Director, Health & Benefits

Utz Quality Foods is seeking a Director, Health & Benefits to join our team in Hanover, PA. This role will help shape the benefits experience for employees across multiple states—balancing innovation, affordability, compliance, and a great employee experience. In this enterprise leadership role, you’ll set the strategy and governance for our health and welfare programs—medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, disability, life, voluntary benefits, and wellness—ensuring they stay competitive, compliant, scalable, and financially sustainable.

 

You’ll operate above day-to-day administration, partnering closely with HR, Finance, Legal, and Audit to make data-backed recommendations on cost, risk, and program performance—and to translate complex insights into clear executive decisions.

 

What you’ll do

• Set and evolve the multi-year health & welfare strategy aligned to workforce needs, business priorities, and financial goals.
• Own plan design across medical, pharmacy, dental, vision, disability, life, voluntary benefits, and wellness; evaluate new programs and point solutions.
• Lead benefits financials and forecasting (trend analysis, annual budget, multi-year projections) and drive cost-containment initiatives.
• Partner with Finance on self-insured plan performance, stop-loss strategy/recoveries, and premium funding decisions.
• Use claims, utilization, and vendor performance data to identify trends, opportunities, and executive-ready recommendations.
• Ensure enterprise governance and compliance across ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA/state leave, and ADA; steward plan documents, SPDs, notices, and audits in partnership with Legal.
• Lead vendor governance end-to-end, including RFPs, selection, contracting, renewals, and performance management.
• Build a scalable benefits operating model: lead and develop the team, and oversee communications and open enrollment governance.

What you’ll bring

 

Education

• Bachelor’s degree required (Human Resources, Business, Finance, or related field); advanced degree preferred.

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive benefits or total rewards leadership, including enterprise strategy and governance.
• Hands-on experience with self-insured medical plans, stop-loss programs, and multi-year cost forecasting/budgeting.
• Proven ability to lead vendor strategy (RFPs, selection, contracting, and performance management) and drive outcomes through strong negotiation.
• Experience leading benefits compliance and risk oversight (ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA) in a multi-state environment.
• Public company experience is a plus.

Skills & strengths

• Deep expertise in benefits strategy, plan design, financial modeling, and vendor governance.
• Executive-level communication and presence; able to translate complex data into clear insights and recommendations.
• Strong analytical capability, including interpreting claims/utilization data and using reporting tools to monitor trends and performance.
• Proven people leadership and change management; ability to build scalable operating models and governance routines.
• High integrity and discretion with sensitive employee, financial, and health information; strong judgment and risk orientation.

External Recruitment Process  

• Easy Application (5 mins): Introduce yourself and answer a few key questions to get started. 

• Engaging Chat Interview (20-25 mins): Share your experiences in an online chat, highlighting how your values align with ours. 

• Live Interview: Selected candidates will meet with the hiring manager to explore their alignment with the team and overall Utz company culture. 

 

Continuously Pursuing Excellence! 

Here at Utz, we have a passion for exciting and delighting consumers with delicious snack foods made from high quali