Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Wellness Program Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Wellness Program Officer leads development, implementation, and continuous improvement of workplace or community wellness programs. This role partners with HR, benefits, clinical teams, vendors, and leadership to create evidence-based health promotion strategies (including chronic disease prevention, mental health, nutrition, physical activity, and tobacco cessation), manage screening and incentive programs, ensure regulatory and privacy compliance, and measure program effectiveness through outcome metrics and financial analysis. The ideal candidate combines public health expertise, program management skills, strong communication, and a data-driven mindset to increase participation, influence behavior change, and demonstrate return on investment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Wellness Coordinator / Wellness Specialist
Health Promotion Specialist / Community Health Worker
HR Generalist with benefits or wellness focus

Advancement To:

Wellness Program Manager / Senior Wellness Manager
Director of Employee Wellbeing / Director of Population Health
Benefits Manager or Occupational Health Program Lead

Lateral Moves:

Occupational Health Specialist
Health Coach Supervisor / Clinical Health Educator
Benefits Consultant / Vendor Relationship Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the end-to-end design, implementation, and optimization of multi-year wellness strategies and annual programming for employees, dependents, and eligible populations, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and diversity, equity, and inclusion priorities.
Develop evidence-based initiatives (e.g., chronic disease management, weight management, tobacco cessation, mental health and resilience, nutrition education, fitness challenges) and translate clinical guidelines into practical workplace interventions.
Manage vendor selection, contracting, onboarding, and ongoing performance evaluation for wellness vendors such as wellness platforms, biometric screening vendors, health coaches, digital health apps, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).
Oversee all aspects of health screenings and biometric events (planning, vendor coordination, participant communications, logistics, follow-up care coordination) and ensure accurate capture, secure storage, and reporting of screening data.
Design and administer incentive frameworks, rewards programs, and engagement campaigns to optimize participation while maintaining regulatory compliance (ERISA, HIPAA, ACA considerations).
Conduct health risk assessments (HRAs), analyze aggregated risk profiles, and use results to prioritize program offerings, tailor communications, and create population health interventions.
Build and maintain dashboards and analytics to track participation, engagement, clinical outcomes, cost savings, and ROI; prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual program performance reports for leadership and stakeholders.
Manage program budgets, forecast expenses, negotiate pricing and service level agreements with vendors, and ensure cost-effectiveness of wellness activities.
Develop compelling multi-channel communications (email campaigns, intranet pages, posters, webinars, manager toolkits) to increase program awareness, participation, and sustained behavior change.
Lead or coordinate group workshops, webinars, onsite wellness events, and trainings (e.g., stress management, ergonomics, nutrition, preventative health) delivered in-person and virtually.
Provide one-on-one health coaching oversight or deliver coaching directly when required, applying motivational interviewing and behavior change techniques to support participant goals.
Ensure programs meet legal, regulatory, and privacy requirements (HIPAA compliance, PHI handling, employee confidentiality) and implement data governance and consent processes.
Collaborate with benefits, HR, occupational health, safety, and payroll teams to integrate wellness activities with benefits utilization, leave management, and return-to-work processes.
Partner with clinical providers, community organizations, and insurers to coordinate referrals, disease management programs, and preventative care services that complement workplace wellness.
Conduct needs assessments, surveys, and focus groups to capture employee health interests and barriers; translate findings into program enhancements and segmentation strategies.
Develop and execute measurement plans, including pre/post evaluations, control group comparisons, and econometric analyses where applicable, to quantify impact on health outcomes, utilization, and cost.
Supervise and mentor wellness staff, contractors, seasonal coordinators, and interns; set objectives, conduct performance reviews, and foster a collaborative, results-driven culture.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives, pilot innovative digital health technologies and behavior-change interventions, and scale successful pilots across the organization.
Represent the organization at internal and external meetings, presentations, and conferences; prepare executive summaries and make data-driven recommendations to senior leadership.
Maintain an up-to-date understanding of public health guidelines, industry best practices, and emerging wellness trends (telehealth, digital therapeutics, wearable integrations) to keep programs current and effective.
Coordinate crisis response and wellness support during organizational change or public health events (e.g., pandemic response planning, mental health crisis support).
Manage grants, wellness-related funding opportunities, and partnerships to augment program resources and expand service offerings where applicable.
Create and maintain program documentation, SOPs, toolkits, and training materials for consistent program delivery and scalability.
Facilitate cross-functional committees and wellness advisory groups (including employee champions and leadership sponsors) to align initiatives and drive adoption.
Track vendor deliverables and SLAs, escalate issues, and lead remediation efforts when vendor performance does not meet expectations.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc reporting requests from HR, finance, and leadership related to health trends and program ROI.
Assist benefits team with open enrollment communications that link benefit utilization to wellness opportunities.
Maintain the wellness program calendar and coordinate scheduling across multi-site operations.
Support procurement and contracting processes for small projects or pilots.
Provide administrative oversight for wellness-related reimbursements, stipends, and payroll integrations.
Coordinate volunteer wellness ambassadors and manage recognition programs to sustain peer-driven engagement.
Conduct literature reviews and benchmarking to inform program strategy and vendor selection.
Assist in development and dissemination of annual wellness strategy playbooks and manager-facing implementation guides.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Program design and implementation for employee or community wellness programs (workplace health promotion).
Health promotion and disease prevention expertise (chronic disease management, smoking cessation, weight management).
Data analysis and reporting (Excel advanced functions, pivot tables, basic SQL or experience with analytics platforms — Tableau, Power BI, or wellness vendor dashboards).
Experience with wellness platforms, HRIS, LMS, or biometric vendor systems and integrations (e.g., Virgin Pulse, Wellable, Limeade, Vitality, Castlight).
Health Risk Assessment (HRA) administration and population health segmentation.
Budget management, vendor contract negotiation, and procurement oversight.
Knowledge of regulatory and privacy frameworks (HIPAA compliance, PHI handling, ACA considerations).
Facilitation, group training, and workshop delivery for health education sessions.
Metrics development and ROI measurement — ability to define KPIs and translate health outcomes into financial impact.
Project management skills including timeline creation, stakeholder management, and Agile or phased rollout experience.
Clinical literacy to collaborate with nurses, physicians, and behavioral health specialists (ability to interpret clinical summaries and referral needs).
Experience with health coaching methodologies and motivational interviewing techniques.
Grant writing or funding stewardship (preferred for community-facing roles).
Proficiency creating communications using marketing platforms, email automation tools, or internal comms channels.

