Senior Retirement Officer - FIN006444

Employment Type**:** Permanent Full-time

Location(s)****: SK-Central West-Kindersley

Ministry**:** 531 Sask Pension Plan (SPP)

Salary Range**:** $40.375 - $50.593 Hourly

Grade**:** SGEU.11.

About Us

The Saskatchewan Pension Plan (SPP) was created in 1986 and is a fully funded, capital accumulation plan created by the provincial government. SPP provides a professionally managed pension plan at low fees to individuals with little or no access to employer-sponsored pensions. SPP has over $850 M in assets under management and over 32,000 members.

The Opportunity

The SPP is seeking a well-organized, client-focused, and efficient individual to join its growing pension team in Kindersley in the Senior Retirement Officer position. Reporting to the Manager of Pension Services, the successful person will be responsible for overseeing the retirement services for SPP members, ensuring that all retirement options, transfers, and payments comply with regulations and organizational policies. This position plays a key role in guiding members through complex retirement decisions while ensuring the smooth operation of financial reconciliations, quality control, compliance, communication strategies, and system improvements. Responsible for providing retirement information services to members and complex member education and communications for retiring members, ensuring integration of education information across the stages of retirement and between departments. This position promotes the development of retirement planning to members in a variety of ways. You will have experience with the pension administration industry, strong written and oral communication skills, be flexible and proactive to handle shifting priorities.

This individual will also supervise and train staff involved in the pension work at SPP.

Specifically, the role is responsible for:

• Ensure the accuracy of all retirement-related financial transactions, including the reconciliation of member accounts involving RRSP transfers, annuity payments, and Variable Pension Benefit (VB) payments
• Review and oversee the Retirement Officer’s management of transfer requests, retirement payment disbursements, and the overall reconciliation of funds transferred from external financial institutions;
• Monitors and enforces quality control to ensure accuracy of post-system interfaces and to ensure technical compliance with regulations, including CRA minimum payment and tax requirements.
• Oversee the Retirement Officer’s compliance with ethical standards, particularly with respect to SPP’s legislation and industry standards.
• Anticipates, initiates, coordinates, and reviews communications to post-retirement members, including providing counselling to members, stakeholders (including legal and regulatory), and staff regarding complex escalated member issues.
• Coaches and trains pension services, member service, and finance staff on how to handle technical questions and member issues.
• Direct development of communication material to support presentations, including designing and delivering comprehensive, integrated, brand-aligned communication and education material using a variety of tactics and methods, including digital, face-to-face, and print media.
• Leads integrated communication strategies to inform pre-retirement and retired members about their options within SPP, including annuities and VB.
• Resolves escalated complex member inquiries, ensuring members receive clear and comprehensive responses to their questions about retirement plans, financial transfers, and SPP’s retirement options.
• Coordinates the verification and approval of payments and financial reconciliations with accounting and coordinates the post-retirement account management with the member services department.
• Anticipates, researches, develops recommendations for, and oversees implementation of policies and procedures related to retirement processing, ensuring they reflect current legislation and organizational needs.
• Test new and revised database programs that impact retirement, ensuring that any system changes support accurate and efficient member service.
• General supervision and training of staff involved in the pension work at SPP, including assignment of duties, workload responsibilities, and monitoring and evaluating performance.

You will have knowledge of:

• Communication and language skills to respond to complex inquiries. Ability to educate and counsel members on complex pension and financial products, including annuities, variable pension benefits, and government retirement programs.
• A background in finance, accounting, or economics provides the foundational knowledge of financial principles, investment products, and tax regulations.
• Requires knowledge of marketplace offerings for retirement and estate planning, and keeping up to date with ongoing changes in the marketplace and evolving market trends.
• To understand spousal attribution rules, withholding tax amounts, options after retirement, and options upon the death of the member.
• Knowledge of financial products like RRSPs, pension funds, locked-in retirement accounts (LIRAs), and annuities, including the rules and procedures for transferring funds between accounts.
• Pension terminology and fundamentals, ideally including experience with the pension administration industry; and
• Computer applications, such as word processing, Excel, e-mail, and Windows.

You will have demonstrated the ability to:

• Communicate verbally and in writing financial results, policies, and regulatory matters at levels appropriate to the audience.
• Work independently and cooperatively with others in a team environment, providing financial leadership and instruction.
• Identify the need for, develop, and implement sound procedures for internal control;
• Plan, prioritize, and organize a large volume of tasks to meet strict deadlines while experiencing frequent interruptions and changing priorities; and
• Input, format, create, and generate queries, reports, and documents utilizing word processing, databases, and spreadsheets with speed and accuracy.

You will be:

• Attentive to detail and policy to ensure accuracy of work.
• Flexible, self-motivated, and proactive when dealing with multiple demands and priorities.
• Service and team-oriented.

As our successful candidate, you will have strong knowledge of the pension industry and practices. You bring a solid understanding of the regulatory environment along with effective communication skills.

Typically, the knowledge, skills, and abilities for this position are acquired through an Administration or Commerce Degree, together with a CFP designation and CIFC or CIFOC. This would be supplemented by completion of the Pension Plan Administration Certificate (PPAC) or the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) designation and related experience in pensions and/or the financial industry, together with several years of relevant experience. The successful candidate must pass the Canadian Investment Funds Course within the first six months of employment.

The successful candidate shall be subject to a Criminal Record Check as a condition of employment.

What We Offer:

• Dynamic, challenging work for talented financial professionals.
• A competitive salary.
• Comprehensive benefits package including pension.
• Vacation, earned days off (EDO), and other types of leave.
• Inclusive work environment.

We are committed to workplace diversity.

Hours of Work**:** A - SGEU Office 36 - one day off every two weeks

Number of Openings**:** 1

Closing Date: Sep 22, 2025, 12:59:00 AM