Benefits Specialist, Asia Pacific

Merck Merck · Pharma · Selangor, Malaysia

This role is for a Benefits Specialist in the Asia Pacific region, responsible for end-to-end benefits administration, employee support, vendor management, and ensuring compliance with local regulations and company policies. It involves working with internal HR teams, payroll, HR systems, and external vendors like insurers and TPAs. The role also supports regional projects and continuous improvement efforts within a shared services environment.

What you'd actually do

  1. Administer employee benefits programmes, including medical insurance, life and disability insurance, wellness programmes, allowances, retirement‑related benefits and other market‑specific benefit offerings as applicable
  2. Manage benefits enrollment for new hires and dependents, beneficiary updates, and employee life‑cycle changes in line with local regulations and company policies.
  3. Handle employee enquiries related to benefits coverage, enrollment, and claims, providing timely and employee‑centric support.
  4. Coordinate with insurers, brokers, TPAs, and other benefits vendors to monitor service delivery, resolve issues, and ensure agreed service levels are met.
  5. Ensure benefits administration and claims processing comply with internal policies, procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements.

Skills

Required

  • 3-5 years of experience in employee benefits administration
  • Good understanding of benefits operations, insurance administration, and compliance requirements.
  • Experience working with benefits vendors such as insurers, brokers, or TPAs.
  • Intermediate Excel skills, including VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP and PivotTables.
  • Good command of written and spoken English

Nice to have

  • Exposure to HRIS, payroll, or benefits systems
  • experience with UAT and reconciliations
  • Bahasa Malaysia or additional languages