Senior Retirement Programs Director

Forvis Mazars US; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 170,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Forvis Mazars, LLP is seeking a Retirement Senior Manager to build depth, structure, and strategic leadership for 401(k) and profit-sharing programs. You will own strategy, governance, administration, and compliance, acting as the technical expert on plan design, fiduciary oversight, and participant experience.

This role leads complex processes for executives and staff, partners with Finance, HRIS, and vendors, and guides senior leadership on regulatory developments and program effectiveness.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a related field.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in retirement plan administration, governance, and operations.
• Hands-on experience managing defined contribution retirement plans, including 401(k) administration, compliance testing, plan audits, fiduciary governance, vendor management, participant communications, and issue resolution.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the firm's retirement plan subject matter expert, leading strategy, design, governance, administration, and continuous improvement for 401(k) and profit-sharing programs.
• Oversee retirement plan compliance, including census preparation, nondiscrimination testing, Form 5500 filings, audits, participant notices, regulatory updates, and correction processes.
• Own the annual profit-sharing calculation and allocation process, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with plan provisions through partnership with Finance, vendors, and auditors.
• Serve as the primary technical contact for recordkeepers, investment advisors, legal counsel, consultants, vendors, and plan auditors; manage service quality, issue resolution, reporting, and deliverables.
• Advance fiduciary governance by preparing committee materials, documenting decisions, tracking actions, and ensuring administrative practices align with plan, operational, and regulatory standards.
• Lead analysis and resolution of complex retirement plan issues, including operational errors, plan document interpretation, correction strategies, voluntary compliance submissions, and audit findings.
• Oversee complex retirement processes for managing directors, employees, and retirees, including eligibility, deferral elections, contributions, distributions, communications, transitions, and escalated participant matters.
• Translate complex retirement plan concepts into clear participant communications, education resources, compliance notices, and targeted campaigns.
• Conduct benchmarking, plan analysis, and emerging-practice research to evaluate competitiveness and inform strategic recommendations for senior leadership.
• Partner with HRIS, Payroll, Finance, Total Rewards, and vendors to ensure accurate data feeds, eligibility management, contribution processing, reconciliation, reporting, and Workday integration.
• Advise senior leadership on retirement plan strategy, fiduciary considerations, regulatory developments, operational risk, participant impact, and opportunities to strengthen plan effectiveness.
• Support firm growth, new entities, workforce changes, and M&A integration through retirement plan due diligence, design alignment, harmonization, vendor readiness, and participant transition planning.
• Identify and lead opportunities to modernize, automate, and scale retirement operations through process redesign, stronger controls, analytics, vendor capabilities, and system integration.
• Lead and develop retirement team members through technical guidance, prioritization support, coaching, and performance feedback.

Skills

Retirement plan governance

Fiduciary oversight

Regulatory compliance

Vendor management

Data analytics

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Workday

HRIS

Job description

Forvis Mazars, LLP is seeking a Retirement Senior Manager to build depth, structure, and strategic leadership for 401(k) and profit-sharing programs. You will own strategy, governance, administration, and compliance, acting as the technical expert on plan design, fiduciary oversight, and participant experience.

This role leads complex processes for executives and staff, partners with Finance, HRIS, and vendors, and guides senior leadership on regulatory developments and program effectiveness.