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Chief Pension Actuary

Loren D. Stark Company

in Remote

Chief Pension Actuary (Work from Home)

Why Work Here? “We value experience, the desire to gain knowledge and the motivation to do your best.”

Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO) is currently seeking a skilled and ambitious Chief Pension Actuary to join our team of professionals. This is an excellent opportunity to join with a team-orientated culture that offers third party administrator responsibilities.

For nearly a decade, LDSCO employees, supervisors, managers and company leadership have been working from home. If you are interested in a stable family oriented company with a desirable work-life balance and a permanent employer, look no further. 

Job Purpose:

As the Chief Pension Actuary, you will be assigned to guide and supervise a team of Actuaries, Defined Benefits Consultant Managers and a team of Professionals to help our clients develop, implement and administer retirement suited to their organization’s strategies and objectives. You will be mentoring the team on plan design, research and disseminate technical updates and career development.

As a manager, you will work as part of a team of problem solvers helping to solve complex business issues from strategy to execution. The Chief Pension Actuary will manage a group of professionals, assign various projects and lead necessary professional and technical training. 

Job Responsibilities:

• Manage team of Actuaries and DB Consultant Managers,
• Overview your team’s work on both traditional and cash balance defined benefit plan designs and projections, based on client needs and employee demographics,
• Assist staff on design and compliance issues.  Involved with troubleshooting plans that have not been compliant in prior years,
• Managing actuarial valuations, including minimum recommended and maximum funding requirements,
• Supervising annual IRS non-discrimination testing, including cross-testing with defined contribution plans,
• Control the reviewing and approving actuarial valuation of defined benefit and cash balance plans,
• Manage IRS reviewed and signed IRS Form 5500 Schedule SB actuarial report for all such plans,
• Ensure IRS Form 5330 (if any) are signed,
• Manage the approval of initial design and annually review design of defined benefit plans, including suggesting amendments to plans as needed,
• Research and dissemination of technical issues to staff regarding ERISA, applicable statutes, regulations, rulings, notices, etc.,
• Oversee reviewed Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) reports for plans requiring such reports,
• Manage certified annual Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premium payment and plan termination findings,
• Managed reviewed and approved distributions from defined benefit plans,
• Superintend researched issues regarding pension law and maintain current knowledge of changes in such law,
• Work with legal and document department on relevant issues concerning plan documents, and government audit of client plans as needed,
• Consulting regarding the valuation, design and administration of defined benefit and defined contribution plans, including cash balance, 401(k), 403(b), and profit sharing arrangements,
• Consulting regarding corporate financial and government accounting valuations and plan design for pension,
• Providing audit support regarding the reasonableness of actuarial assumptions and methods used to value the defined benefits in the plans,
• Performing short- and long-term financial projections, including cash flow,
  assets, liabilities, and annual costs, for defined benefit pension plans,
• Implementing plan terminations, mergers, and spin-offs of qualified pension and profit sharing plans
• Manage the preparation of all required IRS and PBGC filings, including those needed at plan termination,
• Review of Minimum Funding/Maximum Deductible/PBGC Premiums as needed.  Includes review and periodic updating of the Enrolled Actuary Approval Email Templates,
• Maintaining and improvement of technical checklists and procedures to assist team in completing their administrative/compliance tasks for clients,
• Preparation and review of reports to meet the requirements under the Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 87/88/715.
• Manage the reviewing of plan assets and trust reconciliations,
• Prioritize work flow of team members,
• Maintain comprehensive understanding of control groups and affiliate service groups,
• Must be comfortable in a public speaking environment and demonstrate ability to convey complex information in a simple and organized format to a wide variety of audiences,
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with minimal instruction and a high degree of accuracy,
• Maintain a cordial and effective relationship with internal clients, external clients and team members,
• Interface with corporate management on high-level strategies and operations issues,
• Interact with others effectively by utilizing good communication skills, cooperating purposefully and providing information and guidance, as needed, to achieve the business goals of the company,
•  Assist with the career development for consultants which includes mentoring and teaching both technical and business-related issues,
• Other duties as assigned within the scope of responsibilities and requirements of the job,
• Low travel, if any, due to COVID-19, non-essential travel has been suspended until further notice. 

Required Qualifications:

• A Bachelor’s degree in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, or business,
• Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries (FCA) preferable,
• Minimum 10 years IRS Enrolled Actuary under ERISA designation and experience,
• Minimum 10 years of experience as Consulting Actuary in the industry, specifically with defined benefit and cash balance plans, including non-discrimination testing,
• Advanced understanding of pension law, plan testing and plan documents,
• Actuarial Systems Corporation (ASC) software experience preferred,
• Relius (for Plan Documents), FT Williams, Microsoft Office products (Windows 2016)
• The ability to manage a team of professionals and while managing clients and deadlines,
• The ability to communicate effectively to all levels of associates, clients, participants and compliance consultants,
• Experience with Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, combo plans including offset is preferred,
• Ability to negotiate, research, and communicate verbally and in writing effectively. 

LDSCO offers a challenging and rewarding work environment supported by a total compensation program that includes:

• Competitive Base Salary, with standard annual bonuses and performance incentive programs,
• Full Benefits Package which include Health, Dental, Vision, Life and Accident insurance, and Cafeteria Plans,
• Paid Leave such as Paid Time Off, a Personal Day, Holidays and Fun Day Program,
• Retirement Plan 401K, Safe Harbor Contribution, and Employee Stock Ownership Plan,
• Company paid Professional Development and Continued Education Expense,
• Rewards and Recognition Programs,
• Entrepreneurial Culture,
• Strong Team Environment with Social and Team Building Activities.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: LDSCO is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  In addition, LDSCO will make reasonable accommodations to known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant with a disability, unless the accommodation imposes an undue hardship on the operation of our business. 

At LDSCO, our people are the heart of the company and our number one asset.  We are committed to providing safe working conditions at all of our locations and have invested heavily in measures aimed at keeping employees healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Salary Range: $150,500 - $175,000

Bonus Range: $0 - $5,000

About Loren D. Stark Company:

The Loren D. Stark Company (LDSCO), as a Retirement Plan Consulting firm, has developed a close relationship with the business community in Houston and across Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. From the beginning our objective has been to provide our clients with a Plan design that meets the needs of the business owner(s), as well as the employees.

LDSCO believes that the selection of an Employee Benefits Consulting Firm will have a significant impact on the shape and perception of your Employee Benefit Program. Hiring the right Third Party Administrative (TPA) firm will make that impact positive and add value to an employer’s Retirement Plan. In making a recommendation to a prospective client, LDSCO prepares custom illustrations identifying the different results obtainable by the employer. These recommendations may include Safe Harbor provisions, New Comparability, Integrated allocation features, as well as Defined Benefit plan designs.

The LDSCO Staff of Actuaries, Attorneys and Consultants are specialists in Pension, Profit Sharing, Cash Balance, Employee Stock Ownership and 401(k) Plan Administration. These services include in part plan design and document preparation, compliance testing and reporting, annual plan participant ERISA compliance statements, participant loan and distribution documentation, and the plan’s signature ready Form 5500.

LDSCO has an ongoing commitment to the development and integration of state-of-the-art technology and services to provide our clients with the most comprehensive Retirement Plan

How to Apply

Qualified candidates please email your resume, and salary expectations to Josie Flores, Hiring Manager at josief@ldsco.com

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