Retirement Specialist / Sr Retirement Specialist, Grade N23/Grade N26

WHO WE ARE

Montgomery County is one of Maryland's outstanding places to live and work. With the largest population in Maryland at over one million residents and located near the Nation’s capital, the County is one of the most affluent jurisdictions in Maryland and the nation. Montgomery County has a strong and diverse economy, with the 4th highest concentration of biotech in the U.S., corporate headquarters to industry leaders like Novavax, Marriott, Geico, and Lockheed Martin, and home to 32 federal facilities. Demographically, the County is approximately 42.9% white; 20.1% Hispanic or Latino; 20.1% Black or African American and 15.6% Asian. 91% of adult residents have at least a high school diploma while 57.8% hold a bachelor's or higher degree.

Department of Finance programs include Controller operations (AP, AR, Timekeeping & Payroll, General & Grants Accounting); Fiscal Management (debt management, investing, cash management, economic development program administration, fiscal policy analysis and revenue and economic forecasting); Treasury (tax billing and collection, and cashiering); Retirement Administration (member services, compliance, financial services); and Risk Management (self- and commercial insurance, claims administration, and safety). These programs, including department-wide experts in information technology, human resources, contracting and budgeting, are managed by a team of professionals with a depth of government experience, and with industry expertise developed while working for Fortune 500 companies, bond rating agencies, investment banking, insurance, public accounting, academic institutions, governmental entities and financial and systems consulting.

The mission of the Retirement Administration Division (RAD) is to administer the Employee Retirement Plans and provide service to their beneficiaries. Our three sections –Financial, Compliance, and Member Services – work together and within a fast-paced and deadline driven environment to provide a wide variety of services and work products. Our teams perform advanced-level analytical and advisory functions for multiple defined contribution/benefit retirement plans totaling approximately $6B, and provide in-depth customer service and counsel to over 16,000 plan members consisting of current employees, retirees, and other beneficiaries

RAD is seeking an energetic and results-oriented Retirement Specialist with proven retirement and public pension administration experience, and exceptional communication and organizational skills, to join our collaborative and committed team. Candidates must be keenly interested in working in a high-volume and fast-paced work environment aimed at serving our local government and workforce. The ideal candidate will be able to work independently to successfully perform analytical and advisory functions concerning the County's defined contribution and defined benefit retirement plans. 

Highly successful employees within RAD:

• have strong time management, problem solving, and organizational skills.
• can work independently and reliably within a detail oriented and deadline driven environment.
• apply their considerable knowledge of and experience working with public pension and defined contribution retirement plans.
• communicate professionally and excel at explaining complex, technical, or financial information to various audiences and customers (via telephone, presentations, reports, email, etc.).
• effectively manage a wide portfolio of responsibilities, projects, and competing priorities.

This position is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the County’s various retirement plans, as described below.

Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and Long-Term Disability (LTD)

• Read and interpret retirement plan documents with a basic understanding of related rules and regulations.
• Prepare pension calculations and review monthly pension and disability payments processing.
• 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 (RSP) and Guaranteed Retirement Income Plan (GRIP)

• 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.
• Recommend new approaches and draft procedures to enhance the efficiency of the processing of retirement plan activities.

This position may be underfilled as a Retirement Specialist (Analyst), Grade N23. Once the employee is at full performance and meets the minimum requirements of the Proficiency Advancement process, they are eligible for a non-competitive promotion to the Senior Retirement Specialist (Analyst) level, Grade N26. 

Experience: If filled at the Senior Retirement Specialist (Analyst), Grade N26 Level: 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-à-vis defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.

Experience: If filled at the Retirement Specialist (Analyst), Grade N23 Level:  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-à-vis defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.

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

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

All applicants will be reviewed by OHR for minimum qualifications. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications will be rated Qualified, placed on the Eligible List, and may be considered for an interview. 

Preference for interviews will be given to applicants with experience in the following:

• Experience with managing programs and projects.

• Experience with researching and identifying relevant sources of information and synthesizing and analyzingdata of various complexity and importance.
• Experience with retirement benefits, including defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans.
• 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.
• Experience with HRIS/pension systems & its functionalities in managing, reporting, improving retirement processes & services.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.