Senior Officer, Pension Fund

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, with a network of 191-member National Societies. The overall aim of the IFRC is “to inspire, encourage, facilitate, and promote at all times all forms of humanitarian activities by National Societies with a view to preventing and alleviating human suffering and thereby contributing to the maintenance and promotion of human dignity and peace in the world.” IFRC works to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people before, during and after disasters, health emergencies and other crises.

IFRC is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement), together with its member National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The work of IFRC is guided by the following fundamental principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality.

IFRC is led by its Secretary General, and has its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The Headquarters are organized into three main Divisions: (i) National Society Development and Operations Coordination; (ii) Global Relations, Humanitarian Diplomacy and Digitalization; and (iii) Management Policy, Strategy and Corporate Services.

IFRC has five regional offices in Africa, Asia Pacific, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, and the Americas. IFRC also has country cluster delegation and country delegations throughout the world. Together, the Geneva Headquarters and the field structure (regional, cluster and country) comprise the IFRC Secretariat.

The IFRC Pension Fund is an independent unit within IFRC, and it has its own legal entity, under the Swiss law. It is governed by a Board of Trustees composed of IFRC staff members and administered by the Pension Fund Manager and a Senior officer.

This position is based in Geneva.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Pension Fund Manager, this position will manage all aspects of the Pension Fund and its relevant infrastructure.

The incumbent will provide advice and guidance to staff at all levels, board members and external stakeholders. He/she will ensure that the Pension Fund’s activities are executed with a view to improving customer service delivery. This role will build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues in the Human Resources Management Department (HRMD) and the Pension Fund’s external partners as well as with subject matter experts.

Job Duties And Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day Pension Fund benefits delivery
• Ensure that the objectives of the Pension Fund (PF) are met in an effective and timely way.
• Ensure compliance with the PF Regulations, Swiss pension legislation and taxation rules in the day-to-day management of the Fund and its membership, ensuring the equal treatment of all insured members.
• Manage the PF Board’s elections.
• Manage communication with active and retired PF members.
• Develop and disseminate key reports for effective functioning of the PF Unit.
• Participate actively in strategic reflections concerning the benefits of insured persons and pensioners as well as pension increases by assisting in the implementation, evaluation and review of regulations, processes, procedures, and systems in Pensions, in close collaboration with the Pension Fund Manager.
• Provide advice to pension plan beneficiaries on their rights and responsibilities with respect to the Effectively resolve complaints received from pension plan beneficiaries and identify solutions in accordance with the pension regulations and legislation in force.
• Coordinate with HRMD and the actuary (AON Hewitt) the transmission of data for new memberships, changes in status of current memberships (including retirements, contract terminations/resignations, and any contractual changes that have an impact on members’ Pension Fund status).
• Perform complex manual calculations of pension and retirement capital amounts according to various scenarios and compare with the data in the PF’s management system multi-Pensions to ensure the latter’s accuracy. Signal any discrepancies to the PF technical manager in AON.
• Manage monthly pension payments and reconciliations with the PF’s accounting.
• Monitor and maintain contacts with authorities as well as financial/legal advisers to ensure that all issues are dealt with in accordance with legal provisions.
• Manage the PF’s infrastructure and update as necessary.
• Develop reports, reconciliation statements and other documentation for the annual audit of the Pension Fund.
• Prepare PowerPoint presentations (in French and English) for the Pension Fund’s annual information meeting for all PF members, individual briefings of new members, RH briefings, and others.
• Manage the processing of payments (with two authorized signatures – 1 administrator/PF manager + 1 Board member)
• Manage all payments pertaining to PF invoices, monthly transfers, PF termination, lump-sum payments, and payments of withholding tax, where required.
• Lead the preparation and submission to the relevant fiscal authorities of statements on tax deducted at source and lump-sum capital payments, where applicable.
• Organise the translation of correspondence, reports and short documents into English as well as the review of externally produced English translations of various PF documents.
• Manage financial transactions and relevant records using the PF’s accounting software (CRESUS).

Job Duties And Responsibilities (continued)

• Support members of the Board of Trustees
• Participate in Board meetings as well as draft and distribute the minutes of meetings.
• Ensure proper communication flow with Board members as well as the circulation of reports and other documentation as required.
• Other Duties
• Update the list of pensioners’ health insurance premiums/contributions, deducting pensioners’ premiums from pensions in accordance with IFRC policy. Provide reporting to IFRC and its auditors on medical insurance benefits for pensioners and premiums deducted from pensions.
• Update and improve the Pension Fund FedNet page.
• Support the process of setting up an online platform for electronic access to pension statements and other documents, in liaison with the pension expert.

Education

Required:

• University degree in relevant field or a combination of education and equivalent professional experience.

Experience

Required:

• 7 years of experience managing programme administration.
• Experience working in a multi-cultural, cross-functional international environment.
• Experience in data analysis and financial reporting.
• 5 years of experience in Swiss social insurance, specifically Pension Funds.
• Experience in preparing and delivering training materials.

Knowledge, Skills and Languages

Required:

• Professional knowledge of Pension Fund/actuary program system.
• High integrity as well as maturity and discretion in handling confidential matters.
• Details oriented, precision and accuracy.
• Self-supporting in computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat).
• Good interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organisational and administrative skills.
• Ability to work to a high standard, in detail and to respond flexibly and positively in a demanding environment.
• Ability to source relevant information for problem solving and decision making, consulting with others as necessary.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Fluent in English (written and spoken)
• Fluent in French (written and spoken)

Preferred:

• Good command of another IFRC official language (Spanish or Arabic).

Competencies, Values and Comments

Values: Respect for diversity; Integrity; Professionalism; Accountability.

Core competencies: Communication; Collaboration and teamwork; Judgement and decision making; National society and customer relations; Creativity and innovation; Building trust.

Functional competencies: Strategic orientation; Building alliances; Leadership; Empowering others.