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Job Description
Marketing Statement
Ride BART to a satisfying career that lets you both: 1) make a difference to Bay Area residents, and 2) enjoy excellent pay, benefits, and employment stability. BART is looking for people who like to be challenged, work in a fast-paced environment, and have a passion for connecting riders to work, school and other places they need to go. BART offers a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, paid time off, and the CalPERS retirement program.
Job Summary
Pay Rate
Non-Represented Pay Band 9
Annual Salary Rate: $151,524 annually (Minimum) - $229,559 annually (Maximum)
The negotiable starting annual salary will be between $ 151,524 - $181,482, commensurate with education and experience.
Reports To
Deputy Director of Human Resources
Current Assignment
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) is seeking a Manager of Benefits to join its Human Resources Department management team.
Under direction, the Manager of Benefits is responsible for planning and managing the operations and activities of the Benefits Division of the Human Resources Department, which is responsible for administering the District’s employee benefits and retirement programs, which includes health benefits, financial security programs, and retirement plans. Additionally, the Manager of Benefits oversees all benefits and retirement administration and serves as the primary contact for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and BART Investment Plans Committee (IPC). Finally, the incumbent will provide highly responsible and complex project and administrative support to the Deputy Director of Human Resources and the Director of Human Resources, and perform related duties as required.
The most qualified candidates for this position will have highly developed competencies in the following areas, which will be reinforced with related work experience and will be clearly articulated during the selection process:
- Deep understanding of principles and practices of benefits administration (including benefit design and contract administration).
- Broad knowledge of Public Employees Retirement Law (PERL) and Public Employees Medical and Hospital Care Act (PEMHCA).
- Ability to audit benefit and retirement plans for compliance with required regulations.
- Broad knowledge of public sector human resources administration in a unionized environment.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and the ability to clearly communicate complex topics (such as pension and OPEB funding and liabilities), including public speaking, in an accessible and easy to understand way.
- Ability to leverage various computer systems and applications necessary for effective benefits administration.
- Ability to work effectively with a broad range of stakeholders.
Selection Process
Applications will be screened to assure that minimum qualifications are met and may be further screened based on training and experience. Those applicants who meet minimum qualifications and pass the supplemental screening will be invited to move forward in the selection process, which will include a panel interview and may include a practical exercise.
The successful candidate must have an employment history demonstrating reliability and dependability; provide copies of certificates, diplomas or other documents as required by law, including those establishing his/her right to work in the U.S.; pass a pre-employment medical examination which may include a drug and alcohol screen, and which is specific to the essential job functions and requirements. Pre-employment processing will also include a background check. (Does not apply to current full-time District employees unless specific job requires additional evaluations).
Examples of Duties
Manages and oversees the District’s health benefits, financial security programs, and retirement plans; oversees audits and reviews related to benefit and retirement plans; assists with development of policies related to pension or Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB); provides oversight of operations, activities, strategies, goals, and reporting.
Recommends benefit and retirement plan designs to executive staff, human resources, and labor relations; evaluates proposals related to health, well-being, and financial security programs.
Secures contracts and maintains relationships with external vendors and providers; ensures procedures are followed and costs are minimized.
Prepares documents and presents information at the Board of Director meetings, union leadership meetings, etc.; coordinates, reviews, and presents on retirement and OPEB actuarial reports.
Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local laws and District regulations regarding benefits and retirement administration.
Manages and participates in the development and implementation of goals, objectives, policies, and priorities for assigned programs; recommends and administers policies and procedures.
Coordinates activities of Benefits Division with other Human Resources divisions to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of service and departmental operations; monitors delivery methods and procedures; recommends, within departmental policy, appropriate service and staffing levels.
Conducts a variety of organizational studies, investigations, and operational studies; recommends modifications to assigned employee and retiree benefits programs, policies, and procedures as appropriate.
Plans, directs, coordinates, and reviews the work plan for assigned staff; assigns work activities, projects, and programs; reviews and evaluates work products, methods, and procedures; meets with staff to identify and resolve problems.
Selects, trains, motivates, and evaluates assigned staff; provides or coordinates staff training; works with employees to correct deficiencies; implements discipline and termination procedures.
Oversees the development and administration of the Benefit’s Division’s strategic and operational goals and objectives, and associated budget requirements; participates in the forecast of funds needed for staffing, equipment, materials, and supplies; monitors and approves expenditures; implements adjustments; and participates in the development and implementation of strategic and operational goals and objectives for the broader Human Resources Department.
Interprets District policies and procedures for employees; explains programs and resolves issues.
Serves as the liaison for employee and retiree benefits with other divisions, departments, and outside agencies; negotiates and resolves sensitive and controversial issues.
