Job Description

Closing Date: Open until filled

Montgomery County Employee Retirement Plans (MCERP) is seeking a self-motivated candidate with retirement experience and strong organizational skills.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

This is a senior level professional class that (1) performs analytical and advisory functions concerning the County's defined contribution and defined benefit retirement Plans, and (2) provides advanced-level retirement counsel and service to employees, retirees and other beneficiaries.

Major duties include but are not limited to :

• Supporting actuarial evaluation of defined benefits.
• Conducting studies to develop policy recommendations or identify the financial impact of changes in Plan designs.
• Determining eligibility for various defined benefit and defined contribution Plans and Plan features.
• Calculating benefit options, making adjustments to benefit amounts, and counseling employees/others completing the retirement process.
• Making adjustments after retirement based on Plan features, audits, major life events and other factors.

Contacts are diverse and significant, and require the employee to maintain in-depth, up-to-date knowledge of the Plans administered and pension/retirement issues. This person in this position will require well-developed communication skills to exchange information about programmatic and operational matters with a diverse array of persons having varying levels of technical knowledge, viewpoints, and wants/needs. Communications will include financial impact details with actuaries and accountants to programmatic matters with members of the County Council to individual-specific benefits and options with rank-and-file employees, retirees and other beneficiaries.

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING IN SPECIFIC PROGRAM AREAS:

Employees' Retirement System & Long-Term Disability

• Read and interpret retirement plan documents with a basic understanding of related rules and regulations.
• Prepare and review the processing of monthly pension and disability payments.
• Review Qualified Domestic Relation Orders (QDROs) according to County guidelines.
• Maintain and update member information in database.
• Work with the ERP Implementation Team to ensure payment data integrity and systems security of retiree pension payments in the PeopleSoft module.
• Develop business processes.

Retirement Savings Plan and Guaranteed Retirement Income Plan

• Review participation by County employees in these plans to determine eligibility and processing of refunds.
• Read and interpret retirement plan documents with a basic understanding of related rules and regulations.
• Review of distribution forms.

All Retirement Plans

• Analyze and research complex financial issues and prepare written/oral reports addressing issues related to payments and benefits from the County's retirement plans.
• Provide guidance and assistance to County retirees on matters pertaining to pension payment activities.
• Assist with planning and conducting educational seminars, communication, and events for employees.
• Recommend new approaches and draft procedures to enhance the efficiency of the processing of retirement plan activities.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

The ideal candidate will possess strong time management, problem solving and organizational skills and work effectively in a deadline driven environment. We are looking for someone who has considerable knowledge of and experience working with public pension and defined contribution retirement plans.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

This position may be under-filled at the Retirement Analyst , Grade N23, with a salary range of $71,299 to $113,906 (midpoint $92,603). There is a non-competitive promotional opportunity to a Senior Retirement Analyst , Grade N26, with a salary range of $81,047 to $130,323 (midpoint $105,685). The anticipated hiring salary range is expected to be between the base and the midpoint of the ranges stated above.

Medical & Background Investigation (applies to both levels): Selected candidate(s) will be required to successfully complete a Medial History Review, Drug and Alcohol screen and background investigation prior to appointment. A criminal background and credit history check will be conducted on the selected candidate prior to appointment and will be a significant factor in the hiring decision.

Montgomery County Government offers a generous benefits package. Learn more about our Total Rewards: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/hr/recruitment/benefits.html

Additional Employment Information

OHR reviews the minimum qualifications of all applicants, irrespective of whether the candidate has previously been found to have met the minimum requirements for the job or been temporarily promoted to the same position. This evaluation is based solely on the information contained in the application/resume submitted for this specific position/IRC.

Montgomery County Government is an equal opportunity employer, committed to workforce diversity. Accordingly, as it relates to employment opportunities, the County will provide reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, in accordance with the law. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources via email to OHR@montgomerycountymd.gov . Individual determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be made in accordance with all applicable laws.

Montgomery County Government also provides hiring preference to certain categories of veterans and veterans/persons with a disability. For more information and to claim employment preference, please refer to the Careers webpage on Hiring Preference .

All applicants will respond to a series of questions related to their education, relevant experience, knowledge, skills and abilities required to minimally perform the job. The applicant's responses in conjunction with their resume and all other information provided in the employment application process will be evaluated to determine the minimum qualifications and preferred criteria status. Based on the results, the highest qualified applicants will be placed on an Eligible List and may be considered for an interview. Employees meeting minimum qualifications who are the same grade will be placed on Eligible List as a "Lateral Transfer" candidate and may be considered for interview.

If selected for consideration for this position, you may be required to provide evidence that you possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities indicated on your resume.

Montgomery County Ethics Law: Except as provided by law or regulation, the County's "Public Employees" (which does not include employees of the Sheriff's office) are subject to the County's ethics law including the requirements to obtain advanced approval of any outside employment and the prohibitions on certain outside employment. The outside employment requirements of the ethics law can be found at 19A-12 of the County Code . Additional information about outside employment can be obtained from the Ethics Commission website.

Minimum Qualifications

If filled at the Senior Retirement Analyst, Grade 26:

Experience: Considerable (5 years) professional experience in the day-to-day administration of public pension plans, which included determination of eligibility, calculation of benefits, counsel of employees and retirees, coordination with service providers and application of a large number of eligibility and benefit variables across multiple plans, altogether vis-a-vis defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.

Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in business administration, public administration, accounting, finance or another field that provided strong foundation in the area(s) of assignment.

If filled at the Retirement Analyst, Grade 23:

Experience : Three (3) years of professional experience in the day-to-day administration of public pension plans, which included determination of eligibility, calculation of benefits, coordination with service providers and application of a large number of eligibility and benefit variables across multiple plans, altogether vis-a-vis defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.

Education: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in business administration, public administration, accounting, finance or another field that provided a strong foundation in the area(s) of assignment.

BOTH LEVELS:

Equivalency: An equivalent combination of education and experience may be substituted.

Preferred Criteria

Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications for the position will be placed on the eligible list as qualified. Selection for interview will be based on the following work experiences.

1. Experience with managing programs and projects.
2. Experience with researching and identifying relevant sources of information and synthesizing and analyzing data of various complexity and importance.
3. Experience with retirement benefits, including defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans.
4. Experience with computer applications/software such as Oracle, PeopleSoft, and the Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, and Access, to maintain databases and perform complex financial analysis.
5. Experience with HRIS/pension systems and its functionalities in managing, reporting and/or improving retirement processes and services.
6. Strong oral and written communication experience.

Minimum Salary 81047

Maximum Salary 130323

Currency USD