Amanda Cooke
Moseley,VA
Summary
Experienced and self-motivated Human Resources Professional with eight years of industry experience to include Benefits Administration, Full Cycle Recruiting, Employee Relations, Performance Management, and Payroll Processing. Benefits include Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, Retiree Benefits, Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit Plans. Proficient in DEI initiatives, Interpreting Disability Policies, Human Resources Law, Processing Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Semi-Monthly and Monthly Payrolls, Reviewing/Interpreting/Implementing New Vendors from Request for Proposals (RFPs), ERISA Law, PPACA, and many other positive strong qualities.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work History
Benefits Administrator
NewMarket Corporation
08.2022 - Current
- Responsible for all Health and Welfare Benefits for all United States and Canada employees to include: Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, Vision, EAP, Short/Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance/Accidental Death and Dismemberment all while maintaining Federal/State and Local compliance
- Responsible for leading several large-scale Open Enrollment sessions for employees both in person and virtually across the United States
- Required to handle all Retiree Health Benefits and Retiree Life Insurance
- This includes reviewing information for actuarial yearly calculations
- Reviewed and published updated Group Health Insurance Plan Documents and updated Summary Plan Descriptions (SPDs)
- Implemented a new Vision vendor with very limited employee disruption and issued an RFP for a new Medical Carrier which required multiple NDAs for compliance
- Handle relationship between medical carrier and on-site clinic
- Required to become creative for growing company's DEI initiative
- Responsible for researching and improving company's family leave policy
- This included writing a new Family Leave Policy
- Handles all Benefit Payment Remittances
- Responsible for gathering data, reviewing and filling 5500s correctly and timely
- As well as mailing and publishing updated Summary Annual Reports (SARs)
- Required to audit, fix and submit companywide 1095s/1094s by compliance due date
Benefits and Payroll Specialist
Primis Bank
02.2021 - 08.2022
- Responsible for all Health and Welfare Benefits to include: Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, Vision, EAP, Short/Long-Term Disability, and Life Insurance/Accidental Death and Dismemberment
- Required to process semi-monthly salaried payroll to include annual merit increases and discretionary bonuses
- Able to calculate and process regular rate of pay calculations to ensure meeting DOL requirements
- Responsible for processing Restricted Stock Awards for Highly Compensated Employees to ensure taxable income is accounted for and adjusted correctly
- Plan Sponsor for the company's 401(k) plan which includes approving notices, investigating inquiries/discrepancies, approving 401(k) loans, and the annual plan audit and 11k publication
- Planned and processed a successful open enrollment that included a negotiated overall 2% premium increase
- Required to meet with benefits broker and bank management regarding negotiated premium increases and obtained additional funding of over $100,000
- Recruited, reviewed and interviewed new hires with the assistance of external recruiters
- This included negotiating salaries and other compensation for extending employment offers
- Able to lead new hire orientation twice a month about current employer sponsored health and welfare benefits to all new hires
- In Human Resources Director absence, handled multiple HR issues to include employee relation issues to include termination of employment
- Required to handle all Workers Comp (multi-state) and full-cycle FMLA
- Successfully onboarded 70+ employees with purchase of new company acquisition
- Planned and held a large onsite Wellness event that had attendance of over 100 employees
- Responsible for handling all ADA complaints/requirements to include implementing modified work schedules and consulting with counsel when needed.
Benefits Specialist II
Tredegar Corporation
12.2015 - 01.2021
- Experienced in all aspects of Human Resources to included Benefits Administration
- Benefits to included Medical, Dental, Pharmacy, COBRA, QDROS, QMCSOs, and ERISA Law
- Required to process Bi-weekly payroll and Semi-Monthly payroll while remaining compliant with internal audit requirements
- Familiar with Reduction-in-force projects, able to calculate severance to include lump sum payments with ease
- Responsible for negotiating with benefit carriers on annual premium increases
- Supervised several casual employees for interdepartmental projects
- Implementation of a new Performance Management System to our US Employees
- This included creating reports on review completion, creating companywide goals/objectives, and several hands-on trainings
- During managers absence responsible for daily budgeting of a retirement income plan with cash estimates over $5+ million and limited partnership investments in the $20+ million range
- As well as responsible for tracking departmental budget expenses during managers absence (department budget over $500,000)
- Experienced in all retiree benefits to include but not limited to Defined Benefit Plans (pension), Defined Contribution Plans (401k administration), retiree health plans and Medicare supplemental insurance
- Implemented an On-Site Wellness Clinic to help improve overall moral and medical claims
- Able to lead new hire orientation about current employer sponsored health and welfare benefits as well as run large scale communication campaigns regarding ERISA plan changes, IRS changes, and changing health and welfare plans
- Able to compile data and produce pivot tables, charts and graphs from the information
- Successfully helped implement a new Life and Disability carrier that included reviewing, modifying, and making 8+ classes of employees' plans IRS compliant
- Responsible for the set-up and remittance of several IRS Section 125 benefits to include: Health Savings Accounts (HSA), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA and Dependent care), and United Way to include calculating deductions
- Handled onsite field work for annual audits for several retirement plans (defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans) as well as processing and filing the appropriate 5500s.
Emergency Communications Asst Supervisor
Chesterfield County
09.2009 - 11.2015
- Answer all public safety telecommunication systems; emergency 911 and non-emergency calls
- Manage a large volume of calls in a highly stressful environment while remaining professional and confidential in relaying information; ensuring State & County disclosure agreements
- Responsible for supervising 6 Emergency Communications Officers daily, as well as being responsible for Midnight Shift to include 20+ individuals (on a case-by-case basis during supervision vacancies)
- Familiar with Records Management System (RMS), Mainframe, and several other criminal database information systems
- Able to type over 100 words per minute with high proficiency
- Assist with payroll; processing/approving PTO, sick leave and other employee schedule changes
- Familiar with Human Resource policies and procedures at the county, state, and federal level
- Support personnel with private policies including sexual harassment, drug & alcohol, and workplace violence guidelines
- Act as a liaison between radio shop, building, ground personnel, and other county departments as needed in responsive situations.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration: Human Resources
Liberty University
05.2025
Associate of Science - Business Administration: Human Resources
Liberty University
Lynchburg, VA12.2019
Skills
- Excellent Communication Skills
- Teamwork
- Effective Time Management
- Project Management Skills
- Ability to Work in a Team
- Benefit Negotiation
- Adaptability
- Contract Negotiation
- Microsoft Office
- Google Suite
- Human Resource Policy
- Leadership Skills
- Creative Problem-Solving Skills
- Mergers and Acquisitions
- Full-Cycle Recruiting
- Leadership
- Attention to Detail
- Accountability
- UKG
- Kronos
Timeline
Benefits Administrator
NewMarket Corporation
08.2022 - Current
Benefits and Payroll Specialist
Primis Bank
02.2021 - 08.2022
Benefits Specialist II
Tredegar Corporation
12.2015 - 01.2021
Emergency Communications Asst Supervisor
Chesterfield County
09.2009 - 11.2015
Bachelor of Science - Business Administration: Human Resources
Liberty University
Associate of Science - Business Administration: Human Resources
Liberty University