About this role
Halifax Regional Municipality Pension PlanJob Posting - Senior Pension Consultant (Full-Time)The Halifax Regional Municipality Pension Plan Office is a busy and growing office dedicated to the effective operation of a $3.3+ billion pension fund serving approximately 15,000 plan members. The Pension Plan is a multi-employer defined benefit pension plan with an optional defined contribution component. Reporting to management, the Senior Pension Consultant will work with the Plan Member Services team to provide high quality pension administration service. The office is in HRM and can accommodate a flexible work arrangement that includes both an in-person and remote work environment with scheduled time in the office.As a Senior Pension Consultant on the Plan Member Services team, your primary responsibility will be to assist the management team, ensuring the accurate and timely processing of all member transactions, such as retirement, termination, death, pension estimates, reciprocal transfers and service purchases; annual year end processing, and overall database management. You will also be responsible for communicating with plan members and beneficiaries on their pension entitlements and providing guidance and training to internal staff.As the ideal candidate, you have experience in pension administration and can quickly prioritize your day. You are interested in working directly with plan members in a professional and highly regulated industry. You are self-motivated, highly organized, and possess a strong attention to detail. As part of a 24-person office, you must be able to work efficiently and collaboratively in a team environment with minimal supervision and be willing to support other team members as needed. This position requires confidentiality, excellent communication skills and the ability to work with many stakeholders including Pension Office staff, members of the Pension Committee, service providers, plan members, and Participating Employers. Honesty, integrity and the ability to keep confidential information private are essential requirements for this role.Duties and Responsibilities:Maintain current/thorough knowledge and awareness of pension administration best practices, applicable legislative environment, technology and industry developmentsAssist with supervising internal Plan Member Services team, including training, development and performance evaluationsLiaise with regulatory bodies, other pension plan sponsors and administrators, external lawyers, consultants, actuaries, auditors and other relevant partiesMaintain member pension records, workflow management systems, member self service and pension calculation tools, procedures, internal standards and controlsReview calculations, payments, correspondence and database updates for terminations, retirements, death benefits, pension estimates, reciprocal transfers and past service purchases; process and authorize benefit paymentsEnsure the effective flow of documentation for pension-related eventsEnsure staff compliance with service standards are met for member transactionsMaintain/create pension administration spreadsheetsPrepare and give presentations to plan member groups about the PlanParticipate in the training and development of Plan Member Services staffIdentify inefficiencies with pension administration processes and recommend improvementsAssist in the annual year-end data collection process with the Participating Employers, annual data review/validations and preparation/review of Employee StatementsPerform regular audits and reconciliations to ensure accuracy of benefit payments and pension recordsProvide excellent customer service by responding to escalated plan member requests and questions in a satisfactory and timely mannerCommunicate and meet with plan members, former members and beneficiaries regarding benefit entitlements and processesDocument member calls to provide necessary and detailed information for internal audit purposes and member sa