Career Opportunity

1813-Senior Benefits Analyst

Recruitment: RTF0152277-01157014

Published: October 22, 2024

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About:

Who We Are

The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) is dedicated to securing, protecting, and prudently investing the pension trust assets, administering mandated benefits programs, and providing promised benefits to the active and retired members of the City and County of San Francisco.

Established in 1889 as a fund for families and orphans of firefighters and police officers, today the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System serves more than 75,000 active, vested, and retired employees of the City and County of San Francisco and their survivors.

What We Do

The Retirement Services Division plays a crucial role in administering retirement benefits for both active and retired employees as well as their beneficiaries. Staff provide comprehensive retirement counseling services to guide individuals through their retirement planning journey and process various benefit applications, including service and disability retirements, survivor benefits, vesting allowances, refunds, reciprocity, and the purchase of service credit. The Retirement Services Division also manages the disbursement of approximately $150 million in monthly benefit payments to around 32,100 retirees and beneficiaries, ensuring timely and accurate payments.

Department: San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS)
Job class: 1813 Senior Benefits Analyst
Pay range: $105,456 to $128,232 annually
Role type: Permanent Civil Service What does this mean?
Hours: Mon - Fri, 8:00am - 5:00pm (limited flexibility)
Exam type: Supplemental Questionnaire
Rule: Rule of 3 scores
List type: Position Based Test

Applications due by 5:00pm, Monday, October 28, 2024.

Role description

What We’re Looking For

Under direction, the Senior Benefits Analyst at the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System leads a staff of benefits technical, professional and clerical employees in the Retirement Services Division, engaged in member counseling, benefit calculations, plan enrollments, record keeping and data maintenance and benefit payments. Examples of primary duties may include:

1. Coordinates the work of, and assists in the evaluation of benefits technicians, clerks and/or professional retirement analysts engaged in pension program activities, such as calculating benefits, balancing and verifying the accuracy of payments, membership counseling services, membership enrollment and termination, and records management and maintenance.
2. Assists in planning and implementing special projects as assigned.
3. Reviews and researches on more complex and difficult cases of an assigned program area.
4. Trains employees on work procedures, and departmental procedures and policies.
5. Checks work of Assistant Retirement Analysts and/or Benefits Technicians as to the accuracy of work and benefit payments.
6. Reviews and implements operational procedures; reviews and implements legislative changes related to the benefit program; applies existing City Charter and Administrative Code provisions related to the assigned benefit program.
7. Compiles and evaluates statistical and other data to prepare various reports including verifications and issuance of documents to members.
8. Contacts City departments, employees, employee representatives, other government agencies and various private entities to furnish and/or obtain information on specialized employee benefit matters.
9. Trains, coaches and assists in evaluating employees on delivery of quality customer service, provides accurate and timely information to member inquiries and resolution of outstanding member matters.
10. Assists in the reviewing of materials, coordination, and presentation of member retirement seminars and group retirement planning seminars.
11. Orients and conducts member interviews and group counseling sessions to active, retired members and survivors, and ensuring follow-through to resolve outstanding member issues or inquiries.
12. Coordinates payroll posting/transmissions, verifications of data accuracy, resolving exceptions and maintenance of member records.
13. Oversees staff who conducts historical research related to employment service credit and earnings to ensure accurate benefit entitlements.
14. Prepares reports as requested to perform retirement calculations in accordance with plan regulations to determine appropriate benefit calculations for members and survivors.
15. Utilizes the Microsoft Office, Windows Software, and designated databases to compile and calculate data, conduct data analysis and produce reports.

How to qualify

How to qualify

Education:

Possession of a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Experience:

Two (2) years of professional experience in administering an employee benefit program; experience must include two (2) years experience and knowledge of the administration of employee pension and death benefits programs; including applicable federal/sate/City law and associated terminology.

Substitution:

Additional qualifying work experience may substitute for the required education on a year for year basis (30 semester/ 45 quarter units equals one year).

How to stand out:

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.

• Minimum of three years verifiable experience with employee retirement benefit programs involving analysis of data for counseling and benefit calculations with a public sector retirement and/or pension plan or experience with a defined benefit plan or defined contribution plan.
• Minimum of two years verifiable experience processing and handling numerical data records. Minimum of one year verifiable supervisory experience in benefit administration or in a customer service focus environment.
• Working knowledge of PeopleSoft.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office including Microsoft Word using mail merge, and Microsoft Excel creating formulas and creating links between cells on the same or different worksheets.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

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 athttps://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

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

Applications will be screened for relevant qualifying experience. Additional screening mechanisms may be implemented to determine candidates’ qualifications. Only those applicants who most closely meet the needs of the Agency will be invited to participate in the selection process. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement in the selection process.

Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation: (Weight: 100%).

Applicants must complete the Supplemental Questionnaire by clicking on the link here: https://forms.office.com/g/SY7RP9KzPj  The Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation is designed to measure knowledge, skills and/or abilities in job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: knowledge of administration of benefit plans, knowledge of management and planning techniques; knowledge of investigative techniques and benefits counseling techniques; ability to perform accurate benefits calculations; ability to research and analyze data; human relation ability; written communication ability; supervisory ability analytical ability; ability to apply the principles and methods for employee pension benefits; and ability to work on sensitive and confidential matters.

A passing score must be achieved on the Supplemental Questionnaire Evaluation to be ranked on the eligible list.

Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed to advance through all the steps in the selection process. The department may administer additional selection procedures upon certification 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 see http:/

www.sfdhr.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentlD=21246. Search that document by title or job code to see which departments use the classification

What else should I know?

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 Three. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights

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
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Veterans Preference
• 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 “Apply Now” 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.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the exam analyst, James Galileo, at James.Galileo@sfgov.org.                             

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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.

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.