Retirement Specialist

The City of Alexandria is located in Northern Virginia and is bordered by the District of Columbia (Potomac River), Arlington, and Fairfax counties. With a population of approximately 150,000 and a land area of 15.75 square miles, Alexandria is the seventh largest city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Alexandria has a vibrant waterfront and is a unique and historic place to live and work. About one-quarter of the City's square miles have been designated as a national or local historic district. We proudly embrace our racially and culturally diverse community. If you are interested in working for the progressive City of Alexandria, we invite qualified candidates to apply for the Retirement Specialist position.

An Overview

The City of Alexandria’s Finance Department is looking for a personable, collaborative, detail-oriented Retirement Specialists to join our team. As a member of the Pension Administration Division, the Retirement Specialist performs professional and administrative work in assisting employees, their beneficiaries, and retirees with benefit information. The employee in this class counsel's employees, research information on service credit and other eligibility issues, including calculations of various retirement estimates, prepares documents for submission to the Virginia Retirement System (VRS), and provides staff support to the various retirement boards. This work is performed under the general supervision of the Retirement Administrator.

What You Should Bring

The ideal candidate is a people-oriented, self-motivated professional, who can also manage critical details and perform financial analysis. Additional skills and abilities include:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word.
• Familiarity with retirement and pension systems, and
• High attention to detail.

The Opportunity - Examples of Work

• Meets with and counsel's prospective retirees and separating employees on available retirement options and coordinates proper preparation of required applications.
• Calculates benefit estimates under Virginia Retirement System, City Supplemental Plan, and the Firefighters and Police Officers Pension Plan, to include the disability components of each plan.
• Provides ongoing assistance as liaison between retirement vendors (Virginia Retirement System and Empower) and retirees and current employees.
• Assists in administering the City’s 457 Deferred Compensation Plan.
• Interprets laws, regulations, and policies and assists in the review and update of plan documents.
• Verifies, enters, and reconciles information across multiple databases.
• Prepares and conducts presentations, orientations, and workshops for City employees.
• Prepares written information to help employees and retirees understand their benefits, to include updating the division website.
• Schedules, tracks, and advertises City-wide financial education events.
• Provides staff support for investment retirement boards; and
• Performs related work as required.

About the Department

The City of Alexandria's Finance Department is a fast-paced, diverse, and customer service focused operation that is responsible for the assessment, collection, and enforcement of all City taxes, the management of cash flow and investments, accounting for and reporting the City’s financial position, processing payroll, executing a fair and competitive procurement environment, assessing all real and personal property in the City, managing the City’s risk and safety programs, and managing the City’s pension plans. The Finance Department has seven divisions and in fiscal year 2024 is operating with a total budget of $15.4 million and 111 FTE positions.

The goal of the Finance Department is to treat all employees, citizens, and business owners professionally, with fairness and compassion.

Minimum & Additional Requirements

Minimum and Additional Requirements

Bachelor's degree and three years of experience in retirement plan administration, skill in using spreadsheets for data analysis; ability to communicate effectively with individuals and groups, both verbally and in writing, or any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications

Professional experience specifically in public sector retirement plan administration, ability to develop and lead employee education programs related to retirement; professional experience managing institutional investments; advanced skill with Microsoft Excel (e.g., pivot tables, VLOOKUP), a professional certification relevant to the field (e.g., CEBS, RPA, QPA, CPC).

Notes

Notes

This position requires the successful completion of pre-employment background checks including but not limited to a criminal background check. The selection process for this position may include a phone or virtual interview, in-person interview, and/or written examination.

The starting salary range for this position is $61,489.48 to $86,200.14 (midpoint of the grade), based on qualifications and experience. The incumbent can eventually be awarded up to $108,209.40 (Step 20) with tenure and job performance.