Monitors developments and legislation related to employee and retiree benefits administration and public retirement administration; evaluates impact upon District operations; recommends and implements computer application and system improvements, as well as practice and procedural improvements.
Serves as staff on a variety of boards, commissions, and committees; attends and participates in professional group meetings; stays abreast of new trends, legislation, and innovations in the field of benefits administration/human resources management.
Responds to and resolves difficult and sensitive employee and citizen inquiries and complaints.
Minimum Qualifications
Education :
Bachelor's degree in human resources administration, public administration, Business Administration, or a related field from an accredited college or university.
Experience :
The equivalent of five (5) years of full-time professional experience in benefits and/or retirement administration in a human resources setting, which must have included at least two (2) years of supervisory experience.
Substitution :
Additional professional experience as outlined above may be substituted for the education on a year-for-year basis.
Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge of :- Public Employees Retirement Law and Public Employees Medical and Hospital Care Act.
- Operational characteristics, services, and activities of a comprehensive employee benefits program.
- Principles and practices of human resources program development and administration.
- Methods and techniques of implementing effective benefits and related programs in a cost-effective manner that is also responsive to the needs of the larger organization.
- Principal and practices of defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans.
- Principles and practices of contract administration.
- Principles and practices of budget preparation and administration.
- Principles of supervision, training, and performance evaluation.
- Related Federal, State, and local laws, codes, and regulations.
- Overseeing and participating in the management of a comprehensive human resources program.
- Selecting, supervising, training, and evaluating staff.
- Participating in the development and administration of division goals, objectives, and procedures.
- Administering systems necessary for effective benefits administration
- Overseeing the work of contracted consultants and plan administrators.
- Auditing benefit plans for compliance with required regulations.
- Preparing and administering large program budgets.
- Preparing clear and concise administrative and financial reports.
- Overseeing the maintenance of District personnel files and records.
- Analyzing problems, identifying alternative solutions, projecting consequences of proposed actions and implementing recommendations in support of goals.
- Researching, analyzing, and evaluating new service delivery methods and techniques.
- Interpreting and applying Federal, State, and local policies, laws, and regulations.
- Communicating clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing.
- Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work.
Equal Employment Opportunity GroupBox1
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age (40 and above), religion, national origin (including language use restrictions), disability (mental and physical, including HIV and AIDS), ancestry, marital status, military status, veteran status, medical condition (cancer/genetic characteristics and information), or any protected category prohibited by local, state or federal laws.
The BART Human Resources Department will make reasonable efforts in the examination process to accommodate persons with disabilities or for religious reasons. Please advise the Human Resources Department of any special needs in advance of the examination by emailing at least 5 days before your examination date at employment@bart.gov .
Qualified veterans may be eligible to obtain additional veteran's credit in the selection process for this recruitment (effective Jan. 1, 2013). To obtain the credit, veterans must attach to the application a DD214 discharge document or proof of disability and complete/submit the Veteran's Preference Application no later than the closing date of the posting. For more information about this credit please go to the Veteran's Preference Policy and Application link at www.bart.gov/jobs .
The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) prides itself in offering best in class benefits packages to employees of the District. Currently, the following benefits may be available to employees in this job classification.
Highlights- Medical Coverage (or $350/month if opted out)
- Dental Coverage
- Vision Insurance (Basic and Enhanced Plans Available)
- Retirement Plan through the CA Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS)
- 2% @ 55 (Classic Members)
- 2% @ 62 (PEPRA Members)
- 3% at 50 (Safety Members - Classic)
- 2.7% @ 57 (Safety Members - PEPRA)
- Reciprocity available for existing members of many other public retirement systems (see BART website and/or CalPERS website for details)
- 6.65% employer contribution up to annual maximum of $1,868.65
Closing Date/Time: 10/18/2024 11:59 PM Pacific -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
Show moreThe BART story began in 1946. It began not by governmental fiat, but as a concept gradually evolving at informal gatherings of business and civic leaders on both sides of the San Francisco Bay. Facing a heavy post-war migration to the area and its consequent automobile boom, these people discussed ways of easing the mounting congestion that was clogging the bridges spanning the Bay. In 1947, a joint Army-Navy review Board concluded that another connecting link between San Francisco and Oakland would be needed in the years ahead to prevent intolerable congestion on the Bay Bridge. The link? An underwater tube devoted exclusively to high-speed electric trains.
Since 1911, visionaries had periodically brought up this Jules Verne concept. But now, pressure for a traffic solution increased with the population. In 1951, the State Legislature created the 26-member San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Commission, comprised of representatives from each of the nine counties which touch the Bay. The Commission's charge was to study the Bay Area's long range transportation needs in the context of environmental problems and then recommend the best solution.
