Career Opportunity

Retirement Operations Manager - San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (0931) (123054)

Recruitment: RTF0123053-01087474

Published: September 19, 2022

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About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted under Civil Service Commission Rule 111A.

The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) offers an exceptional opportunity for the right candidates to serve this historic, well established City Department by engaging in interesting and rewarding mission critical work. Established in 1889 as a fund for families and orphans of firefighters and police officers, today SFERS serves more than 75,000 active, vested and retired employees of the City and County of San Francisco and their survivors. 

Our Mission

SFERS is dedicated to securing, protecting and prudently investing pension trust assets, administering mandated benefits programs, and providing promised benefits to the active and retired SFERS members and their survivors.

Specific information regarding this recruitment process are listed below:

• Application Opening: September 19, 2022
• Application Deadline:  Open Until Filled
• Annual Salary: $141,492 - $180,622
• Recruitment ID:  123054 -  RTF0123053

This job announcement will not close before October 3, 2022. Interested applicants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Role description

Come join a team that is strongly committed to providing quality service to SFERS members by directing and planning operations for the SFERS Retirement Services Division.

Under direction of the Deputy Director for Retirement Services,  the  Retirement Operations Manager is responsible for all functions and activities of SFERS’ Retirement Operations division, which includes directing, planning, and overseeing the following core services: processing benefit applications; maintaining historical employment and payroll data for City employees; and payment of retirement benefits as required under Federal, State and local laws and regulations.

The essential functions of this position include:

• In conjunction with the Deputy Director of Retirement Services, plans, organizes, directs, and oversees the activities of the Retirement Operations division, including the calculation and payment of benefits and effective utilization of division resources.
• Proposes, develops, implements and monitors operational policies and procedures and ensures operational compliance with City Charter and Administrative Code provisions and Federal, State and City pension laws; researches and analyzes special benefit matters, retirement laws and tax issues.
• Develops procedures for implementation of various laws and regulations pertaining to the operations of a defined benefit retirement system (e.g., Charter amendments, Deferred Retirement Option Program etc.)
• Works with the central human resources and payroll divisions to coordinate payroll and other data required for the calculation and payment of benefits.
• Communicates and provides guidance to other City Departments when implementing operational policies and procedures.
• Manages data storage and record keeping of employment, payroll and SFERS pension-related data/records for all City employees.
• Directs the establishment and maintenance of auxiliary accounting/fiscal records and reports necessary for the proper recording and audit of approximately 35,000 Retirement System active members contributing through payroll deduction into the Retirement System Trust Fund.
• Prepares written communications and oral reports presenting complex benefit matters to a diverse population of Plan participants; prepares and presents recommendations to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and Deputy Director for Retirement Services regarding the analysis, planning and policies related to benefit matters.
• Works closely with SFERS Information Systems Director in the development, implementation and maintenance of the SFERS benefits systems.
• Assists in the preparation, development and monitoring of the Retirement Operations budget.
• Works with the three other SFERS Plan sponsors to coordinate payroll and other data required for the calculation and payment of benefits: the San Francisco Unified School District; the San Francisco Community College District and the Superior Court of San Francisco.

How to qualify

Minimum Qualifications:

1. Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university from an accredited with major coursework in public administration, law, business administration, or a related field; AND

2. Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in administering employee retirement and/or pension benefits programs, with at least three (3) years of experience supervising professional staff.

Substitution:  Additional experience as described above may be substituted for the required degree on a year-for-year basis (up to a maximum of two (2) years). One (1) year is equivalent to thirty (30) semester or forty-five (45) quarter units.

Desirable Qualifications:
The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Possession of a master’s degree.
• Five (5) years of verifiable experience in developing procedures for implementation of various laws and regulations pertaining to the operations of a defined benefit retirement system.
• Experience with handling payroll data.
• Experience with maintaining personnel or benefits databases.
• Experience with solving complex benefits issues, and training staff to evaluate and resolve benefits issues.

VERIFICATION:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at http://sfdhr.org/index.aspx?page=456.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications. 

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

SELECTION PROCEDURES:

After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following:

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying)

Candidates will be sent a minimum qualification supplemental questionnaire (MQSQ) to complete and submit. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding a candidate's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications for this position. It is essential that candidates provide complete information in identifying their education, experience, and training. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation: (Weight: 100%)

Candidates will be sent a Supplemental Questionnaire that must be completed by the set date. Candidates will be evaluated on their relative knowledge, skill and ability levels in job-related areas. A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire to be placed/ranked on the Eligible List. 

Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all of the steps in the selection process. The department may administer additional selection procedures upon certification in order to make a final hiring decision.

Candidates’ scores on this examination may also be applied to other announcements involving other job titles, when directed by the Human Resources Director.

Upon approval of the Human Resource Director (see Civil Service Rule 111A.26.5), the eligible list resulting from this announcement may be used by other departments that also use this classification or a similar classification.  To find other Departments which use this classification, please visit https://sfdhr.org/sites/default/files/documents/Forms-Documents/Position-Counts-by-Job-Codes-and-Department-FY-2021-22.pdf. Search that document by title or job code to see which departments use the classification.

What else should I know?

Eligible List/Score Report 

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission. 

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be six months, and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director. 

Certification

The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of the List.  Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions. 

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at careers.sf.gov.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

How To Apply

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process.

Visit careers.sf.gov and begin the application process.

• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Exam Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, Grace Tam at Grace.Tam@sfgov.org

All applicants must submit a completed job application (all sections, including Experience and Education, must be completed) in order to be considered. Resume will not be taken as a substitute for completing the application. 

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT:  All City and County of San Francisco employees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment. Someone is fully vaccinated when 14 days have passed since they received the final dose of a two-shot vaccine or a dose of a one-shot vaccine. Any new hire must present proof of full vaccination status to be appointed. Any new hire who will be routinely assigned or occasionally enter High-Risk Settings, must provide proof of having received a COVID-19 booster vaccine by March 1, 2022, or once eligible.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.