Payroll & Benefits Manager

Farmers Mutual Hail.•West Des Moines, IA

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Farmers Mutual Hail (FMH), our mission is simple: protect the livelihoods and legacies of America’s farmers through the complete farm insurance solutions we offer. As America’s Crop Insurance Company™, we’re headquartered in the U.S. and have been owned by the farmers we insure for over 125 years. FMH is seeking a Payroll & Benefits professional to manage payroll, benefits, and HR operations to ensure the accurate, compliant, and efficient administration of employee compensation, benefits, and related HR programs. This individual serves as a working manager providing operational oversight, strong internal controls, and hands-on execution to maintain effective service delivery. The ideal candidate brings a positive attitude, strong ownership mindset, and a practical “can-do” approach to solving problems and supporting employees.

Requirements

Experience: At least 5 or more years of payroll and benefits experience along with 2 or more years of supervisory experience.
Education: High School diploma required. (Associate’s degree preferred.)
Skills: ADP Payroll Certification is required within your first year of employment (or other payroll system certifications). CPP and/or CEBS designation is highly desired. Highly proficient with Microsoft Office programs especially Word and Excel. Prior corporate experience with ADP is strongly preferred.

Nice To Haves

CPP and/or CEBS designation is highly desired.
Prior corporate experience with ADP is strongly preferred.
Associate’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Oversees payroll operations to ensure accurate and timely semi-monthly payroll processing, including review of earnings, deductions, and payroll adjustments. Maintains payroll internal controls and serves as escalation point for complex payroll issues.
Manages & administers employee benefit programs including medical, dental, vision, life, disability, retirement, deferred compensation, flexible spending, wellness initiatives, and other company-sponsored programs. Ensures accurate enrollment, eligibility maintenance, and coordination with carriers, vendors, and third-party administrators while leading wellness activities and benefit-related employee engagement initiatives. Leads employee communications and education related to benefits programs, including open enrollment, program changes, wellness initiatives, and ongoing benefit awareness to support employee understanding and engagement.
Serves as key owner and administrator of HRIS systems, ensuring data integrity, system controls, and proper workflow configuration. Supports system upgrades, testing, and implementation of HRIS projects, modules, and enhancements as needed. Maintains appropriate security & access controls across HR systems.
Acts as leave manager for company leave programs including FMLA, ADA, PTO, Extended Sick Bank (ESB), parental leave, jury duty, and other leave policies. Ensures regulatory compliance, consistent administration, and proper documentation while serving as a resource for complex leave issues and policy interpretation.
Leads payroll, benefits & HR audit support activities including preparation of reports, documentation, and responses to internal and external auditors. Serves as the primary point of contact for auditors and oversees regulatory reporting requirements while maintaining appropriate documentation and record retention.
Maintains relationships with benefits brokers, carriers, vendors, and third-party administrators. Reviews benefit billings, resolves discrepancies, and coordinates operational issues related to payroll and benefits services.
Manages the annual enrollment process and new hire benefit elections process to ensure accurate transmission of enrollment data and payroll deductions to carriers and third-party administrators. Engages in the annual benefits review process, evaluating plan performance and proposing enhancements or new benefit offerings as appropriate.
Serves as a primary internal contact for payroll, benefits and HR system-related questions from employees, managers, retirees, HR staff, vendors, and consultants.
Produces and analyzes payroll, benefits, and HR operational reports to support regulatory compliance, organizational planning, and management decision-making. Ensures integrity of employee data within HR systems through queries, audits, and analysis.
As a member of the HR team, engage in various other projects, activities and duties as assigned.