Bring What You Know. Help Build What's Next.
First Canadian Group Benefits is growing nationally, and we're investing in the people, technology and capabilities that will support our next stage of growth.
A division of an established Canadian financial services organization, we have the stability and resources behind us to build for the future while remaining small enough that talented people can have a meaningful influence on where we're going.
Our employees work directly with senior Group Benefits leaders, including our President and Vice President. Ideas move quickly, expertise is valued and you'll have the opportunity to see the impact of your work.
We're looking for people who want more than a narrowly defined role. People who can get into the details, solve problems and understand the operation while also stepping back, thinking strategically and asking how we can make it better.
If you've built your Group Benefits expertise and are ready to use it to help build what's next, this could be the opportunity you've been looking for.
What We Offer
- Vacation and Earned Time Off program
- Group Retirement Savings Plan with employer match
- Employee benefits plus Health & Wellness Spending Account
- Educational assistance and career development
- One-hour early finish on Fridays
- Employee Assistance Program and employee discount programs
- On-site gym
- 5% bilingualism premium for qualified professional-level French bilingualism, where applicable
Why This Opportunity is Different
Don't just lead the function. Help build it.
This isn't a role where you'll simply inherit an established playbook and manage against it.
You'll lead people and operations, but you'll also have the opportunity to influence how the function evolves - including processes, workflows, technology, service delivery, team capability and client experience.
You'll work directly with the Vice President, Claims & Administration and the President of Group Benefits, bringing your expertise into discussions about both today's operation and tomorrow's business.
We're looking for a leader who is equally comfortable coaching an employee, digging into an operational issue and stepping back to determine what needs to change strategically.
What You’ll Build
- The future direction and operating model of Group Benefits Administration.
- Continued evolution of our Group Administration platform.
- Administration processes, workflows, standards and service delivery.
- How we scale the function while maintaining a strong client and member experience.
- Team structure, capability and development.
- Who we hire as the function scales: role design, selection and the capabilities we need to add.
- How we train and onboard new administrators, and how knowledge is shared as the team grows.
- Opportunities to automate, simplify and improve administrative work.
- Capacity planning and service levels: how we forecast workload, staff to it and hold turnaround commitments as volumes grow.
- Data quality, privacy and compliance controls across member and plan sponsor information.
- Collaboration between Administration, Claims, Underwriting, Sales and Technology.
- Priorities and capabilities required to support future business growth.
Growth creates opportunity
As our business has grown, employees have had opportunities to expand their responsibilities and move into leadership positions. We're continuing to build the capabilities and leadership structure our future business will require.
Where you'll work
Our Group Benefits team works together in-office in Edmonton. We believe the stage we're at as a growing business benefits from close collaboration, immediate access to leaders and the ability to solve problems together.
What you'll do
Essential Responsibilities:
- Build and lead the group administration team from the ground up including recruitment, train, mentor and develop team members into a cohesive, client-focused unit.
- Design and implement plan administration workflows. From new group implementation through ongoing member and plan changes that deliver accuracy and speed at scale.
- Draw on your deep industry expertise to establish best practices and scalable processes that support current clients and future growth.
- Act as a key stakeholder in the development and refinement of our administration system, translating operational needs into system requirements.
- Embed a client service culture across the team by setting the standard for responsiveness, professionalism and proactive communication with Plan Sponsors and members.
- Manage escalations and disputes with tact, working collaboratively with claimants and Plan Sponsors to reach timely, equitable resolutions.
- Provide regular performance feedback and development opportunities to ensure the team has the skills and confidence to grow.
- Monitor operational metrics and report to senior leadership; use data to identify gaps and drive continuous improvement.
- Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications:
- 5–10 years of group benefits administration experience, with comprehensive knowledge of plan setup, member administration and industry best practices.
- 3–5 years in a people leadership or senior supervisory role.
- Experience building or significantly improving an administration function - process design and team development experience is highly valued.
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Human Resources or equivalent.
- Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic environment.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills - effective with clients, team members and senior stakeholders alike.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite; experience with benefits administration or CRM software is an asset.
- Insurance designation (LOMA, CEBS/GBA, ICA) is a significant asset.
- Bilingual English/French is an asset.
- Successful completion of pre-employment screening (criminal, credit, education, reference and designation verification) is required.
Check out our company page for all the information on why we believe First Canadian is an employer of choice!
Thank you for considering our organization.
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons. Accommodations are available upon request.
