Program Manager - Office of Retirement Services, Pension Division

Position: Program Manager - Office of Retirement Services, Pension Benefits Division
Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work.

Visithere to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and hereto learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran statusor any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities.

If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at , 711 (TTY), or via email at City Careers.

About the Department

The City of San José, the Capital of Silicon Valley, is one of the nation's best managed cities and one of the top 10 cities in which to live, work, and do business. Moreover, San José is the center of cultural, government and economic activity for the region. The employees of the City of San José have embraced the following values:
Integrity, Innovation, Excellence, Collaboration, Respect and Celebration

The Office of Retirement Services(ORS) oversees the investments of assets and administers the benefits of the two Defined Benefit Retirement Plans for the City of San Jose employees. One plan is for the sworn police and fire employees called the Police and Fire Department Retirement Plan. The other plan is for all other eligible City employees called Federated City Employees' Retirement System.

The assets of the two plans total over $8.0 billion. As of June 30, 2025, there were 7,392 retirees and beneficiaries, and 5,932 active employees in the two retirement plans. Each of the retirement plans has a Board of Administration that has fiduciary responsibility over their respective retirement plan. The ORS staff has accountability to them as well as City Administration.

ORS has a total of about 46 positions spread among five different work groups within the department:
Investments, Benefits, Accounting, Information Technology, and Administration. ORS utilizes the City's Financial Management System for all general ledger activities. In addition, ORS has its own pension administration system called Pension Gold that holds all pension/contribution information for active members and retirees and is used in almost all of the functions for the Benefits Group staff.

Position Duties

The Pension Benefits Division is seeking a collaborative, innovative, and service-oriented Program Manager to lead disability retirement and customer service operations for the City's pension systems. This is an exceptional opportunity to make a meaningful impact by leading high-performing teams, enhancing the customer experience, and driving business-led technology and process improvements that support thousands of active and retired City employees and their families.

Reporting to the Division Manager, the Program Manager provides leadership for multiple teams responsible for administering complex retirement, disability, death, and customer service functions for both sworn and non-sworn members. This position plays a critical role in ensuring the accurate, timely, and legally compliant delivery of pension benefits while fostering operational excellence, continuous improvement, and exceptional customer service.

The Program Manager will also have the opportunity to help shape the future of the Division by leading strategic initiatives, modernizing business processes, implementing technology solutions, and collaborating across the organization to improve the delivery of retirement services.

This position follows a hybrid work schedule, with four days per week in the office and one remote workday. The specific remote workday will be determined in collaboration with the selected candidate based on operational needs.

Key Responsibilities

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