Member Service Representative

Location: Champaign, IL

Job Type: Full-time

Classification: Member Service Representative I

If you are driven by opportunities to serve members, use a high level of attention to detail, simplify complex topics, and serve a mission driven organization, these positions offer opportunities to make a lasting impact on SURS and its members.

What You’ll Do

Serve in a Member Service Representative role in one of the following SURS departments: Call Center, Counseling, Disability, Beneficiary and Survivor, Employer Services, Insurance, Pay Benefits, PREP, Retirement, Retirement Savings Plan. (See department descriptions below)

SURS’ Member Service roles rely heavily on strong customer service, communications, critical thinking, and mathematical skills. Certain departments are more customer service-focused while others focus more on claims processing and analysis. Openings are available in multiple departments. Must be a current Illinois resident to apply.

Departments

Call Center (Potential Future Vacancy)

Provide exceptional customer service to SURS members, employers, and outside entities regarding SURS benefits.
Serve as a process liaison between the Call Center and other departments.
Bring a desire to continuously learn and assist others.

Front Desk (Current Vacancy)

Greet members and answer frequently asked questions.
Accept and review forms and paperwork members bring in and route it appropriately.
Monitor the Counselor calendar and check-in members for appointments.
Assist members with website registration or log-in at kiosk.
Manage secure messages from the Member website.

Focused Call Center (Current Vacancy)

Provide customer service to SURS members, member contacts, and outside entities.
Provide accurate and complete information to the members and benefit recipients by utilizing all available resources and tools.
Responsible for the accurate and timely completion of:

Verifications such as housing, bank mortgage, and additional verification.
Follow-up such as research of members’ files, outside teams/department requests.
Contacting members with any follow-up communication.

Counselors (Potential Future Vacancy)

Counsel members on all SURS benefits with a focus on retirement.
Calculate and explain estimated benefits, as well as the costs of service purchases.
Conduct educational presentations and seminars for large groups of members.
Bring a desire to regularly interact with and help others.

Disability & Disability Retirement (Potential Future Vacancy)

Process, calculate and approve the following claim types:
Disability
Disability Retirement Annuity (DRA)
Interact regularly with SURS employer representatives to facilitate efficient processing.
Bring a keen awareness to the importance of assisting membership during difficult life changes.

Beneficiary and Survivor (Potential Future Vacancy)

Process, calculate and approve the following claim types:
Beneficiary
Survivor
Interact regularly with SURS employer representatives to facilitate efficient processing.
Bring a keen awareness to the importance of assisting membership during difficult life changes.

Focused Beneficiary and Survivor (Current Vacancy)

Review incoming phone calls and documents pertaining to beneficiary and survivor claims.
Follow-up with beneficiaries/survivors to obtain needed documents in order to pay out benefits in a timely manner.
Communicate with beneficiaries/survivors through written and verbal communication
Communicate with employers via employer web correspondence and email.
Communicate with reciprocal systems via email and fax.
After a year, you will be trained in how to calculate and approve beneficiary and survivor benefits with a high level of accuracy.

Employer Services (Potential Future Vacancy)

Act as a liaison between SURS staff, members, and employers.
Communicate daily with representatives from SURS’ 61 campuses.
Assist in receipt and processing of employer transactions.
Troubleshoot employer processing issues.
Provide individual and group education to SURS employers on SURS’ benefits and processes.

Insurance (Potential Future Vacancy)

Act as a liaison between the Department of Central Management Services (CMS) and SURS members.
Maintain check-writing files as it relates to insurance premiums.
Investigate and resolve premium discrepancies.

Pay Benefits (Potential Future Vacancy)

Process benefit payments including completion of pay benefits records and payment for the following:
Separation refunds
Finalized retirements and preliminary estimated payments
Disability claims
Death and Survivor benefits
Beneficiary annuities
Reversionary annuities
Survivor refunds
Excess service waivers
Disability retirements
Update and maintain member demographics and bank files.
Approve daily ACH transfers and maintain check-writing files.

PREP (Purchases, Refunds, Edits, Preliminary Estimated Payments) (Potential Future Vacancy)

Calculate and approve refunds, service credit purchases, and preliminary estimated payments.
Prepare cost estimates of service credit purchases.
Interact regularly with SURS employer representatives to facilitate efficient processing.

Retirement (Potential Future Vacancy)

Process, calculate and approve retirement claims.
Calculate and approve employer bills.
Interact regularly with SURS employer representatives to facilitate efficient processing.

Retirement Savings Plan (RSP) (Potential Future Vacancy)

Participate in the daily administration of SURS defined contribution plans.
Process daily transactional and error reports.
Process death claims, non-retirement eligible distributions and retirement eligible distributions.
Serve as a liaison and resource for SURS staff, RSP services providers, and SURS employers.
Conduct customer service-related activities with SURS members.

Required Qualifications

High school diploma or equivalent.
Any one or combination totaling three (3) years (36 months) from the categories below:
1. College coursework in Business Administration, Communications, Public Relations, or a closely related field as measured by the following conversion table or its proportional equivalent:
  1. 30 semester hours equals one (1) year (12 months)
  2. Associate’s degree (60 semester hours) equals eighteen months (18 months)
  3. 90 semester hours equals two (2) years (24 months)
  4. Bachelor’s degree (120 semester hours) equals three (3) years (36 months)
2. Work experience in customer service or office administrative support.

Preferred Qualifications

Strong analytical thinking skills
Detail-oriented
Mathematical background
Excellent phone etiquette
Strong written and verbal communications skills
Desire to learn, grow, and contribute to the team and organization
Desire to assist others during important life transitions
Ability to appropriately handle confidential or sensitive information
Self-motivator
Strong organizational skills

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Applied knowledge of computers.
Skill in verbal and written communication.
Ability to learn and apply the rules, policies, and practices of the retirement system and other state and federal governmental agencies.
Ability to work with a diverse member base.
Ability to deal with the members, annuitants, and agencies in a friendly manner to achieve positive customer service.
Ability to work well with others during conversations, projects, meetings, or other collaborations.

Work Environment & Compensation

Full-time position based in Champaign, IL
Fully in-office during initial training; potential hybrid schedule available afterward. (Call Center and Front Desk staff are not eligible for a hybrid schedule)
The starting hourly wage range for this position is $24.98 – $26.86. This is a competitive salary, taking into consideration experience and internal equity.
Standard 37.5-hour work week

Benefits That Matter

State of Illinois insurance benefits including medical, dental, and vision
Participation in the SURS retirement plan
Paid vacation, sick leave, and 10 paid holidays
2 floating holidays after 6 months
Paid parental leave after 6 months
Flexible, professional work environment
Free parking
Find more details regarding the benefits SURS offers at: SURS Employee Benefits - SURS

About SURS

The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) administers retirement, disability, survivor, and death benefits for over 255,000 members across Illinois public higher education institutions. Founded in 1941, SURS manages more than $30 billion in assets and is committed to delivering accurate, timely, and compassionate service to members throughout their careers and lives.

Learn more about this Employer on their Career Site

Member Service Representative