Benefits Department Analyst

at  Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund IMRF

INTRODUCTION

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) provides death, disability, and pension retirement benefits to employees of local governments and school districts in Illinois (with the exception of the City of Chicago and Cook County). We are the second largest—and best funded—statewide public pension system in Illinois, IMRF serves approximately 3,000 municipal employers in the State. We are an award-winning organization, located in Oak Brook. IMRF is looking for top talent, for a direct hire opportunity that is benefit eligible. If you are passionate about Benefit Analyst duties and meet the requirements, we want to hear from you.

SUMMARY

This position provides support to the Benefits Department Supervisors and staff, providing training and documentation as well as conducting quality assurance to determine compliance with established goals. This position will be assigned claim production responsibilities, as needed. The assignments given to individual Benefits Department Analysts will differ depending on the needs of the department.

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE

Five years’ experience as an IMRF Examiner/Senior Examiner. Performance history of meeting or exceeding unit standards.
Or
Associate’s Degree with 3 years of work-related experience
Or
Bachelor’s Degree with 1 year of work-related experience

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Expert knowledge of the IMRF processing system, Pension Code, department standards and benefit structure
• Detail oriented.
• Strong project work skills.
• Strong mathematical skills.
• Strong statistical interpretation and reasoning skills.
• Technical writing and documentation skills
• Ability to communicate both verbally and written concepts on varying levels.
• Strong organizational skills.
• Strong customer service skills – external and internal
• Ability to stay organized, calm, and constructive when handling stressful situations, demonstrate tolerance, appropriate demeanor, and patience with all members, employers and staff, and interact in a manner that shows genuine concern and respect for others.
• Ability to work unexpected overtime.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Foster a positive, team centered culture in support of our Values and individual accountability.
• Provide the necessary support to enable the department to achieve established service goals.
• Train new Examiner staff and other IMRF staff as requested on policies, procedures and IMRF’s administration of Article 7 of the Illinois Pension Code. Analysts reporting to the Benefits Supervisor are also responsible for administration and training of Article 20 of the Illinois Pension Code.
• Conduct training of department staff, utilizing internal and external resources, including staff, Benefits Supervisors and Senior Examiners. Prepare procedural training materials and syllabi, identify training issues and work with Business Solution Analyst, Supervisor or Manager to determine a training plan.
• Maintain current knowledge of benefit, legislative, and administrative changes, as well as current events, including issues that impact IMRF members. Assist in providing updates to department staff.
• Assist the department staff in resolving difficult claim situations; provide feedback to staff to assist them in developing the necessary skills to resolve difficult claims going forward.
• Review and approve workflows
• Conduct quality assurance reviews of claims, workflows and payrolls to determine compliance with established goals for promptness and accuracy, Provide feedback and training to staff based on results.
• Conduct system testing as assigned.
• Analyze claim QA trend data. Create and maintain monthly reports for the Benefits Department.
• Assist the Supervisors and Business Solution Analyst in maintaining up-to-date written procedures for all activities of the department. Assist in providing updates to staff.
• Provide technical support and guidance for department staff and other IMRF employees as needed. Review and report on problem situations as requested by the Benefits Supervisors, Business Solution Analyst or Manager.
• Support achievement of the organization’s Journey of Excellence, Mission, Vision and Strategic Objectives of IMRF.
• Maintain current knowledge of the operation of all other departments in IMRF as it relates to the Benefits Department operations. Act as liaison between Benefits and other IMRF departments.
• Conduct research for the Benefits Department. This requires knowledge of the various resources, and ability to determine which of these resources should be used in order to locate diverse types of information. Resources include – IMRF Enterprise Benefit System (SPECTRUM), Imaging system, microfiche, microfilm, employer paper files, board minutes, Illinois Pension Code, IMRF Legal Interpretations, Authorized Agent’s Manual, external documentation, member employment records, payroll records, employer resolutions, payment information, social security records, Illinois state statutes, and IMRF policies and procedures.
• As directed by the Benefits Supervisors, provide back up to the Examiner staff and perform claims processing, as needed.
• Other duties and special projects may be assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

This position has no formal supervisory responsibilities. However, this position is required to provide day to day guidance and leadership to the examiner and specialist staff. This position may do workload reassignments, as needed. This position will be asked to provide input to management staff regarding training needs, policy and procedure revisions, as well as day-to- day performance evaluations of staff.