2H44
DEPUTY PENSION DIRECTOR

This is administrative work directing the implementation of policies, procedures, and regulations for the Board of Pensions and Retirement . The employee in this class functions as an across the board assistant to the Pension Director and has responsibility for directing, through subordinate administrators and supervisors, the day to day operations of the City’s pension program, 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) and the Retiree Health and Welfare Program. Contact with actuarial consultants, deferred compensation representatives, labor leaders, department heads, retirees, other governmental agencies, and City employees concerning pension program and deferred compensation procedures and investment activities is of major significance to the work. The employee in this class serves as the primary liaison with the Office of the Auditor General for all annual and special reviews and is responsible for the coordination of practices with other departments, such as Risk Management, Personnel and Finance. The employee reports to the Pension Director.

ALLOCATING FACTORS: (The following conditions must be met for a position to be allocated to this class.)

1. The position must be located within the Board of Pensions.
2. Only one position will be allocated to this class.
3. The position must report to the Pension Director and supervise subordinate second level supervisors.

• Directs, through subordinate administrators and supervisors, the multi employee pension plans, the city’s 457 Deferred Compensation Plan, the retiree health and welfare benefits program, pension counseling and active services; develops goals and objectives and implements policy and procedural changes for each departmental unit; develops training materials for departmental staff; provides training, direction and technical advice to subordinate staff, trustees, union presidents and their representatives; monitors overall operations to improve efficiency.
• Directs the implementation of programs to orient members about pension procedures and benefits; confers with marketing consultants to develop informational materials for pre-retirement seminars; conducts training in pension benefits for attendees of the city’s pre-retirement and early retirement seminars; provides education and communication services for the membership regarding provisions and benefits for the civilian, fire and police plans including the 1967 and 1987 plans as well as those plans prior to 1967.
• Assumes oversight responsibility for the department’s information and other technologies; coordinates initiatives with the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology including the joint assessment of current business practices and proposed improvements; determines whether proposed system changes will function to meet the department’s needs; oversees the review of data quality management, workflow analysis, and implementation of improvements to the database management and reporting functions; directs the business design phase, testing, data conversion quality control and change management process for the Board’s retirement information system re-engineering project; works with in-house consultants, MOIS, Finance and Risk Management to assure proper interface to all existing applications. Directs, through subordinate supervisors, the administration of the City’s Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP); directs, through a subordinate program manager, the Deferred Compensation program as it relates to benefits, loans, salary deferrals, enrollments and disbursements; directly supervises the auditing firm contracted to conduct the required annual audit.
• Monitors development in pension laws and assesses their impact on the City’s pension system; attends seminars and conferences on investment practices and recent trends in pension programs; consults with pension administrators of other jurisdictions, and city legal representatives on investment strategies and developments; consults with tax attorneys and tax experts about changes in federal law that impact on the taxability of specific pension benefits.
• Confers with actuarial consultants to provide information required to complete actuarial studies and experience evaluations; oversees the preparation of pension evaluation forms of members regarding the equitable distribution of marital pension assets as a result of divorce; supervises the review and approval of all Domestic Relations Orders for compliance with the Pension Code; verifies that staff has implemented payments of benefits to Alternate Payees.
• Oversees the annual operating budget for the Pension Board; provides testimony as the city’s expert witness regarding the plan’s disability and service retirement benefits for employees who also receive worker’s compensation.
• Functions as Pension Director in his or her absence; may appear before city council.
• Performs related work as required.

KNOWLEDGE OF:

• the principles, practices, methods and techniques in maintaining a comprehensive pension program.
• the application of benefits under the laws, acts, ordinances, and regulations pertaining to retirement, disability, and survivors insurance.
• Internal Revenue Service tax laws concerning defined benefit plans, lump sum distributions and the city’s deferred compensation plan.
• labor agreements between the city and the various unions
• Ad Board rules and regulations specifically as they apply to the city’s health and welfare programs.
• supervisory and administrative methods and techniques.
• the capabilities of electronic data processing equipment used in the administration of pension programs.
• investment vehicles and markets and the factors affecting the value and investment potential of various investment instruments.

ABILITY TO:

• apply the provisions of the City’s pensions program.
• analyze the procedures of existing pension plans and to supervise the implementation of any revisions and new plans established.
• interpret a variety of financial reports and the annual actuarial evaluation report as well as the tri-annual experience study.
• express ideas effectively, both orally and in writing.
• establish and maintain effective working relationships with associates, trustees, employees, pensioners, beneficiaries, survivors, their legal and natural guardians, their legal and union representatives, government officials, actuarial consultants and others.

EDUCATION

• Completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
AND


GENERAL EXPERIENCE

• Three years of Pensions experience.
AND


SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE

• Three years as a Pension Program Administrator.

OR

Any equivalent combination of education and experience determined to be acceptable by the Personnel Department which includes a possession of a bachelor’s degree as an educational minimum and has included the specific experience described above.

PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required of a position in this class.