"Workers' Compensation & Benefits Specialist"

Position Summary:

Rice University's Human Resources team is seeking a Workers' Compensation Specialist to join the Total Rewards Team. In this role, you'll manage and administer all aspects of the University's workers' compensation program, ensuring timely reporting, accurate information, and smooth coordination of claims from initial incident through resolution. You'll also serve as a helpful resource for faculty, staff, and students, assisting with general benefits questions along the way.

Ideal Candidate:

The ideal candidate is a knowledgeable and service-oriented professional with hands-on experience supporting workers' compensation and employee benefits programs. They have experience designing and delivering training or educational sessions, and are comfortable working with employees, managers, and external vendors to resolve issues efficiently and compassionately. Fluency in Spanish is strongly desired, as this role regularly supports a diverse employee population and requires clear, confident communication in both English and Spanish.

This position is offered as a hybrid role, combining both in-office and remote work to provide flexibility and support collaboration. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Annual Hiring Salary Range:

This is an Exempt (salaried) position with a hiring range of $60,000 to $75,000, with hiring salary commensurate with experience and education.
*Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree
  + In lieu of the education requirement, additional related experience, above and beyond what is required, may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.
• 2 years of experience in workers' compensation, leave, and/or benefits administration
• Skills:
  • Strong knowledge of workers' compensation laws, benefits administration, and regulatory compliance, including multi-state requirements
  • Ability to interpret and communicate changes in workers' compensation legislation and related regulatory updates
  • Proficiency in Excel
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong problem-solving and decision-making abilities
  • High attention to detail, accuracy, confidentiality, and ability to collaborate effectively across departments

Preferences:

• Fluency in Spanish
• Combination of worker's compensation and benefits experience
• Working knowledge of health, disability, and leave benefit plans

Essential Functions:

Workers' Compensation Functions

• Coordinate, manage, and monitor workers' compensation claims for the campus, ensuring timely reporting, accurate documentation, and regulatory compliance
• Serve as the primary point of contact for workers' compensation cases, maintaining communication with employees, supervisors, departments and third-party administrators
• Guide employees and managers on workers' compensation policies, procedures, and benefits
• Prepare and analyze workers' compensation data, reports, metrics, and compliance documentation
• Deliver training and education on workers' compensation policies, procedures, and best practices
• Stay current on workers' compensation laws, regulatory changes, and industry standards

Benefits Functions

• Apply benefits subject-matter expertise to resolve employee benefit issues
• Monitor requirements by generating benefits reports and metrics
• Support benefits communications, training materials, and continuous improvement of benefits processes and

Other:

• Perform all other duties as assigned

Rice University HR | Benefits
Rice Mission and Values

Special Instructions to Applicants: Please attach a resume and cover letter in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.