Senior Pensions Specialist Islamic Development Bank

 

The Senior Pension Specialist plays a key role in ensuring the long-term sustainability, competitiveness, and effective governance of the IsDB Group’s Staff Retirement Plan and Post-Retirement Medical Benefit Plan, which are vital for attracting and retaining talent. The incumbent is responsible for administering, analyzing, and enhancing these plans as needed. This includes facilitating plan administration and governance processes, managing related committee meetings at both Management and BED levels, and contributing to strategic initiatives through technical analysis, policy development, actuarial and market studies, and vendor management. The role ensures that all plans are financially sustainable, comply with governing policies and best international practices, and align with peer benchmarks to optimize fund performance and protect beneficiaries' interests.

 

Pension Administration & Service Delivery Excellence

• Oversee the administration of all pension plan components, including Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC), ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant processing of benefits, contributions and payments.

• Coordinate and oversee retirement and separation processes, including normal, early, deferred, disability/death retirement, withdrawal benefits, and survivor benefits, in collaboration with relevant HRM functions.

• Review, validate, and clear pension-related computations and transactions processed by pension specialists, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and adherence to applicable plan rules.

• Review, validate, and clear HRM actions related to the restoration of service and self-contributory service in cases of unpaid leave or secondment.

• Oversee the maintenance of member records, contribution histories, and authenticated documentation, ensuring data integrity and the continued eligibility of retired participants and qualified beneficiaries.

• Establish and review mechanisms and processes for updating monthly DC statements based on unit values provided by external fund managers, ensuring staff have timely and accurate visibility of their DC account balances.

• Provide retirement counseling, guidance, and targeted communication initiatives to active participants, retired participants, and qualified beneficiaries, including education on DC investment options and retirement planning.

• Provide ongoing coaching, technical guidance, and quality assurance oversight to pension administration staff to ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery.

 

Pension & Post-Retirement Medical Plans Rules Review and Enhancement

• Design, review, and propose enhancements to existing and/or alternative pension and post-retirement medical arrangements, benchmarked against peer institutions, industry practices, and international standards.

• Ensure alignment of pension and post-retirement medical benefit structures with the Bank’s HR strategy, particularly to support staff attraction, retention, and orderly workforce transitions.

• Provide technical and actuarial input on proposed changes to pension design and retiree medical benefits, assessing financial, operational, and risk implications.

• Draft, review, and update the rules governing the IsDB Group staff retirement plan and post-retirement medical plan, ensuring clarity, consistency, and alignment with approved design features and best practices.

• Monitor regulatory, market, and peer institutions to identify trends and recommend enhancements to IsDB Group’s staff retirement plan and post-retirement medical plan.

• Conduct structured surveys and consultations with active participants, retirees, and qualified beneficiaries to assess satisfaction levels and test new initiatives for continuous improvement of the plans.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

 

Actuarial, Financial, and Analytical Oversight

• Oversee and coordinate triennial actuarial valuations, annual accounting valuations, and ad hoc actuarial studies for the staff retirement plan and post-retirement medical plan, working closely with external actuaries to ensure accurate and timely outcomes.

 

• Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science, Mathematics/Statistics, Economics, Finance, Accounting, Human Resources Management, or Business Administration.

• Minimum 8 years of relevant experience in Pension Benefits Administration, preferably in a multi-lateral sector.

• Languages: English: Mandatory l Arabic: Preferred l French: Preferred

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, especially in policy drafting and technical reporting.

• Strong understanding of pension and post-retirement medical schemes designs and funding models.

• Solid grasp of actuarial valuation principles and financial reporting related to pensions and long-term liabilities.

• Working knowledge of applicable pension regulations, social security coordination, and compliance frameworks.

• Good command of HR systems and tools, including payroll and pension modules.

• Strong analytical and numerical skills with attention to accuracy and detail.

• Ability to interpret and apply complex policies and explain them clearly to staff and management.

• Skilled in managing confidential information and exercising sound judgment.

• Effective communication and interpersonal skills to engage with staff, retirees, actuaries, and internal stakeholders.

• Proficiency in MS Excel, PowerPoint, actuarial modeling tools and other analytical tools for modeling, reconciliation, and data validation.