The role of the Retirement Implementation/Testing Specialist is to apply knowledge of pension administration to support both software implementation activities and ongoing client services. In this role, the Retirement Implementation/Testing Specialist, working closely with other Retirement Implementation Specialists and other members of the delivery team, helps ensure that pension administration processes and software (new implementations, upgrades, and ongoing maintenance) accurately reflect client plan design features and comply with current pension legislation. This role includes working on new implementations, system upgrades and updates due to plan changes. This includes understanding what data elements are needed at conversion and on an ongoing basis. This individual interprets plan design and legislative changes, identifies and documents associated system and data requirements, works with development staff to ensure that requirements are understood, and defines and manages the testing phase of the implementation project, including doing testing and running and reviewing regression.
The Role
As a Retirement Implementation/Testing Specialist, you will:
• Ensure that defined benefit administration system implementations, upgrades, ongoing maintenance, etc. accurately reflect plan design
• Work with clients, pension administration team, and actuarial team to maintain/update system requirement documents and data mapping specifications for developers
• Create test plans and conduct quality assurance testing, including regression testing
• Manage testing for projects, including delegating sub tasks to junior testers. Provide testing status/statistics to project managers on a consistent basis
• Create client specific testing tools based on specifications to validate results including date calculations, factors, table lookups, average earnings calculations, etc.
• Conduct/manage quality assurance testing including calculation, participant communications, participant self-service and regression testing to ensure the integrity of system components.
• Contribute to the development of new tools, processes and solutions to create efficiencies and meet clients’ outsourcing needs
• Conduct system readiness testing including calculation, participant communications and participant self service as clients request that task.
• Train pension administration team and client on use of pension administration system
• Serve as ongoing system team resource for client and pension administration team
• Contribute to successful project management
- Work with Project Manager to ensure progress of team against established goals; communicate status to Project Manager
- Manage client expectations and raise appropriate issues to project managers
• Significant interaction and coordination with the client, members of the Actuarial and Admin teams, developers, and others.
• Assist with special projects as needed
The Requirements
• Bachelor's degree in Math, Statistics, Actuarial Science or other major with significant quantitative course work and a strong academic record strongly preferred; High School diploma required.
• Strong background in pension plans and knowledge of pension rules required.
• Experience with calculation testing for defined benefit admin system implementations.
• Significant knowledge of pension plan design and defined benefit rules and regulations, as well as associated technology solutions.
• Experience with pension administration systems, including interaction of data, software, administration outputs, and processes.
• Experience calculation testing and writing pension calculation specifications
• Collaborative style, able to build strong relationships within and across business lines
• Ability to take ownership of significant phases, work well under tight project deadlines, including strong time management and project organizational skills
• Strong listening and communication skills required, both verbal and written, including ability to interpret and document plan provisions
• Problem solving, project management, technology and communication skills required
• Experience in Microsoft Office products, including Excel and Word
• Ability to work well under tight project deadlines.
• Ability to work multiple projects with differing priorities.
• Ability to travel (post-Covid) and work extended hours as needed
WTW is an Equal Opportunity Employer
