Benefits Specialist

About the Role

We are looking for a Benefits Specialist to join our HR team and lead the design, administration, and communication of employee benefits programs across the LATAM region. This role, based in Colombia, will serve as a key partner to HR teams throughout the region, ensuring that benefits offerings are compliant with local regulations, competitive in local markets, and tailored to the diverse needs of our employees across Latin America.

The Benefits Specialist will manage a wide range of benefits — from statutory social security programs and healthcare to wellness initiatives and leave entitlements — while navigating the distinct cultural, legal, and labor frameworks of each LATAM country.

What You’ll Do:

• Benefits Strategy & Administration
  • Lead day-to-day operations for benefits programs across the LATAM region, including healthcare, pension/retirement plans, life insurance, and wellness programs
  • Partner with regional HR teams to tailor benefits to local employee needs, benchmarking against LATAM-specific market data
  • Manage country-specific statutory benefits including social security contributions, severance funds (e.g., Cesantías in Colombia, FGTS in Brazil), profit-sharing obligations (PTU in Mexico), and 13th/14th month salary requirements.
• Vendor & Provider Management
  • Manage relationships with regional insurance brokers and wellness vendors across LATAM markets
  • Ensure service delivery meets agreed SLAs and handle escalations with local vendor contacts.
  • Negotiate plan designs and pricing with vendors, factoring in LATAM inflation rates and currency volatility.
• Compliance & Regulatory Management
  • Stay current on regulatory changes across key LATAM markets including Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Peru in partnership with our global and local brokers.
  • Ensure all benefits programs comply with local labor codes, tax laws, and social security mandates — including Colombian Decreto 1072, Mexico's Ley Federal del Trabajo, Brazil's CLT, and Argentina's Ley de Contrato de Trabajo.
  • Manage country-specific statutory requirements such as prima de servicios (Colombia), aguinaldo (Mexico/Argentina), 13º salário (Brazil), asignación familiar (Chile/Peru), and obra social coverage (Argentina).
  • Liaise with local legal counsel and payroll teams to ensure benefits are correctly treated for tax and social contribution purposes in each jurisdiction.
• Pension & Retirement Programs
  • Oversee compliance and employee education on mandatory pension systems across LATAM, including Colombia's dual regime (RPM vs. RAIS/AFP), Mexico's AFORE system, Brazil's INSS, Chile's AFP system, and Argentina's SIPA.
  • Where applicable, manage supplementary voluntary pension or savings vehicle offerings (e.g., voluntary contributions to Colombian AFP accounts or Brazilian PGBL/VGBL plans).
• Benefits Communication
  • Build effective, multilingual communication strategies (primarily in Spanish and Portuguese) through emails, webinars, FAQs, and guides to help employees understand and maximize their benefits.
  • Adapt communication style for cultural nuances across LATAM countries, ensuring clarity for employees with varying levels of benefits literacy.
  • Partner with HR leaders and HR Generalists to deliver in-country communications.
• Global Collaboration, Cost Optimization, & Reporting
  • Align LATAM benefits programs with global HR strategy while advocating for regional requirements and nuances in partnership with local and global broker partners.
  • Evaluate ROI on benefits offerings, factoring in local inflation, currency fluctuations, and statutory cost increases across LATAM markets.
  • Recommend enhancements that balance employee value with cost efficiency, particularly when managing benefits across high-inflation economies such as Argentina.
• Previous experience in benefits administration with a strong focus on LATAM markets preferred.
• Fluent English.
• Understanding of country-specific benefits, statutory programs, and regulatory landscapes across LATAM (e.g., Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru).
• Experience navigating multi-country benefits administration in a remote or distributed HR environment is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with LATAM payroll cycles and how benefits integrate with payroll processing across different countries preferred.
• Fluency in Spanish required; Portuguese proficiency strongly preferred given the importance of the Brazilian market.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to develop effective benefits communication strategies across culturally diverse employee bases.
• Strong organization and administrative skills to balance priorities.
• Ability to manage cross-functional and cross-border relationships, negotiate with regional vendors, and resolve complex compliance issues.
• Familiar with benefits administration software and HRIS systems (e.g., ADP, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or similar platforms commonly used in LATAM-operating organizations).
• Comfortable working across multiple time zones within the Americas.
• Bachelor's degree in any field. Professional certifications in HR, benefits,are a plus.