The Commission advised, in its final report in 1957, that any transportation plan must be coordinated with the area's total plan for future development. Since no development plan existed, the Commission prepared one itself. The result of their thoroughness is a master plan which did much to bring about coordinated planning in the Bay Area, and which was adopted a decade later by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).
The BART Concept is Born
The Commission's least-cost solution to traffic tie-ups was to recommend forming a five-county rapid transit district, whose mandate would be to build and operate a high-speed rapid rail network linking major commercial centers with suburban sub-centers.The Commission stated that, "If the Bay Area is to be preserved as a fine place to live and work, a regional rapid transit system is essential to prevent total dependence on automobiles and freeways."
Thus was born the environmental concept underlying BART. Acting on the Commission's recommendations, in 1957, the Legislature formed the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, comprising the five counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo. At this time, the District was granted a taxing power of five cents per $100 of assessed valuation. It also had authority to levy property taxes to support a general obligation bond issue, if approved by District voters. The State Legislature lowered the requirement for voter approval from 66 percent to 60 percent.
Between 1957 and 1962, engineering plans were developed for a system that would usher in a new era in rapid transit. Electric trains would run on grade-separated right-of-ways, reaching maximum speeds of 75-80 mph, averaging perhaps 45 mph, including station stops. Advanced transit cars, with sophisticated suspensions, braking and propulsion systems, and luxurious interiors, would be strong competition to "King Car " in the Bay Area. Stations would be pleasant, conveniently located, and striking architectural enhancements to their respective on-line communities.
BART employees in the 1970s.
Hundreds of meetings were held in the District communities to encourage local citizen participation in the development of routes and station locations. By midsummer, 1961, the final plan was submitted to the supervisors of the five District counties for approval. San Mateo County Supervisors were cool to the plan. Citing the high costs of a new system-plus adequate existing service from Southern Pacific commuter trains - they voted to withdraw their county from the District in December 1961.
With the District-wide tax base thus weakened by the withdrawal of San Mateo County, Marin County was forced to withdraw in early 1962 because its marginal tax base could not adequately absorb its share of BART's projected cost. Another important factor in Marin's withdrawal was an engineering controversy over the feasibility of carrying trains across the Golden Gate Bridge.
BART had started with a 16-member governing Board of Directors apportioned on county population size: four from Alameda and San Francisco Counties, three from Contra Costa and San Mateo, and two from Marin. When the District was reduced to three counties, the Board was reduced to 11 members: four from San Francisco and Alameda, and three from Contra Costa. Subsequently, in 1965, the District's enabling legislation was changed to apportion the BART Board with four Directors from each county, thus giving Contra Costa its fourth member on a 12-person Board. Two directors from each county, hence forth, were appointed by the County Board of Supervisors. The other two directors were appointed by committees of mayors of each county (with the exception of the City and County of San Francisco, whose sole mayor made these appointments).
The five-county plan was quickly revised to a three-county plan emphasizing rapid transit between San Francisco and the East Bay cities and suburbs of Contra Costa and Alameda counties. The new plan, elaborately detailed and presented as the "BART Composite Report, " was approved by supervisors of the three counties in July 1962, and placed on the ballot for the following November general election.
The plan required approval of 60 percent of the District's voters. It narrowly passed with a 61.2 percent vote District-wide, much to the surprise of many political experts who were confident it would fail. Indeed, one influential executive was reported to have said: "If I'd known the damn thing would have passed, I'd never have supported it. "
The voters approved a $792 million bond issue to finance a 71.5 mile high-speed transit system, consisting of 33 stations serving 17 communities in the three counties. The proposal also included another needed transit project: rebuilding 3.5 miles of the San Francisco Municipal Railway. The new line would link muni streetcar lines directly with BART and Market Street stations, and four new Muni stations would be built.
The additional cost of the transbay tube -- estimated at $133 million -- was to come from bonds issued by the California Toll Bridge Authority and secured by future Bay Area Bridge revenues. The additional cost of rolling stock, estimated at $71 million, was to be funded primarily from bonds issued against future operating revenues. Thus, the total cost of the system, as of 1962, was projected at $996 million. It would be the largest single public works project ever undertaken in the U.S. by the local citizenry.
After the election, engineers immediately started work on the final system designs, only to be halted by a taxpayer's suit filed against the District a month later. The validity of the bond election, and the legality of the District itself, were challenged. While the court ruled in favor of the District on both counts, six months of litigation cost $12 million in construction delays. This would be the first of many delays from litigation and time-consuming negotiations involving 166 separate agreements reached with on-line cities, counties, and other special districts. The democratic processes of building a new transit system would prove to be major cost factors that, however necessary, were not foreseen.
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