Benefits Manager

Human Resources San Diego, California

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Description

 

AppFolio is more than a company. We’re a community of dreamers, big thinkers, problem solvers, active listeners, and multipliers. At every opportunity, we set the pace while delivering innovation built to carry real estate into the future. One in which every experience feels effortless, yet meaningful. Where customers are empowered to take on any opportunity. We show up as one team, connected by our values to be a force for good. Because together, we have the power to create extraordinary outcomes for our customers, our communities, and ourselves.

 

The Benefits Manager is the trusted expert behind one of the most personal aspects of life at AppFolio: the health, financial, and well-being programs that show up for our employees and their families. In this role, you will lead the strategy, design, and continuous improvement of our full suite of benefits programs, ensuring they are competitive, compliant, and genuinely valued by the people they serve.

 

Your impact 
  • Lead benefits strategy and roadmap: Own the multi-year benefits strategy across health, welfare, retirement, well-being, and LOA programs - grounded in market benchmarks, peer SaaS data, employee feedback, and cost discipline. Bring forward data-driven recommendations on plan design and market positioning, partnering with the Head of Total Rewards on key decisions.
  • Serve as SME and final decision authority: Be the technical authority on all benefit programs. Resolve complex escalations, own policy exception decisions, and drive committee relationships, including 401(k) and wellness committees, with final accountability for all program decisions resting with this role. Partner with People Leadership and Legal on complex edge cases, including acquisitions and significant scaling events.
  • Own broker, vendor, and contract accountability: Hold broker and vendor partners to high service standards, competitive renewals, and strong plan performance. Lead RFPs and evaluations as needed, owning strategic relationships and contract accountability while the Benefits Specialist manages day-to-day coordination.
  • Drive data-informed program decisions and financial stewardship: Analyze utilization, cost trends, and program effectiveness to sharpen the employee experience and optimize AppFolio's investment. Partner with Finance on forecasting and budget accountability, and maintain documentation and operational governance that supports audit-readiness and scale.
  • Lead Open Enrollment and employee education strategy: Own end-to-end OE strategy, planning, and cross-functional stakeholder management. Set the communication strategy that empowers employees and equips managers - partnering with HRBPs and Comms on content and channels, while the Benefits Specialist handles execution and HRIS operations.
  • Own compliance governance and regulatory accountability: Maintain the compliance framework across ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, Section 125, and applicable state regulations. Own audit-readiness posture and Legal partnership; final accountability for all regulatory obligations sits with this role.

 

Qualifications 
  • Trusted advisor: People come to you with their most sensitive benefits questions because you bring expertise, discretion, and judgment.
  • Strategic thinker: You connect benefits decisions to comp strategy, talent acquisition, total rewards philosophy, and employee experience.
  • Project management: You build timelines, manage stakeholders, communicate proactively, and deliver. Open Enrollment is a major organizational event, and you run it like one.
  • Governance owner: You build the compliance framework and hold the standard.
  • Vendor strategist: You’re accustomed to working closely with brokers and ensuring accountability on both ends. 
  • Strong communicator: You can speak the technical language of benefits with brokers and Legal, and translate it into plain, warm communication for employees.
  • Team multiplier: You set clear direction, remove blockers, and make the team smarter, not just busier.

 

Must have
  • 7+ years of progressive experience in benefits management, including ownership of plan strategy, compliance governance, and Open Enrollment leadership.
  • Experience in a high-growth public SaaS or tech environment strongly preferred.
  • Deep knowledge of US benefits compliance: ERISA, HIPAA, ACA, COBRA, Section 125, and state-specific requirements.
  • Demonstrated track record managing broker and vendor relationships at scale, including RFP and renewal processes.
  • Proven project management experience leading Open Enrollment or comparable large-scale annual programs.
  • Strong analytical orientation; comfortable working with benefits data, utilization metrics, and cost analyses.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills across audiences.
  • Comfort operating in an oversight/governance model, partnering with a Specialist who owns execution.
Location
Find out more about our locations by visiting our site. 
Compensation & Benefits
The compensation that we reasonably expect to pay for this role is: $115,000 - $143,000 [base pay]. The actual compensation for this role will be determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to the candidate’s skills, education, experience, and internal equity.

Please note that compensation is just one aspect of a comprehensive Total Rewards package. The compensation range listed here does not include additional benefits or any discretionary bonuses you may be eligible for based on your role and/or employment type.

Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits - see here.

 

 
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About AppFolio

AppFolio is the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry. Our innovative platform and trusted partnership enable our customers to connect communities, increase operational efficiency, and grow their business. For more information about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.

Why AppFolio

Grow | We enable a culture of high performance, where delivering results is recognized by opportunities for growth and compelling total rewards. Our challenging and meaningful work drive the growth of our business, and ourselves.

Learn | We partner with you to realize your potential by investing in you from the start. We're cultivating a team of big thinkers through coaching and mentorship with our best-in-class leaders, and giving you the time and tools to develop your skills.

Impact | We are creating a world where living in, investing in, managing, and supporting communities feels magical and effortless, freeing people to thrive. We do this by innovating with purpose while cultivating a culture of impact. We learn as much from each other as we do our customers and our communities.

Connect | We excel at hybrid work by fostering an environment that feels flexible, personal and connected, no matter where we are. We create space to fuel innovation and collaboration, and we come together to celebrate, connect, and succeed.

Paddle as One.

Learn more at appfolio.com/company/careers

Statement of Equal Opportunity

At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. That’s why we’re a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that our products, our teams, and our business are stronger because of it. This means that no matter what race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status, you’re always welcome at AppFolio.

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