Senior Benefits Specialist

Quick Look: What This Role Is

A 12-week remote contract covering a People Experience team leave at Grove Collaborative. You'll independently own U.S. benefits programs — medical, dental, vision, COBRA, HSA, FSA, and 401(k) — plus end-to-end Open Enrollment and California leave administration. Salary: $100,000–$120,000 annualized (note: no employee benefits or overtime). Eligible states: CA, TX, NY, CO, IL, WA, NC, PA, NV, ME, MO, MA.

About the Role

Grove Collaborative is bringing in a seasoned benefits professional for a 12-week engagement to cover a leave within their distributed People Experience team. Reporting to the Director of People Operations, you'll take immediate, full ownership of day-to-day U.S. benefits administration — processing enrollments and life-event changes, coordinating leave requests, and keeping programs compliant with federal and state requirements. There is no gradual handoff: the expectation is that you ramp fast, operate independently, and handle a high-volume workload with minimal direction from the start.

About Grove Collaborative

Grove Collaborative (NYSE: GROV) is a publicly traded consumer goods company that curates and sells household, personal care, health, and wellness products — all held to a stricter standard for safety, sustainability, and performance. It carries B Corp certification and Public Benefit Corporation status, offsets the carbon footprint of every order, and funds ongoing plastic waste cleanup initiatives. Grove serves customers who want everyday essentials to reflect their values, primarily through its own e-commerce platform. The company's workforce is distributed across the U.S.

What You'll Own Day-to-Day

• Act as the primary point of contact for employees, benefit carriers, brokers, and third-party administrators — fielding questions and resolving issues promptly
• Administer the full U.S. benefits suite: medical, dental, vision, life and AD&D, HSA, FSA, COBRA, and 401(k) plans
• Process benefit enrollments, qualifying life event changes, and terminations within payroll and carrier deadlines
• Coordinate leave of absence administration with Grove's leave and disability vendor — reviewing requests, collecting documentation, and partnering with HR Business Partners
• Reconcile monthly benefit invoices and collaborate with Finance to ensure premiums are paid accurately and on schedule
• Run routine audits of benefit enrollments, payroll deductions, HRIS data, and carrier records — proactively finding and correcting discrepancies
• Maintain employee benefit records in line with company policy and applicable federal, state, and local regulations
• Support compliance activities spanning ACA, COBRA, Form 5500, nondiscrimination testing, and San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance reporting
• Lead Open Enrollment end-to-end — plan design evaluation, system configuration and testing, employee communications, education sessions, and full implementation
• Support the annual benefits renewal process alongside the Director of People Experience, CFO, and broker — gathering data, evaluating options, and preparing recommendations
• Monitor legislative and regulatory changes affecting benefits and leave at the federal, state, and local level and apply updates accordingly
• Contribute to new hire orientation, employee inquiries, and other People Experience initiatives, including occasional immigration and visa coordination

Must-Have Qualifications

• 5–7 years of Human Resources experience, with a significant portion dedicated to benefits administration
• Demonstrated end-to-end ownership of the Open Enrollment process — plan design decisions, employee communications, and system implementation, ideally with a broker
• Hands-on experience administering 401(k) plans and a broad set of U.S. employee benefit programs
• Direct experience coordinating federal and state leave programs, with specific working knowledge of California leave laws
• Solid command of employment law as it applies to benefits and leave at the federal, state, and local level
• Exceptional attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple competing priorities without sacrificing accuracy
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills — effective with employees, vendors, brokers, and internal cross-functional partners
• Ability to identify issues proactively, exercise sound judgment, and escalate risks appropriately
• Must currently reside in one of the 12 eligible states: California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, New York, Missouri, or Massachusetts

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Familiarity with ADP's HR and payroll platform
• SHRM-CP certification or a comparable HR credential

Skills at a Glance: Required vs. Preferred

This is a senior individual-contributor role — you're expected to own complex benefits functions without close oversight. Core must-haves are hands-on U.S. benefits administration, end-to-end Open Enrollment project management, 401(k) plan coordination, and California leave law literacy. Compliance fluency across ACA, COBRA, Form 5500, and nondiscrimination testing is non-negotiable. On the preferred side, ADP platform experience and SHRM-CP certification add value but won't eliminate otherwise strong candidates. Equally important: interpersonal credibility — this role interfaces daily with employees, carriers, and cross-functional partners.

Pay and Work Arrangement

The employer-stated salary range is $100,000–$120,000 on an annualized basis. Grove calibrates pay within this band to market-specific cost-of-living data, with the top of the range reserved for the most experienced candidates in the highest-cost locations. This is a 12-week, full-time, exempt contract, which means no overtime pay applies. Importantly, this position is explicitly ineligible for Grove's standard employee benefits package. Candidates should factor both the compensation level and the temporary, benefits-excluded nature of the engagement before applying.

Location and Remote Policy

This role is fully remote. Grove accepts applicants from 12 U.S. states where the company currently runs payroll: California, Maine, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, New York, Missouri, and Massachusetts. Candidates based outside these states are not eligible. The posting does not mention visa sponsorship or relocation assistance — consistent with the temporary nature of the engagement.