Description
ABOUT THE D.C. RETIREMENT BOARD
The District of Columbia Retirement Board is an independent agency of the District of Columbia Government. Our mission is to manage and control the assets of the D.C. Police Officers' and Firefighters' Retirement Plan and the D.C. Teachers' Retirement Plans as well as to administer benefits for the members of the plans.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Benefits Business Analyst serves as the primary bridge between DCRB's pension plan operations and the technical configuration of the Benefits Administration and Pension System (BAPS). This position translates DCRB's complex plan rules, regulatory requirements, and business processes into clear, actionable system configuration specifications — and serves as the agency's subject matter check on all vendor configuration decisions throughout the implementation lifecycle.
The Benefits Business Analyst is also responsible for current-state process documentation, future-state process design, compliance validation, and leading User Acceptance Testing — ensuring that the configured system accurately reflects DCRB's operational requirements and fully meets applicable legal and regulatory obligations before go-live.
This is a term-limited appointment, not to exceed (NTE) December 31, 2028.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES (Duties that occupy a major portion of time and importance of the job)
Requirements Analysis & Configuration Support
- Serve as DCRB's primary subject matter expert for system configuration activities across all retirement plans administered by DCRB.
- Translate plan documents, Summary Plan Descriptions, Board resolutions, and applicable statutes into detailed business requirements and system configuration specifications.
- Review and validate all vendor-proposed system configurations against DCRB's functional requirements, flagging deviations and gaps for Project Manager escalation and resolution.
- Participate in scope confirmation workshops and document all out-of-the-box capability gaps, ensuring DCRB's regulatory non-negotiables — including ERISA, DC Code requirements, IRS qualified plan regulations, and audit trail standards — are confirmed as met before configuration activities proceed.
- Review proposed workflows, documents, reports, and system interfaces against DCRB's operational needs and provide written assessments of adequacy prior to acceptance. Identify systemic data integrity issues and recommend corrective actions to the Project Manager and Benefits leadership.
Process Analysis & Reengineering
- Document current-state business processes for all Benefits Division functions, including enrollment processing, benefit calculation and award, retirement payment processing, death and disability claims, QDRO administration, member counseling workflows, and regulatory reporting.
- Analyze current-state processes against the new system's capabilities to identify reengineering opportunities,
efficiency improvements, and compliance gaps. - Design future-state process flows for post-go-live operations, ensuring that redesigned processes comply with applicable District and federal requirements and leverage the full capabilities of the new system.
- Coordinate with the Documentation Specialist to ensure that Standard Operating Procedures reflect future state redesigned processes and are completed concurrently with system configuration.
Payroll & Benefits Calculation Validation
- Apply working knowledge of pension payroll operations and benefit calculation methodologies to validate that the new system accurately computes monthly benefit payments, cost-of-living adjustments, tax withholding, and other payroll-related outputs across all DCRB retirement plans.
- Develop benefit calculation test cases that cover standard retirement, disability, death, and survivor scenarios — as well as complex edge cases specific to each DCRB retirement plan — to ensure calculation accuracy prior to go-live.
- Coordinate with Finance and Payroll staff to validate that all payroll-related system configurations support operational requirements, and document the results of all calculation validation activities.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- In consultation with the vendor and project manager, design comprehensive UAT test plans covering all functional areas, with plan-specific test scenarios for each DCRB retirement program.
- Assist in the development of detailed test scripts for all system functions, with particular emphasis on benefit calculation accuracy, payment processing, member services workflows, and regulatory reporting outputs.
- Lead UAT execution with Benefits Division staff, documenting all identified defects, severity classifications, resolution outcomes, and retest results.
- Produce UAT completion reports that provide documented evidence of system readiness for go-live,
serving as DCRB's internal verification record.
Training Support & Knowledge Transfer
- Collaborate with the vendor's training team to ensure that instructor-led training content incorporates DCRB-specific plan rules, business scenarios, and operational context.
- Assist in developing role-based training curricula for Benefits Division staff in advance of go-live, ensuring all staff are prepared to perform their functions in the new system.
- Support internal knowledge transfer activities to build DCRB staff capability for ongoing system configuration and maintenance post-implementation.
FUNCTIONAL COMPETENCIES
- Thorough knowledge of defined-benefit pension plan administration, including plan rules, benefit calculation methodologies, and participant lifecycle events across retirement, disability, death, and survivor benefit scenarios.
- Strong working knowledge of pension payroll operations, including benefit payment processing, cost-of-living adjustments, tax withholding, and year-end reporting.
- Demonstrated ability to write clear, detailed business requirements documents, functional specifications, and process maps that can be used to configure enterprise systems.
- Proficiency in business process modeling tools (Visio, Lucidchart, or equivalent).
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including Power Query and pivot tables, and at least one data visualization or reporting tool (Power BI, Tableau, or equivalent).
- Knowledge of District government and federal government related to active employment and post-retirement benefits.
- Proven ability to independently perform work and project management and organizational skills.
- Meticulous attention to detail, particularly in benefit calculation validation, regulatory compliance assessment, and
strong organizational skills. - Strong analytical, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex plan rules into actionable system requirements accessible to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community, and as part of a team, while being able to take full responsibility for outcomes.
- Ability to thrive in a changing environment and deal constructively with ambiguity.
- Ability to use rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult data problems with effective solutions.
WORKING CONDITIONS
- Normal office environment.
COMPENSATION LEVEL: DCRB Grade 07
This job description describes the general nature and level of work being performed by the individual(s) assigned to this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all tasks, duties, responsibilities, and skills required. Management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties and to assign other duties as necessary. In addition, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
DCRB is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the employer will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourage both prospective employees and incumbents to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants must submit a completed DC2000 Employment Application form, letter of interest discussing eligibility and qualifications, and resume. The DC2000 Employment Application is available as a fillable file document on the “Working at DCRB” page on DCRB’s website. You may view the page here: http://dcrb.dc.gov/service/working-dcrb
Applicants claiming Veterans Preference must submit official proof with application.
All educational and experience requirements used to determine eligibility for this position must be officially verified at the time of appointment. No offer of employment will be deemed fulfilled without such verification(s).
WHERE TO APPLY
Via Email to: dcrb.vacancies@dc.gov
Requirements
REQUIRED EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Information Systems, or a related field.
- CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) or PMI-PBA certification preferred.
- Additional relevant certifications such as PMP or Lean Six Sigma are preferred.
JOB EXPERIENCE (Years & Type)
- A minimum of seven (7) years of business analysis experience, with at least three (3) years in pension, retirement, or employee benefits administration.
- Demonstrated experience writing business requirements documents, functional specifications, and process
documentation for enterprise system implementations. - Experience leading or significantly contributing to User Acceptance Testing activities in a pension, benefits, or payroll system implementation.
- Demonstrated experience performing benefit calculation validation and payroll reconciliation in a pension or retirement system context.
- Experience with public defined-benefit pension administration is strongly preferred.
- Prior experience with regulatory compliance validation in a government or ERISA-regulated environment is preferred.
- Experience leading User Acceptance Testing in enterprise system implementations, including test plan development, script writing, defect management, and completion reporting.
