Team lead - Benefits Support

Role Summary

As the Team Lead/Assistant Manager Global Benefits Support , you will oversee a team of regional Support Specialists and Senior Specialists across APAC, EMEA, and the Americas. You will be responsible for ensuring high-quality, consistent, and scalable customer service across time zones, maintaining operational excellence, and serving as the escalation point for complex benefit-related cases. This role combines people leadership, process improvement, benefits expertise, and cross-functional collaboration.

Key Responsibilities

Team Management

• Lead, coach, and support regional team members to ensure consistent performance across all time zones.
• Set team goals and KPIs (CSAT, SLA adherence, FRT, resolution times) and monitor weekly/monthly performance.
• Drive ongoing training and upskilling on benefits knowledge, systems, and customer service excellence.

Subject Matter Expertise

• Serve as the primary expert on group benefits (health, life, travel, wellness), enrollment processes, and common claim-related issues.
• Review and interpret master policy documents to guide your team in responding accurately to client queries.
• Act as the final escalation point for complex or sensitive issues requiring policy or cross-functional insights.

Process & Quality Ownership

• Own support processes, quality frameworks, and internal SLAs, ensuring consistent documentation across regions.
• Partner with Policy Ops and Product teams to identify recurring issues and recommend product and process improvements.
• Maintain and enhance the support knowledge base, macros, and FAQ library for internal and external use.

Cross-functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Benefits Operations, CX, and Product teams to improve tooling, workflows, and escalation paths.
• Collaborate with global insurer and broker partners to resolve high-impact client cases and provide structured feedback.

Reporting & Forecasting

• Provide regular reporting on ticket volumes, resolution metrics, customer satisfaction, and other KPIs.
• Forecast support capacity and hiring needs in alignment with business growth.

Requirements

Qualifications

• 68 years of experience in customer service, benefits operations, or insurance service delivery.
• Minimum 12 years of experience in a team lead or managerial role, preferably leading global teams.
• Prior experience with a global insurance broker or PEO/EOR company is a strong advantage.

Skills

• Strong understanding of group insurance and the ability to interpret master policy documents.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially for handling escalations.
• Empathetic leadership with the ability to coach, motivate, and inspire a global team.
• Proficiency with tools like Zendesk, Intercom, and Help Scout; strong ability to work with dashboards and data.
• Comfortable working across time zones and supporting distributed teams.

Success in This Role Looks Like

• High CSAT scores and consistent SLA adherence across all regions.
• Reduced escalation rates and faster resolution times for complex queries.
• Recognition as a subject-matter expert in benefits support within the organization.
• Well-structured knowledge bases and SOPs that enable faster onboarding and issue resolution.