Retirement Benefits Counselor

State of North Carolina•3200 Atlantic Ave Wake, NC

7d•$47,703 - $55,209•Hybrid

About The Position

The primary purpose of this position is to assist active & retired state and local government employees, beneficiaries, employers and agencies with retirement and benefit inquiries by counseling and educating them on benefit programs administered by the Retirement Systems Division and with explaining statute details and legislative interpretations. This section receives phone calls and e-mails from employees and employers from all around the state regarding all the different retirement systems and responds to a variety of calls and e-mails from simple, moderately complex to very complex questions. These Counseling Center Counselors are trained as subject matter experts regarding all matters retirement and are equipped to handle even the most complex situations that require additional research and follow up, with an awareness toward customer service.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree from an appropriately accredited institution and two (2) years of experience related to the area of assignment; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
Must pass and complete the mandatory 8-week new hire training class.
Must complete a 9-month re-assessment.
Must complete a 4-week Disability training class within the first 18 months of employment.
Pass on-going weekly quality assessments from randomly pulled call recordings.

Nice To Haves

Subject matter experts regarding all matters retirement.
Awareness toward customer service.

Responsibilities

Explains and applies interpretations of laws, codes, AG opinions and procedural guides related to various retirement systems.
Assesses individual member situations while applying current statute regulations and communicating the appropriate decision to involved parties.
Acts as a liaison between other sections and our members, beneficiaries, human resource departments, agencies, and others that contact the Retirement Systems Division.
Educates, assists, counsels, and advises members, their dependents, and/or other involved parties of the benefits programs to determine entitlement, eligibility, timing, privileges, obligations, options and benefits, and explains the applicable provisions.
Objectively analyzes each member’s situation, selects and applies the appropriate regulations and formulas, and communicates the various options available.
Evaluates requests and problems in order to determine the member’s rights or benefits; provides counseling as to the wisdom of certain service purchases, optional payment plans, career changes, beneficiary designations, etc.
Provides technical assistance to agencies and HR professionals in regards to the various retirement systems such as procedural matters, reporting requirements and supplies information to administrative and personnel officials of all agencies covered under the variety of retirement plans.
Interprets a variety of legislation concerning retirement, depending on the date of enrollment, and the laws in place at that time.
Provides advice to members in a variety of organizational structures requiring knowledge of personnel regulations and practices, payroll policies, salary plans and the earning of sick, vacation, bonus, and longevity earnings.
Researches complicated benefit provisions regarding statutory and regulatory changes.
Researches more complex cases and responds via e-mail and/or phone call.
Researches open cases by working with other departments to understand TATs and responds back to member or employer via e-mail and/or phone call.
Must pass and complete the mandatory 8-week new hire training class followed by on-going quarterly refresher trainings and assessments, quarterly knowledge assessments and on-going training classes as assigned by the Learning and Development department and as requested by leadership, a 3-day Customer Service Quality Phone Interaction Skills training and pass on-going weekly quality assessments from randomly pulled call recordings.
Must complete a 9-month re-assessment followed by a 4-week Disability training class within the first 18 months of employment.
Cross-trains in other departments to assist the division as needed and to strengthen the skills of the Member Services department as a whole.
Assists with shadowing, mentoring and quality training of new personnel.
Performs additional duties as assigned to meet department and division needs.