Retirement Payroll Analyst

JOB
The Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (SBCERS) is accepting applications to fill one current vacancy for a Retirement Payroll Analyst (classified as Department Business Specialist II) in the Member Services division located in Goleta, CA. Please select Santa Barbara or All Locations on your application to be considered. New hires typically start at the minimum of the posted salary range. THE POSITION: Under general direction of the Member Services Team Lead, this role manages a wide range of responsibilities. This position offers opportunities to engage with external entities, including health insurance providers, consultants, and retirement systems with mutual reciprocal members. Your tasks will involve requesting, obtaining, and analyzing a range of employer records to facilitate retirement account transactions for SBCERS members and communicate with partner agencies to implement benefit changes. The ideal incumbent will excel at process improvement and the development of new policies and procedures. This role will play a crucial role in educating and advising members through meetings and one-on-one consultations on computation and reconciliation processes, analyzing program requirements and performance, reporting on findings, and executing related duties. This role will oversee, and direct tasks associated with the calculations of service purchases, redeposits, and plan changes, ensuring effective workload prioritization and strict adherence to established procedures and workflows.THE DEPARTMENT: The Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System (SBCERS) is a 401(a) Defined Benefit Plan with over $4 billion in assets. SBCERS provides pension benefits for the County of Santa Barbara and 11 additional employers, also called participating employers, and serves over 11,000 retirees, active employees, deferred members, and beneficiaries. The System is led by the Chief Executive Officer and has 20+ full-time positions across five divisions, including Member Services, Information Technology, Accounting, Disability, Investments, and Administration. For information about SBCERS, please visit www.sbcers.org.Distinguishing Characteristics: Department Business Specialist I/II is a professional-level, flexibly staffed classification series. Department Business Specialist I is the entry level and may lead but would not typically supervise staff. Department Business Specialist II is the journey level and may be assigned supervisory responsibilities over other professional staff. Incumbents are expected to be knowledgeable in department business processes and at least one of the following: critical program regulations; governmental fiscal record keeping – including human resources, benefits, budget; or automated systems.IDEAL CANDIDATE will possess: Knowledge of and ability to analyze, recommend and implement system(s), policy and procedure changes to meet the business needs of the department.High degree of proficiency and subject matter expertise in benefits, human resources, payroll, financial accounting, FLSA and Worker’s Compensation eligibility, as well as Plan Sponsor domain knowledge of earnings code utilization.Strong technical ability with financial analysis tools like MS Excel and SQL and a willingness to learn new approaches to data management.Knowledge of standard accounting internal controls, procedures, and best practices.Excellent interpersonal skills with a public service focus.Ability to exercise discretion and professionalism, including ability to maintain confidentiality.Ability to organize and plan work assignments to meet deadlines, at times with limited direction. Sound judgement, independent decision-making, and logical reasoning ability. Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, other County personnel, and members of the public. Excellent teamwork and influence – including collaborating with various stakeholders, serving as a principal lead in innovative strategies and activities, influencing cross functional teams to facilitate process improvements.Ability to develop and conduct professional presentations appropriate for a wide variety of audiences.

EXAMPLE OF DUTIES
Review and implement amended procedures for the automated processing of active member refunds.Develop and recommend procedures and system improvements to implement business process improvements.Develop written job aids to facilitate emerging practices, automate standardized processes and consistently report on use of these job aids and workflows.Coordinates the development or revision of supporting policies and procedures to maximize service levels and ensure accuracy of pension benefit calculations.Designs and improves related forms and earnings code questionnaires, and coordinates dissemination of such materials.Oversee and implement all training materials and processes for the automation and completion of service purchase requests.Serve as primary liaison with statewide reciprocal agencies for the computation and validation of reciprocal salary exchanges, including those of members with retroactive Alameda finding impacts, and disability retirement benefit apportionment.At the direction of the SBCERS executive management team, perform complex analysis, calculations, and studies of current processes based on potential legislative changes.Participates in meetings and presents data to assist managers in making operational and administrative decisions.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION
APPLICATION & SELECTION PROCESS: Review applications and supplemental questionnaire to determine those applicants who meet the employment standards.Supplemental Questionnaire Ranking – Responses to the required examination supplemental questions will be evaluated and scored. Candidates’ final score and rank on the eligibility list will be determined by the responses to these questions. This process may be eliminated if there are fewer than 11 qualified candidates.Candidates must receive a percentage score of at least 70 on the Supplemental Questionnaire Ranking to be placed on an employment list. An adjustment may be made to raw scores based on factors listed in Civil Service Rule VI. Those candidates who are successful in the selection process will have their names placed on the employment list for a minimum of three months. At the time the employment list is established, all candidates will receive an email notice of their score on the exam(s), rank on the employment list, and exact duration of the employment list. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS: The County of Santa Barbara is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants. Qualified individuals with disabilities who need a reasonable accommodation during the application or selection process should contact the recruiter listed on the job posting. We require verification of needed accommodation from a professional source, such as a Medical Provider or a learning institution. Recruiters will communicate with applicants by e-mail during each step in the recruitment process. Applicants are reminded to check spam filters continuously during the Recruitment & Selection Process steps listed above to ensure they do not miss required deadlines.The appointee must satisfactorily complete a one-year probationary period. Disaster Service Workers: Pursuant to Governmental Code section 3100, all employees with the County of Santa Barbara are declared to be disaster service workers subject to such disaster service. Activities as may be assigned to them by their superiors or by law.Statement of CommitmentThe County of Santa Barbara provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination, harassment, and retaliation of any type with regard to any characteristic or status protected by any federal law, state law, or Santa Barbara County ordinance. The County continues to be committed to a merit-based selection process and to eliminating barriers to attracting and retaining top qualified candidates. The County has a long-standing practice of providing a work environment that respects the dignity of individual employees and values their contributions to our organization. APPLICATION AND SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE DEADLINE: Thursday, December 11, 2025, by 4:59pm PT. Applications and job bulletins can be obtained 24 hours a day at www.sbcountyjobs.comFor questions regarding this recruitment, contact Leza Patatanian, lpatatanian@countyofsb.org