Retirement Senior Actuarial Analyst
Job ID#: 13222
Location: Cleveland, OH
Segment Benefits
Business Area Retirement/Benefits
Employment Status: Regular Full-Time
Minimum Education: Bachelors Degree
Minimum Experience: 3 years

The Company

Go beyond.At Towers Watson, we are more than individuals. We are a community focused on helping our colleagues and clients thrive and succeed. Towers Watson is a leading global professional services company that helps organizations improve performance through effective people, financial and risk management. With 14,000 associates around the world, we offer solutions in the areas of benefits, talent management, rewards, and risk and capital management.

The Business

The complexity, costs and risks associated with employee benefits pose an increasing threat to business performance. An enterprise-wide strategy for managing benefits gives our clients the framework to develop programs that work in concert to help attract and retain top talent in a cost-effective manner. As a result, they can offer benefits that give them a competitive edge while meeting the needs of their employees.

Our Retirement team provides leading edge expertise in retirement consulting to support global organizations worldwide in designing, managing, administering and communicating all types of retirement plans.

The Role

As a Retirement Sr. Actuarial Analyst you will apply your actuarial and project management expertise in the delivery of complex projects for Fortune 1000 and other not-for-profit organizations of similar size. You will help clients achieve their evolving business objectives by aligning their defined benefit, retiree welfare and defined contribution plans accordingly. Given the size and complexity of our client portfolio, in addition to core plan management work, you will have the opportunity to support diverse projects related to mergers and acquisitions, plan design and strategy, asset liability studies, forecasting, early retirement windows, global consulting and other special projects as needed.

As you grow and gain more expertise, you will play an increasingly larger role with clients.

Performance Objectives:

Excellence
• Manage the execution of data collection, analyses and finalization of work product required for core work including:
• Large defined benefit and retireemedical plan valuations
• Completion of Form 5500s and other Government filings
• Non-discrimination testing
• Contribute to special projects such as plan design, asset/liability modelling, retirement plan risk assessment and mitigation, due diligence for mergers and acquisitions, collective bargaining agreements, global consulting, strategic workplace planning,total rewards strategies, and others
• Complete work in accordance with ERISA, FASB, GASB, Department of Labor, Pension Protection Act and other Government regulations
• Seek and participate in key learning and development opportunities/maintain steady progress through exams
• Review analytical work and draft documents prepared by more junior analysts
• Contribute to the development of new tools and approaches

Clients
• Partner with Consultants to deliver superior project management on select clients:

o Draft statements of work, project plans and budgets involving multiple workflow streams and client teams
o Serve as the day to day project lead, ensuring the progress of the team against established objectives, budget, timeline, deliverables and quality standards
o Serve as primary, daily contact to clients on delivery of services
o Manage client expectations and raise appropriate issues to Senior Consultants and Client Relationship Managers

• Develop a trusted advisor relationship with client contacts through effective communication and efficient, quality execution of projects
• Manage client expectations and raise appropriate issues to Senior Consultants and Account Directors
• Increase efficiency within client teams by identifying ways to improve processes

People
• Build relationships internally and collaborate effectively on cross-functional teams
• Demonstrate natural ease and effectiveness when dealing with clients/colleagues at all levels
• Mentor junior staff as appropriate

Financial
• Meet chargeable hours targets
• Contribute to sales and marketing efforts by drafting proposals and responding to RFPs

The Requirements

• 4+ years experience conducting core valuation work in a client-service oriented environment with large corporate defined benefit plans; defined contribution plan experience a plus
• Proven experience managing multiple projects within prescribed project guidelines
• Strong client relationship, interpersonal and team skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to ask the right questions and seek help where appropriate
• Ability to respond to all communications effectively and in a timely manner
• Flexibility and proven ability to diagnose and resolve issues; strong client service orientation
• Demonstrated leadership qualities
• Ability to work both independently and on client teams and enjoy a fast-paced environment
• Sense of accountability; owning one’s work and taking pride in it
• Self starter; interest in continually challenging oneself and willingness to step outside of one’s comfort zone
• Interest and ability to think beyond the task at hand and understand how one’s work fits into the broader landscape
• Strong analytical and integrative skills including ability to draw conclusions and identify trends from data in a logical, systematic way
• Excellent Microsoft Office skills, particularly in Access and Excel
• Bachelors Degree required
• Significant actuarial exam progress toward ASA and EA credentials
Towers Watson is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, M/F/D/V