Compensation and Benefits Specialist

Company Overview

FoodChain ID was founded in 1996 as Genetic ID, a pioneer of the GMO food identification industry, now embraced worldwide. Globally, the company employs 750 people and is rapidly expanding.

Their technical and business services rapidly expanded to serve clean label, food safety, and sustainability claims through various verification, certification offerings, and a robust suite of testing/business services that expedite food and agricultural exports. The company is at the vanguard of the New Food industry, providing expertise worldwide to navigate the requirements of an increasingly regulated food economy and technical services to support the demand for clean label standards.

FoodChain ID assists food, feed, and agricultural companies, from the world’s leading brands to single local product producers and is at the forefront of the visibility and transparency revolution. They provide the knowledge, technologies, and tools necessary to meet the growing demand for higher transparency, accountability, safety, and sustainability. More than 30,000 companies in over 100 countries rely on their industry-leading solutions. They annually certify more than 3 million metric tons of agricultural products for social and environmental responsibility to the ProTerra standard while guiding export to all major markets.

Berkshire Partners acquired the company in December 2020. Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, has made more than 130 private equity investments since its founding over 30 years ago. Berkshire Private Equity has developed sector experience in business services & technology, communications, consumer, healthcare, and industrials. The firm has a strong history of partnering with management teams to grow the companies in which it invests.

Summary

We know that our IDers (that is how we call ourselves as we identify with our mission and bring ideas to our customers) can only offer the best service to our customers in our goal of making the food supply chain safe and transparent when they feel valued and appreciated. Therefore, we pride ourselves on offering competitive benefits and constantly reviewing our compensation versus external benchmarking. We are looking to hire a Compensation and Benefits Specialist to support us in these efforts. The incumbent in this role will manage our US-based benefits (health and 401k), will launch our wellness efforts, and manage our global compensation processes. As a member of our HR team, you will contribute to our vision of being trusted business partners, leading the growth, well-being, and retention of our IDers, building a great culture, and becoming an employer of choice.

The role will report to the Chief People Officer.

Responsibilities

• Ensure timely and compliant administration of all benefit plans, including but not limited to new hire enrollment, life event changes, terminations, leaves of absence, short and long-term disability, 401(k), and COBRA
• Consult with and provides direction to employees, collaborate with benefits brokers and carriers, review premium payments, and interpret and ensure compliance with Plan Documents
• Serve as the escalation point of contact for employee benefits questions, including leave of absence and 401k
• Administer compensation policies and programs, including base pay, annual incentive plans, and Equity-Based Incentive Plans, while providing technical expertise on all such matters
• Manage the annual global merit increase and bonus process
• Develop cost estimates regarding the financial impact of compensation programs and actions
• Monitor trends in the competitive market and ensure programs continue to align with organizational objectives and best practices
• Conduct market pricing efforts of both salaried and hourly compensation practices to most accurately guide the merit review and promotional processes
• Lead the yearly benchmarking data request for our global compensation data
• Within our compensation framework, determine appropriate salary grade and FLSA status
• Provide training to various stakeholders, including employees, supervisors, and managers, on all compensation-related matters
• Conduct ongoing data audits for benefit enrollment administration
• Develop the yearly US benefits strategy, obtain approval from executive management, and implement it through the Open Enrollment process, including recommending timelines, developing communication materials, delivering employee presentations, and responding to employee questions
• Develops wellness initiatives to help our IDers to get the most out of their physical, emotional, financial, and social well-being
• Research, analyze, and respond to requests from Employees, Payroll Accounting, and Finance
• Monitors employee satisfaction with company benefit plans. Provides recommendations regarding the cultural viability of new and/or modified benefits

Required Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources or equivalent experience (3 – 5 years) in a related field.
• Minimum one year of previous experience in the administration of benefits
• We are looking for an Excel wizard with competency in other Microsoft applications, including Word, Outlook, and Teams
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Preferred Experience

• FMLA administration, including approval, tracking, and follow-up
• Knowledge and experience working with retirement plans, specifically 401(k) plans
• Compensation management
• HRIS knowledge

Competencies, Knowledge, and Skills

• Our mission of making the food supply chain transparent and safe is personal to you, and you are keen on helping achieve this globally
• You know the fundamentals of US Benefits Programs (health, wellness, and 401k), and you understand compensation philosophy, benchmarking, and practices well
• You are passionate about data accuracy and know that offering correct information on benefits is essential to our IDers experience
• You stand for the quality of your work and take pride in delivering high standards
• You respond quickly to our IDers questions and are resourceful in finding external support if needed
• You are excited by a huge amount of data and request to analyze and report on it
• You have good presentation skills and like sharing our great benefits in Open Enrollment or IDer orientation meetings
• You look for trends, and your curiosity helps define our future benefits strategy and direction
• You like being part of a growing organization, and being part of a dynamic, remote HR team that supports each other excites you
• Since you are the expert in this field, you work independently and take the initiative to develop new programs and ideas