Actuary

What we need

The Staff Actuary will be a part of TCDRS’s Decision Support Team. This role helps ensure the plan’s funding and actuarial practices remain sound, data-driven, and aligned with professional standards and applicable guidance. The Staff Actuary works closely with internal teams (Finance, Investments, Employer Services, Communications, and IT) and TCDRS’s external consulting actuaries to produce valuations, experience analyses, GASB reporting support, and employer-facing deliverables.

• Support actuarial valuations and projections used to determine employer contribution rates and assess plan funding
• Prepare and review actuarial exhibits, reconciliations, and results summaries for internal and external audiences
• Review consulting actuary’s deliverables for reasonableness
• Provide GASB-related financial reporting support (e.g., schedules, disclosures, and audit/data requests) and coordinate with internal stakeholders and external auditors
• Partner with business, consultants, and technical teams to translate policy into clear actuarial calculations and employer-facing outputs
• Use SQL and relational database tools to extract, validate, reconcile, and analyze data; identify anomalies and help resolve issues
• Help maintain and improve actuarial models and templates, and explore opportunities to improve automation
• Contribute to documentation and controls that support repeatable, auditable processes.
• Stay current on developments affecting public pension plans (assumption trends, actuarial standards, funding policy practices, pension rules, and regulatory guidance)
• Communicate projections, initiate fresh ideas based on possible trends in actuarial standards, policies, practices and governance to ensure best practices to actuarial analyses are applied
• Evaluate changes to possible funding arrangements and plan design as opportunities arise. Consider TCDRS plan changes that may be beneficial to employer plans and participants
• Complete pro forma analyses on potential legislation, cash flow analysis, and updates to actuarial or compliance guidelines
• Attend and participate in actuarial conferences and participate in actuarial professional organizations to stay abreast of actuarial changes and trends
• Educate staff about actuarial concepts to help communicate plan funding and compliance

TCDRS offers a competitive salary and excellent health benefits with a dynamic, stable and pleasant work environment in Austin, Texas, overlooking Zilker Park. Our hybrid schedule combines four days in the office fostering connection and teamwork with one remote day each week to support focus and flexibility. This is not just a job, but a chance to help thousands of Texans plan for the future.

TCDRS takes pride in our shared values of integrity, care and anticipation.

• Integrity means we get satisfaction from doing the right thing. We understand how important the retirement system is to our employers and members. We are responsible and accountable as stewards of our customers’financial futures.
• Care means that we educate and empathize with our members as they provide and plan for one of the biggest decisions in a person’s life: retirement. We work to build strong partnerships with our employers, investment managers and stakeholders; and we take care of each other.
• Anticipation means we don’t just look at what we can do for our members and employers right now —we also think about what we can do for them in the future. Looking ahead requires a critical eye, a curious mind and a willingness to explore creative solutions.

If this sounds like you, view the job on our careers website and submit your resume to jobs. Please refer to the job title in the subject line of your email.

• Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA) designation required
• Bachelor’s degree in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, economics, finance, or a related field
• Ability to align actuarial deliverables with organizational strategy, balancing cadence, effort, and impact
• Experience with pension plan actuarial valuations, preferably with public pensions
• Working knowledge of GASB concepts and how actuarial results tie to financial reporting
• Proficiency with relational databases, Microsoft Access, and SQL, including writing and interpreting queries and using them to manipulate, reconcile, and validate data
• Advanced skills in Excel, including complex formulas, data analysis, and macros/VBA for process automation and efficiency
• Strong analytical skills, sound judgment, and attention to detail
• Clear written and verbal communication skills (able to translate technical concepts to non-technical audiences)
• Willingness to work from TCDRS’s office in Austin (currently four days in office with Fridays as an optional work-from-home day)