Worker Type

Regular

Job Description

 

Summary

The People & Culture Sr. Benefits Specialist supports the employee experience by serving as the subject matter expert while providing an expert level of customer service, support, and project management in all areas of Leave of Absence and Workers’ Compensation. The Sr. Benefits Specialist is accountable for administering and coordinating all employee leaves and occupational injury programs in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations, as well as company policies. This role ensures timely case management, accurate documentation, and consistent communication with employees, managers, third-party administrators (TPAs), healthcare providers, and internal HR partners.

The specialist serves as the primary point of contact for employees taking medical leave, parental leave, disability leave, or job-protected leave, and for employees experiencing workplace injuries. This position plays a critical role in safeguarding the organization’s compliance obligations, supporting employee well-being, and minimizing risk through accurate and efficient administration.

Position Responsibilities

Leave of Absence Administration (FMLA, ADA, State Programs, Company Leaves)

• Serve as subject matter expert (SME) for all leave-of-absence programs, including FMLA, state family/medical leave, paid family leave (PFL), employer-sponsored leaves, personal leaves, military leave, jury duty, and school activities leave.
• Oversee end-to-end LOA processes—including intake, eligibility determination, certification requests, approvals/denials, extensions, recertifications, and return-to-work clearances into AbsencePro.
•  Monitor medical certifications and documentation for completeness and compliance; confirm AbsencePro requests clarifications from healthcare providers when necessary.
• Maintain strict adherence to HIPAA and confidentiality guidelines when handling medical information.
• Communicate leave rights, responsibilities, timelines, and pay options (disability, state programs, PTO integration) to employees.
• Partner closely with Payroll to ensure proper pay coding, disability payments, offsets, and adjustments during leave periods.
• Track intermittent leave usage, monitor exhaustion of entitlements, and ensure accurate reporting through AbsencePro.
• Coordinate ADA interactive process meetings in partnership with HR Business Partners, including documentation, reasonable accommodation requests, and medical updates.
• Serve as the liaison between employees, managers, HR, and third-party administrators to ensure smooth case progression.
• Provide guidance to managers on employee work restrictions, return-to-work timelines, and required documentation.
• Educate employees on leave types, the interaction between state/federal laws and company policies, available benefits, and their obligations during leave.
• Coordination of disability benefits.
• Create and document the leave process to ensure it’s in compliance and supports a growing organization.

Workers’ Compensation Administration

• Administer workers’ compensation claims from initial incident through closure, ensuring compliance with state WC laws and company policies.
• Coordinate immediate response to workplace injuries, including triage steps, directing employees to approved medical facilities, and ensuring timely completion of incident reports.
• Submit first reports of injury (FROI) to carriers or TPAs within mandated timeframes.
• Track all WC claims—medical-only and lost-time—and monitor ongoing treatment, restrictions, and follow-up visits through AbsencePro.
• Communicate claim status updates to employees, managers, and HR leaders.
• Coordinate return-to-work or transitional/light-duty assignments, ensuring alignment with medical restrictions found on AbsencePro.
• Review medical bills, wage statements, and carrier correspondence for accuracy; escalate discrepancies as needed.
• Partner with Employee Health & Safety teams to identify injury trends and recommend corrective actions or safety training.
• Support OSHA reporting requirements by providing WC incident data and documentation to EHS.
• Assist with workers’ compensation audits, insurer inquiries, and annual insurance renewal documentation.
• Review trend analysis and benchmark data to evaluate program performance and ensure that the workers’ compensation program remain compliant and aligned with best-in-class practices.

Other Responsibilities

• Provide compassionate, high-quality service to employees navigating leave or workplace injuries.
• Maintain timely, professional, and accurate communication using phone, email, and case management systems.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex or sensitive LOA or WC concerns.
• Maintain accurate records in Workday/leave management systems; ensure all documentation is uploaded timely.
• Update case details, entitlement balances, and communications in a centralized case-tracking system.
• Process required letters, notices, and compliance documents (eligibility notices, designation letters, ADA notices, RTW letters, etc.).
• Ensure retention of leave and WC records in accordance with regulatory requirements.
• Assist with system testing, upgrades, and enhancements related to HRIS or TPA portals.

