Senior Retirement Compliance Consultant
About The Position
NRECA is a national trade association serving more than 900 consumer-owned electric cooperatives. This role joins a team of legal and compliance professionals providing legal, compliance, and audit services across NRECA’s products and services. The consultant provides professional guidance and advice to member cooperatives and internal staff concerning NRECA retirement plans and their compliance requirements. The position addresses complex regulatory and operational issues through independent analysis, applying knowledge of state and federal rules to help cooperatives maximize plan benefits while minimizing compliance risk. The role is eligible for NRECA’s hybrid schedule, with the option to work from home up to two days per week, and requires reporting to the office when required.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field.
- 8–10 years of related compliance experience with defined contribution and defined benefit plans.
- Professional certification such as QKA, QPA, CEBS, or equivalent.
- Specialized knowledge of Department of Labor requirements, the Internal Revenue Code, and ERISA requirements for qualified retirement plans.
- Advanced understanding of defined contribution and defined benefit plan designs.
- Advanced skill in complex ADP/ACP testing and 401(a)(4), 402(g), 415, 401(a)(17), 414, 416, and 410(b) tests.
Responsibilities
- Review and validate defined contribution and defined benefit plan compliance testing conducted by an external vendor, analyze results, and compare multiple tests.
- Independently perform complex tests not supported through the co-sourcing arrangement.
- Summarize test findings for cooperatives, identify compliance risks, recommend corrective actions, advise on historical testing results and plan design strategies, articulate risk considerations, and ensure identified issues are resolved.
- Review new retirement plan adoption agreements, special early retirement programs, past service liabilities, proposals, plan mergers, asset transfers, plan freezes, and other complex or atypical transactions to evaluate their impact and ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Lead domestic relations orders project work, including providing documentation, communicating with involved parties, reviewing and advising on draft orders, determining compliance with the IRC and administrability by the plans, and exercising discretion in determining DRO qualification.
- Maintain sample domestic relations orders and procedures.
- Lead safe harbor plan design work for the retirement compliance team and provide subject matter expertise on safe harbor notices.
- Consult with cooperatives on safe harbor plan designs, provide estimates and projections for cooperative management, prepare documentation for safe harbor formula and other plan changes, and coordinate activities with internal staff.
- Support the safe harbor notice project by contributing to project plans, reviewing communications materials, assisting with notice follow-up, and generating manual notices.
- Report to the office when required.
Benefits
- Hybrid schedule with the option to work from home up to two days per week.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
