Senior Manager, Total Rewards

Ascend Partner Services

About The Position

As the Senior Manager, Total Rewards for Ascend, you are accountable for delivering a differentiated total rewards strategy that provides our employees with a stronger benefits and compensation experience than they would receive at independent regional firms. As we scale rapidly, you will leverage our collective buying power and vendor ecosystem to secure superior plan designs, improved service standards, and disciplined cost structures that strengthen both employee experience and financial predictability. Your leadership across benefits and rewards programming will directly enable our Talent team to attract top industry talent and equip our CEOs with the clarity and tools needed to retain A players and budget effectively. Serving as the internal face and product owner of Total Rewards, you will ensure a seamless, high-quality employee experience while introducing scalable, AI-enabled solutions that elevate service delivery and operational efficiency as we grow.

Requirements

Benefits Strategy & Governance: Experience designing scalable benefits programs that balance employee experience, cost discipline, and operational simplicity.
Vendor & Broker Management: Ability to manage broker and vendor relationships, negotiate plan design and pricing, and maintain strong service standards.
Retirement Plan Administration: Knowledge of retirement plan governance, compliance requirements, and payroll integrations.
Leave & Compliance Expertise: Strong understanding of leave programs and regulatory compliance across complex organizations.
HRIS & Benefits Systems: Experience working with benefits administration platforms and integrating them with payroll and HRIS systems.
M&A Integration: Ability to support benefits and rewards transitions in fast-growing or acquisition-driven organizations.
Data Analysis & Reporting: Strong analytical skills to interpret benefits utilization trends and inform leadership decisions.
Automation & Process Improvement: Experience implementing automation and AI-enabled support tools that improve benefits administration and employee experience.
Communication & Stakeholder Management: Ability to translate complex benefits programs into clear guidance for employees, leadership, and firm partners.
Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, or related field.
Significant experience in benefits administration, compensation analysis, or total rewards leadership roles.
Experience managing vendor ecosystems including brokers, carriers, and retirement plan partners.
Familiarity with HRIS and benefits administration platforms and their integration with payroll systems.
Strong analytical skills and experience building reporting and insights to support leadership decision-making.

Nice To Haves

Experience operating in fast-growing or multi-entity organizations is strongly preferred.
Certifications such as CEBS, PHR/SPHR, or CCP are a plus.

Responsibilities

Design and operate a scalable benefits strategy that supports acquisitions, maintains competitive employee offerings, and delivers predictable cost outcomes despite healthcare trend volatility.
Manage broker and vendor performance through defined service standards, renewal planning, and reporting while ensuring reliable open enrollment, billing accuracy, and benefits reporting for leadership.
Own governance of Ascend’s retirement programs, ensuring fiduciary compliance, payroll accuracy, and seamless integration between HRIS, payroll, and recordkeeping platforms.
Manage retirement vendors and administrators while overseeing onboarding, remittances, compliance testing, audits, and plan design benchmarking.
Centralize leave strategy across FMLA, disability, state programs, and paid leave policies to ensure a consistent, compliant experience across all firms.
Define clear ownership between internal teams and vendors while ensuring accurate payroll processing and a supportive employee experience throughout the leave lifecycle.
Partner with integration leadership to conduct benefits due diligence and ensure Total Rewards is incorporated into deal strategy and transition planning.
Execute Day One benefits transitions and develop repeatable integration playbooks that ensure smooth employee onboarding and predictable rewards costs.
Operate a scalable benefits administration ecosystem ensuring accurate data flow across HRIS, payroll, carriers, COBRA partners, and compliance vendors.
Continuously improve benefits systems, reporting, and employee self-service through automation and AI-enabled solutions that reduce operational friction.