Senior Specialist, Pension Data

Job description

OUR COMPANY BACKGROUND & CULTURE UPP is the first pension plan of its kind in Ontario’s university sector, proudly serving over 46,000 members across six universities and nineteen sector organizations. Our purpose is to bring greater retirement peace of mind to the university sector by investing with integrity and serving members with care. As a sector-wide plan designed for growth, our doors are open to all Ontario universities. We’re a team of progressive thinkers and agile doers operating within a fast-paced culture of collaboration and respect. We believe in bringing smart and capable people together to create, solve, and grow with a clear shared vision and values of integrity, inclusivity, ingenuity, and impact. We’ve built and nurtured a culture that is intentionally welcoming and purposefully rooted in equity, diversity, inclusion, and reconciliation (EDI&R). We believe diverse teams, perspectives, and lived experiences contribute to better decisions and a better workplace. As UPP celebrates its fifth anniversary, we’re proud to be recognized for our efforts: • 2026 Greater Toronto’s Top 100 Employers • 2026 Canadian HR Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Join us in building a bright future for our members, our organization, and each other. THE ROLE Reporting to the Manager, Member Data, this is a fantastic opportunity for an experienced data specialist to join a team of high performing professionals to make a great impact. You will be involved in a variety of data activities within Pension Services. Your role will include acting as a team lead to reconcile membership pension data and reporting key measures to stakeholders. The role also includes supporting the transactions and payroll team and interacting with the Client Experience team as a subject matter expert. UPP is uniquely positioned in its flexibility to build an internal foundation from the ground up. We approach this build thoughtfully and methodically, with a careful focus on building a strong base, operational efficiency and excellent member and employer experience. We are creating a digitally enabled service experience for our members. This role is based in downtown Toronto under a hybrid work policy, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely and in-office (approximately two days per week in-office). This posting is for an existing vacancy. SPECIFIC ACCOUNTABILITIES Service Delivery • Deliver best-in-class service to our members, participating employers and universities. • Provide accurate and timely reporting to all stakeholders regarding general and specific provisions of the benefit and pension plans. • Act as a primary contact for queries regarding member data, contribution data captures, and connecting with client Experience Team. • Recommend improvements to increase data accuracy. • Help guide and mentor junior team members on initiatives and projects. • Exhibit an ability to listen, negotiate and communicate goals; share knowledge, experience, and responsibility with the team to achieve the highest standards of professionalism. Pension Data and Insights • Monitor employer transactions, including the collection, recording and reconciliation of contributions and data. • Prepare and/or coordinate statutory reporting requirements, such as annual member statements, pension adjustments, and quarterly pension adjustment reversals. • Participate in data projects related to pension administration valuations and membership reconciliations. • Develop data quality control measures and indexes. • Devise methods to monitor data for discrepancies and inaccuracies. • Create visualizations, dashboards, and reports. • Analyze large datasets to identify trends, patterns, and actionable insights. • Remain current on pension benefit trends, practices and procedures, and evaluate and recommend adjustments. • Support the pension data governance framework by helping document and maintain data standards, business rules, data lineage, ownership, control points, and evidence required to manage pension data from employer intake through administration, reporting, and member servicing. • Lead or support root-cause analysis for recurring pension data quality issues, coordinate remediation plans with internal teams and participating employers, and track issues, decisions, risks, and outcomes through to closure. • Develop and monitor operational data quality indicators, dashboards, thresholds, and exception reporting to identify emerging risks, support prioritization, and provide clear evidence for leadership decision-making. • Partner with Pension Operations, Employer Experience, Member Experience, Technology, Legal, Privacy, and Compliance teams to ensure pension data practices support plan administration requirements, regulatory obligations, privacy expectations, and a strong member and employer experience. • Other projects and activities, as assigned. QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE • Completed college diploma or university degree with 5+ years of strong data analytics experience. • 5+ years of experience in pension plan administration. • Strong ability to self-diagnose member data issues correctly. • Experience reading and interpreting pension plan texts and translating provisions would be an asset. • Experience working with pension data governance practices, including data stewardship, data quality controls, issue management, reconciliation evidence, process documentation, and audit-ready record keeping. • Strong understanding of how pension data supports member calculations, employer reporting, actuarial valuation inputs, statutory reporting, risk monitoring, and operational service outcomes. • Ability to translate complex data issues into clear business impacts, recommended actions, and escalation points for operational teams and senior leadership. • CEBS or PPAC would be an asset. • Strong oral and written communication skills and an ability to communicate complex information clearly and at a level appropriate for employers and senior leadership. • Professional, client-focused approach to colleagues and assignments. • Seeks out experiences that may change perspective or provide an opportunity to learn new things. • Ability to organize, set priorities and work independently. ATTRIBUTES • A passion for delivering a great pension experience from enrollment to retirement, with a proven ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships. • Good analytical skills to ensure data accuracy. • High emotional intelligence. • Self-motivated, flexible, and adaptable to changing priorities and new challenges. • Logical and detail oriented. • Strong commitment to innovation and continuous improvement. • Ownership mindset. • Governance mindset with the discipline to document decisions, maintain controls, identify risks early, and support continuous improvement in pension data operations. • Strong conflict resolution skills to manage complaints and escalations from members and employers. • Excellent judgment and clear and precise communication skills, including a high degree of diplomacy and confidentiality with the ability to adapt communication style to the audience. EXPECTED COMPENSATION The expected compensation for this role is a combination of base salary and variable incentive. The annualized base salary in the range of $70,800 to $95,800. This range reflects the expected range for new hire base salaries and is subject to change and may be modified in the future. You may also be eligible for a variable incentive depending on organizational, divisional and personal performance. The final total compensation offered will vary depending on your skills, experience and other factors. LIFE AT UPP Do work that matters. We are duty-bound to serve our members’ interests, and it’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly. That’s why we’ve ingrained sustainability in our work from day one—to ensure our members have a resilient future to retire into, both today and for generations to come. Stronger together. Collaboration is how UPP was born, and it’s how we work with each other and our partners day in, day out. No one at UPP is just a number (even if they are excellent at math) and every win is a shared win. Grow every day. You’ll have the opportunity to work on unique, once-in-a-career projects that maximize your skill set and probably teach you some new ones—at any stage in your career. Prioritize wellness. At UPP, wellness takes many forms. Ultimately, it’s about ensuring our people are cared for in the ways that matter to them. Check out some highlights of our inclusive employee-focused benefits program including: • Defined benefit pension plan • Flexible hybrid work model • Paid time off – vacations, personal days and wellness days • Work remotely up to eight weeks/year • Comprehensive group benefits including medical, dental, vision, etc. • Extended paramedical and mental health service coverage • Health care and lifestyle spending accounts • Fertility treatments, paid parental leave, and gender affirmation coverage • Education Assistance program This posting will remain open for a minimum of seven (7) days and will remain open until a sufficient number of qualified applications are received or finalist candidates have been identified. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools may be used to support certain stages of the recruitment process, including sourcing, screening, and assessment. All hiring decisions involve human review and intervention by UPP employees. UPP enthusiastically welcomes applications from all qualified applicants and especially invites people with lived experience as an Indigenous person, a person with a disability or as a member of another Human Rights Code protected group that faces barriers to employment to apply. Our goal is to create a barrier-free experience for every candidate throughout the recruitment process. UPP respects your privacy. For information on how UPP handles the personal information you provide during the application process, please see our Job Applicant Privacy Statement.