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication tailored to diverse audiences (executives, managers, employees).
Strong stakeholder engagement and influence — able to secure buy-in across HR, finance, and leadership.
Empathy and cultural competence to design inclusive programs for diverse populations.
Problem-solving mindset with the ability to turn data insights into actionable program changes.
Leadership and team supervision with coaching and mentoring experience.
Organizational skills and attention to detail for multi-project coordination.
Adaptability and resilience in fast-changing environments (public health events, shifting organizational priorities).
Customer-service orientation focused on participant experience and barrier reduction.
Presentation and storytelling skills to communicate program impact clearly to non-technical audiences.
Time management and prioritization across competing initiatives.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Public Health, Health Education, Nursing, Human Resources, Kinesiology, Nutrition, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH), Healthcare Administration (MHA), Health Promotion, or related graduate degree.
Professional certifications such as Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), Certified Wellness Practitioner (CWP), or Health Coach certification are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Public Health
Health Promotion / Community Health
Nursing
Kinesiology / Exercise Science
Nutrition & Dietetics
Human Resources / Organizational Development
Occupational Health & Safety

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years of progressive experience in wellness, health promotion, population health, or benefits-related roles.

Preferred: 5+ years leading workplace or community wellness programs, vendor management experience, proven success increasing program engagement and demonstrating measurable health and financial outcomes. Experience working with large-scale employers, unions, or multi-site organizations is advantageous.