Associate Director – Absence Management

About the Opportunity

Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Talent Management in University Human Resources, the Associate Director for Absence Management will provide leadership, programmatic development, analysis and consultative oversight to Northeastern’s absence management program. Minimally, these programmatic areas of accountability include leaves of absence administration including FMLA, ADA/accommodations, and the university’s national Paid Leave Program. Other responsibilities include the coordination of these programs with Workers’ Compensation, the development of return to work, light duty, medical management and/or related policies and programs, and for compliance with all applicable local, state and federal rules and regulations pertaining to these programs, including state adoption of paid leave laws. This role is additionally responsible for leading the absence management team and for developing and overseeing all applicable policies, procedures, guidelines, metrics and trainings.

Responsibilities:

• In consultation with the AVP Talent Management, sets overall direction of Northeastern’s leave administration including FMLA, ADA/accommodations and Paid Leave Program policies, guidelines and service offerings to meet the needs of a national and international workforce; adjusts periodically according to customer and business needs, regulations, and best practice.

• Accountable for delivery of effective, efficient, timely and compliant leave administration including FMLA and ADA/accommodations; plans, develops, implements and monitors processes and services and overall effectiveness of the program delivery.

• Creates high-functioning teams that deliver high-touch and effective case management systems and services to support employees on FMLA, PFML, ADA/accommodations and other specialized leaves of absence within the established service delivery.

• Establishes constructs by which the incidence and duration of leaves align to published standard protocols; introduces external medical case review procedures and programs, as appropriate.

• Oversees case review on regular frequency to establish return-to-work and related action plans and to confirm proper adherence to Northeastern policies and approach.

• Introduces protocols to safely and supportively return and onboard employees who experience extended time away from work; ensures alignment and communication with local and university Human Resources, the employee’s manager, and others as appropriate.

 • Leads vendor selection and the design and programmatic implementation of any outsourced or co-sourced administration of leave administration; assesses current staffing and administrative process and maximizes efficiencies that can be gained with Northeastern’s Workday system for leave and ADA administration.

• Leads the evolution of Northeastern’s national Paid Leave Program to promote compliance with state paid leave laws and adherence to jurisdictional differences from the university’s policies.

• Ensures proper and timely administration of disability claims.

• Leads vendor management for services provided in support of leave and ADA programs.

• Collaborates with appropriate leadership in highly-sensitive cases involving leaves/ADA.

• Serves as the subject matter expert and escalation point for challenging or highly-sensitive employee relations concerns associated with leaves/ADA.

• Partners with leaders across the university system to assess opportunities for improved safety and access for employees with disabilities or requiring accommodations.

• Develops appropriate dashboards to report on time away from work metrics. • Oversees change management and employee communications associated with leaves/ADA and paid time off programs.

• Provides performance feedback and develops training programs for team members, as needed.

• Develops training programs on topics pertaining to leave/ADA.

Qualifications:

• Education: BA/BS in Business, Human Resources, Health Services or related discipline. Master’s degree preferred. CPDM, CEBS or related certification is a plus.
• Experience: 7-10 years of people management and significant change management leadership experience, ideally in Human Resources, with 5 years of absence management or disability management experience, ideally within large and complex national or international employers. Benefits experience is a plus.
• Leave/ADA management and paid time off programs that are in-place at organizations of various sizes and complexities, including short/long-term disability, federal and statutory leaves including those related to FMLA, paid family leave plans, organization-specific leaves, and the process links with workers’ compensation, EAP, vocational rehabilitation, return to work and other health and productivity initiatives.
• Understanding of paid time off and other benefits plan designs.
• Best practices of other services providers within competitive leave management offerings.
• Vendor selection and implementation of outsourced/co-sourced administration for leaves/ADA.
• National regulations surrounding disability and workforce issues; international experience is preferred.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills.
• Adept at handling confidential and highly-sensitive employee relations issues.

Position Type

Human Resources

Additional Information

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity .