Title:  Senior Pension Consultant (Open to Remote)

Location

This role will be based in Wayzata, Minnesota and is open to remote in the US. 

Job Purpose and Impact

The Senior Pension Consultant role is responsible for managing the strategy, governance and financial risk management of U.S. retirement benefit programs (qualified and non-qualified plans). With minimal supervision, this role resolves complex issues related to U.S. retirement benefit initiatives. It also contributes to the design, evaluation and modification of U.S. retirement plans to ensure they remain competitive, cost effective, compliant, and supportive of the overall employee experience.

Key Accountabilities

• PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION: Oversees reviews and updates of U.S. retirement programs, including vendor coordination and communication. Ensures integration of plan design and strategy during organizational transactions such as mergers and acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures.
• EMPLOYEE SUPPORT: Develops and delivers communications related to U.S. retirement benefits to key stakeholders (plan participants, business leaders, HRBPs, HR Ops, etc.). Resolves complex inquiries and issues regarding the company's pension programs, policies, and processes, ensuring a positive employee experience.
• PROGRAM DDEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION: Designs and develops U.S. retirement benefit programs that are competitive and cost efficient considering cross-functional implications (Finance, Legal, ER/LR, Tax, IT, etc.). Performs periodic benchmarking analysis against industry data to identify potential design improvements and to ensure programs remain competitive and employee attractive in alignment with the organization's total rewards strategy, while managing risk appropriately.
• STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT: Contributes to the development and implementation of the organization's U.S. retirement program strategy, including financial wellbeing. Conducts comprehensive analysis and develops business cases to support plan design and vendor decisions, partnering with the business and key stakeholders, and maintaining an inventory to assist with queries, reporting and analytics.
• STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT: Partners with Treasury, Procurement, HR Ops, and Total Rewards Advisory to manage vendor relationships, conduct RFPs, and support contract negotiations. Collaborates with Finance to support U.S. GAAP accounting, funding, expense and budget requirements. Collaborates with Treasury and the Pension Investment Committee to develop financial risk management strategies (e.g. investment policy, plan termination, liability buy-in/out, etc.). Collaborates with HR Ops to implement plan design and vendor changes, and to ensure a seamless employee experience.
• COMPLIANCE: Partners with Legal to develop and maintain policies and procedures to ensure U.S. retirement programs are in compliance with U.S. legal requirements and internal standards. Recommends program improvements based on emerging regulatory trends and best practices
• PROGRAM ANALYSIS: Draws insights from employee research and data analytics to assess retirement program effectiveness. Recommends and implements design enhancements to better align with employee needs and the organization's total rewards strategy.
• VENDOR MANAGEMENT: Partners with external vendors and internal cross-functional teams to stay updated on the latest technologies, tools and methodologies. Identifies opportunities to modernize delivery and enhance the employee experience.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum requirement of 4 years of relevant work experience with strong technical knowledge of U.S. retirement benefits. Typically reflects 5 years or more of relevant experience in the field.
• Demonstrated analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to handle multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.

Preferred Qualifications

• In-depth technical knowledge of U.S. retirement plans, including relevant legal and tax regulations. More than 5 years of experience in the U.S. retirement benefits field is preferred.
• Strong cross-functional influencing and collaboration skills (HR, Finance, Legal, Tax, vendor relationships, etc.).
• Ability to communicate complex technical retirement matters effectively at all levels of the organization, internally and externally.
• Proven project management capabilities, with a proactive, solution-oriented mindset and keen commitment to drive continuous improvements with little supervision.
• Ability to work in a team environment as well as independently.
• SOA accreditation or active progress toward accreditation is preferred.

Additional Information

Compensation

The expected salary for this position is $110-140K. This position is eligible for a discretionary incentive award. The incentive award amount is dependent upon company performance and your personal performance.

Benefits

Full-Time (30+ hours) positions are eligible for a benefit package including the following (subject to certain collective bargaining agreements for Union positions): Paid time off; paid holidays; medical, vision, and dental coverage; flexible spending accounts; life insurance; disability insurance; retirement savings; employee and family assistance program (EAP).