Director, Leave Management Hybrid

Job Title: Director of Leave Management (Full time, Hybrid)

Department: Human Resources - Benefits, Leave and Retirement

Location: 100 Kings Highway South, Rochester, NY 14617

This is a hybrid position with approximately 3 days on site depending on the meetings scheduled weekly.

Hours Per Week: 40 hours per week

Schedule: 08:30am-5:00pm

The position is a senior leader within Total Rewards responsible for the enterprise strategy and performance of workers’ compensation, leave administration, disability coordination, workplace accommodations, and injury prevention. This role integrates occupational and non-occupational absence programs into a unified Total Cost of Absence framework focused on reducing cost volatility, strengthening return-to-work outcomes, and improving workforce productivity.

The position provides strategic oversight to operational leaders, drives data-informed decision making, and is accountable for measurable reduction in absence-related cost and sustained improvement in return-to-work performance.

Enterprise Strategy & Cost Management

• Develop and execute a comprehensive enterprise absence strategy aligned with financial and workforce objectives.
• Identify cost drivers and systemic trends; design targeted interventions to reduce lost time and claim duration.
• Provide data-driven insights and recommendations to Benefits leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Establish multi-year roadmaps for prevention, return-to-work optimization, and cost stabilization.

Workers’ Compensation & Injury Prevention

• Provide strategic oversight of the enterprise workers’ compensation program, including claim performance, reserve trends, litigation exposure, and vendor effectiveness.
• Lead and develop the Injury Prevention Manager and team, establishing priorities aligned with injury reduction and lost-time prevention.
• Drive enterprise injury prevention strategy in partnership with Safety and Operations.
• Partner with Finance and Risk Management on budgeting, forecasting, and insurance strategy.
• Oversee return-to-work and transitional duty programs to reduce indemnity duration and recurrence.
• Govern third-party administrators and vendors through performance standards and financial accountability.

Leave, Disability & Policy Governance

• Oversee enterprise administration and strategy for FMLA, ADA accommodations, short- and long-term disability, and statutory leave programs.
• Provide strategic oversight of sick leave and attendance policy design and utilization trends.
• Ensure consistent policy application and regulatory compliance across multi-state operations.
• Coordinate with Workforce Technology, Payroll, and Benefits to ensure seamless benefit integration and pay accuracy.

Analytics & Performance Management

• Establish enterprise dashboards and KPIs measuring absence rates, claim duration, recurrence, and financial impact.
• Translate data into measurable operational improvements and ROI outcomes.
• Conduct periodic performance reviews of programs and vendors.

Operational Leadership & Governance

• Provide strategic direction to operational leaders overseeing workers’ compensation and leave administration.
• Establish enterprise standards and service expectations.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration across HR, Legal, Finance, Safety, and Operations.
• Champion a culture of early intervention, injury prevention, and safe return-to-work practices. Ensure regulatory compliance with ADA, FMLA, workers’ compensation, and applicable state and federal leave laws.
• Promote accountability across business units for injury trends and return-to-work outcomes.

People Leadership

• Effectively recruits and retains talent for continuous support of aligned business areas.
• Fosters a team-based environment that collaborates across multiple disciplines to focus on continuous improvement and engagement.
• Monitors and recognizes performance of people and supports people in professional development.
• Supports workplace well-being and workplace safety.

• Master’s degree (MBA, MHA, or related field).
• Healthcare or complex multi-site employer experience.
• Experience integrating safety and HR absence strategies.
• Proficiency…