organizational and project management skills with focused attention on accuracy and thoroughness.
• Preferred: Knowledge of HR-related federal and state laws, e.g. FLSA, FMLA, PFML, COBRA, ERISA, HIPAA.
• Preferred: Experience with HRIS (UKG) systems.
• Preferred: Strong analytical problem-solving.
• Preferred: Ability to work under pressure and challenging deadlines; adaptability, flexibility required.
• Preferred: Advanced Excel Skills, proficient in pivot tables, v-lookups and charts.

Education

• Bachelor‚Äôs Degree in HR or related field