About the Role
Our client, a retirement fund based in Bryanston, is seeking an experienced Benefits Processing Supervisor to support the Claims Processing Manager in ensuring the timeous and accurate payment of benefits to members and pensioners, and to manage the issues associated with fund administration.
You will ensure that benefits are administered in accordance with the Fund Rules, the Pension Funds Act 24 of 1956 and applicable FSCA requirements, within agreed SLAs and in line with Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) principles.
Key Responsibilities
Fund administration oversight
• Prepare accurate monthly reports and statistics for the Claims Processing Manager, including SLA turnaround, claims backlog, ageing of unpaid and unclaimed benefits, and exception analysis.
• Maintain statistical records of members, prepare the monthly EXCO submission, and reconcile statistics to the pension administration system, payroll and the Fund’s financial records.
• Ensure audit controls are in place and track internal audit, external audit and FSCA findings to closure.
• Oversee quality assurance of claim forms and supporting documents, validate exit claims against exit movements, and verify member options against Fund Rules and legislation.
• Validate manual tax directives and manually calculated Final Average Emoluments, ensuring tax directives are obtained from SARS and correctly applied (including lump sum tax tables and IRP5 reconciliations).
• Ensure ill-health and disability benefit applications are captured and actioned timeously, including validating medical evidence, obtaining medical adviser/Board approval and periodic re-assessment of disability pensioners.
• Ensure unclaimed benefits are traced within SLA timeframes and reported in line with the Pension Funds Act and FSCA requirements.
• Monitor pensioner information and daily maintenance of personal detail changes before payroll close, including verification of existence, suspension and reinstatement of benefits, and recovery of overpayments after date of death.
• Review and approve benefit payments within delegated authority, ensuring segregation of duties, dual authorization and payment within prescribed timeframes.
• Oversee the processing of Two-Pot savings withdrawal benefits, including tax directive requests and compliance with withdrawal rules.
• Apply fraud-prevention controls to claims and payments, including FICA-compliant member verification, bank account verification and proof-of-life checks.
• Manage member, pensioner and beneficiary complaints and escalations, including Pension Funds Adjudicator and FSCA queries, and report operational risks, incidents, errors and POPIA-related breaches.
Member and pensioner data integrity
• Ensure data updates are authorized before payroll close through the workflow process, with no changes processed without supporting documents and maker-checker authorization.
• Follow up on exception reports, including those arising from the monthly contribution update.
• Ensure the correct procedure is followed for Section 14 transfers in, including verification of transfer values.
• Check and monitor divorce settlement calculations and DSD adjustments in line with Fund Rules.
• Monitor system and website outputs, member benefit statements, tax certificates and deferred pensioner estimates.
• Ensure monthly and annual reconciliations between the administration system, payroll and general ledger are completed and exceptions resolved, and that personal information is handled in compliance with POPIA.
Contribution handling
• Manage the allocation and reconciliation of member contributions, and monitor receipt from participating employers within the statutory period (Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act), escalating late or non-payment for FSCA reporting.
• Investigate and resolve contribution exceptions, unallocated contributions and employer/pay point discrepancies.
People leadership
• Plan resource requirements, allocate and monitor…