Basic Qualifications (Required Skills & Experience)

• Associate or Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience is required 
• 8+ years’ experience in administering FMLA, CFRA, PDL, disability, ADA, and workers’ compensation programs in a fast-paced professional organization  
• Experience with third-party administrators, insurance carriers, or case management systems.
• Experienced with Workday HCM, ADP,  and third-party benefits applications 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams) 

Other Qualifications & Desired Competencies

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills to collaborate and develop partnerships across multiple functional areas, with vendors, and with all team members 
• Effective time management and organizational skills 
• Strong initiative and drive to accomplish goals and meet company objectives 
• Self-directed with the ability to adapt to rapidly changing priorities  
• Consistently exhibits good judgment and discretion when dealing with sensitive information 
• Takes ownership and responsibility for current and past work products 
• Experience in a Technology, Engineering and/or Aerospace and Defense company is preferred 
• Attention to detail, follow-through, a sense of urgency, strong teamwork, collaborative skills, and a demonstrated ability to manage multiple benefits projects with competing demands in a growing organization is required

Physical Demands

• Ability to work in an office environment (Constant) 
• Required to sit and stand for long periods; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard (Frequent)

Environmental Conditions Critical to Performance

• Work is in an office environment, climate controlled through central air conditioning/heating.
• May have some exposure to outside environment while traveling.

Special Requirements

• U.S. Citizen, U.S. Permanent Resident (Green Card holder) or asylee/refugee status as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3) required.

Clearance Level

 

No Clearance

The salary range for this role is:

$97,680 - $138,600

AeroVironment considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the location, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s work experience, education/training, and key skills.

ITAR Requirement:

This position requires access to information that is subject to compliance with the International Traffic Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and/or the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”). In order to comply with the requirements of the ITAR and/or the EAR, applicants must qualify as a U.S. person under the ITAR and the EAR, or a person to be approved for an export license by the governing agency whose technology comes under its jurisdiction. Please understand that any job offer that requires approval of an export license will be conditional on AeroVironment’s determination that it will be able to obtain an export license in a time frame consistent with AeroVironment’s business requirements. A “U.S. person” according to the ITAR definition is a U.S. citizen, U.S. lawful permanent resident (green card holder), or protected individual such as a refugee or asylee. See 22 CFR § 120.15. Some positions will require current U.S. Citizenship due to contract requirements.

Benefits:  AV offers an excellent benefits package including medical, dental vision, 401K with company matching, a 9/80 work schedule and a paid holiday shutdown.  For more information about our company benefit offerings please visit:  http://www.avinc.com/myavbenefits.

We also encourage you to review our company website at http://www.avinc.com to learn more about us.

Principals only need apply.  NO agencies please.

Who We Are

Based in California, AeroVironment (AVAV) is a global leader in unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems. Founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer, Dr. Paul MacCready, we’ve been at the leading edge of technical innovation for more than 45 years. Be a part of the team that developed the world’s most widely used military drones and created the first submarine-launched reconnaissance drone, and has seven innovative vehicles that are part of the Smithsonian Institution’s permanent collection in Washington, DC.

Join us today in developing the next generation of small UAS and tactical missile systems that will deliver more actionable intelligence to our customers so they can proceed with certainty – and succeed.

What We Do

Building on a history of technological innovation, AeroVironment designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and tactical missile systems.  Agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and allied military services use the company’s hand-launched UAS to provide situational awareness to tactical operating units through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition.

We are proud to be an EEO/AA Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/veterans. AeroVironment, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Qualified applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, genetic data, sexual orientation, gender identity or other legally protected status.

ITAR

U.S. Citizenship required