Manager, Leave of Absence

Machinify is a leading healthcare intelligence company with expertise across the payment continuum, delivering unmatched value, transparency, and efficiency to health plan clients across the country. Deployed by over 85 health plans, including many of the top 20, and representing more than 270 million lives, Machinify brings together a fully configurable and content-rich, AI-powered platform along with best-in-class expertise. We’re constantly reimagining what’s possible in our industry, creating disruptively simple, powerfully clear ways to maximize financial outcomes and drive down healthcare costs.
Position Summary
The Leave of Absence Manager owns end-to-end administration of all employee leave programs — including FMLA, state-specific leaves (e.g., Pregnancy Disability Leave, domestic violence/safe leave, state paid family and medical leave programs), ADA accommodation-related leave, and company-provided leave policies. This role also serves as a cross-trained backup and active contributor to the Benefits team, supporting day-to-day administration of health, welfare, and retirement plan. The ideal candidate combines deep leave-compliance expertise with the versatility to step into benefits administration as workload and coverage require.
Key Responsibilities
Leave Administration (Primary Focus)
Serve as subject matter expert and administer all leave types — FMLA, state family/medical leave, PDL, ADA-related leave, military leave, and state domestic violence/safe leave — ensuring compliance with federal and multi-state requirements for a remote workforce spread across the US.
Track eligibility, certifications, and entitlement balances across concurrent leave types (e.g., FMLA running with state PDL or short-term disability).
Manage intermittent and reduced-schedule leave requests, ensuring time is tracked in compliant increments and consistent with plan documents and applicable regulations.
Coordinate with payroll, workers' compensation carriers, and short/long-term disability vendors to ensure accurate pay, benefits continuation, and return-to-work processes.
Serve as the primary point of contact for managers and employees navigating leave requests, providing clear, empathetic guidance while maintaining confidentiality.
Monitor state and federal legislative changes affecting leave entitlements across all states where the company has employees, and update policies and processes accordingly.
Own leave-related recordkeeping, reporting, and audit-readiness; prepare documentation for Director and/or Legal on complex or contested leave cases.
Benefits Administration (Cross-Trained / Secondary Focus)
Support day-to-day administration of health, welfare, and retirement benefits, including enrollment, life-event changes, COBRA and vendor escalations.
Partner with the Benefits team during Open Enrollment and audits, providing surge support as needed.
Act as a cross-trained backup for benefits inquiries during team absences or peak volume periods.
Cross-Functional & Process Responsibilities
Maintain and improve leave and benefits BPs, ensuring consistency across systems and vendor platforms.
Maintain documentation / training for managers on leave and accommodation processes.
Identify process efficiencies and support system implementations or upgrades related to leave and benefits administration.
Qualifications
Required
5+ years of progressive experience in leave of absence administration, with direct ownership of FMLA, disability, and multi-state leave compliance.
Working knowledge of ADA interactive process requirements as they intersect with leave.
Strong understanding of state-specific leave laws (e.g., pregnancy disability leave, paid family/medical leave, domestic violence leave) and how they interact with federal requirements.
Experience partnering with payroll and third-party leave/disability administrators.
Excellent judgment handling sensitive, confidential employee situations.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex leave rules clearly to employees and managers.
Preferred
Prior exposure to benefits administration — health & welfare plans and retirement plans.
Professional certification such as CLMS (Certified Leave Management Specialist), CEBS, or PHR/SHRM-CP.
Experience with HRIS and leave management systems (e.g., Workday