What are the responsibilities and job description for the Retirement Plan Relationship Manager position at Sentinel Group?
Location: Hybrid or Remote from our Wakefield, MA or Troy, MI office
The Purpose of Your Role:
As a Relationship Manager, you will be instrumental in managing and fostering strong client relationships, ensuring the effective delivery of retirement plan services. Acting as the primary point of contact, you will collaborate with internal teams to maintain compliance, optimize performance, and deliver exceptional client satisfaction. This role requires excellent interpersonal skills, in‐depth knowledge of retirement plan products, and a steadfast commitment to outstanding client service.
While primarily client‐facing, you will also work closely with Compliance Analysts, who will support you with tasks to ensure accurate and compliant plan operations. In some cases, you may manage a small portfolio of clients, serving as both their Relationship Manager and Compliance Analyst. In this dual role, you will oversee daily client interactions, retirement plan administration, compliance testing, and reporting.
The Purpose of Your Role:
As a Relationship Manager, you will be instrumental in managing and fostering strong client relationships, ensuring the effective delivery of retirement plan services. Acting as the primary point of contact, you will collaborate with internal teams to maintain compliance, optimize performance, and deliver exceptional client satisfaction. This role requires excellent interpersonal skills, in‐depth knowledge of retirement plan products, and a steadfast commitment to outstanding client service.
While primarily client‐facing, you will also work closely with Compliance Analysts, who will support you with tasks to ensure accurate and compliant plan operations. In some cases, you may manage a small portfolio of clients, serving as both their Relationship Manager and Compliance Analyst. In this dual role, you will oversee daily client interactions, retirement plan administration, compliance testing, and reporting.
What you will bring to Sentinel:
- Proven expertise in the retirement plan industry with a history of client consulting.
- A customer‐centric mindset, focused on delivering value and building trust.
- Effective communication skills, adaptable to both small and large audiences.
- Strong understanding of retirement plan regulations (ERISA, DOL, IRS).
- Comprehensive knowledge of various plan types, including 401(k), 403(b), profit‐sharing, non‐ qualified, and defined benefit plans.
- Familiarity with plan features such as automatic enrollment, new comparability, aggregated testing, and 3(16) administration.
- Excellent multitasking and prioritization abilities, with the capacity to work independently and escalate issues when necessary.
- Strong presentation skills for client consultations and meeting facilitation.
What you will be responsible for:
- Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, catering to varying levels of retirement plan expertise.
- Act as the primary liaison between clients and internal teams, building and maintaining strong, trust‐based relationships.
- Address client inquiries and requests proactively, ensuring satisfaction with plan performance and services.
- Conduct periodic plan reviews with a focus on plan outcomes and administrative processes.
- Participate in client meetings, often in collaboration with outside investment advisors, to identify opportunities for enhancing plan participation and engagement.
- Consulting with Compliance Analysts and clients on plan design, compliance updates, and industry best practices to optimize plan outcomes.
- Collaborating with other Sentinel departments and external partners to ensure timely, accurate compliance testing and reporting.
About you:
You are a team‐oriented professional who excels at communicating complex retirement plan concepts to clients and Compliance Analysts in a clear and effective manner. You thrive in fast‐paced environments, adeptly managing multiple priorities while meeting deadlines. As the benefits industry evolves, you embrace change and adapt with flexibility.What you need to have:
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in defined contribution plan administration, with a focus on Client Management.
- Intermediate to advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, including formulas and the ability to learn new software quickly.
- Excellent communication, negotiation, and problem‐solving skills.
- ASPPA Qualified 401(k) Administrator (QKA) or higher credential preferred.
- Experience with Relius Administration software preferred.
- Experience with “daily” recordkeeping retirement plans preferred.
- Ability to travel to client meetings – if needed.
What you’ll be part of:
Joining our company means becoming part of something special. We're driven by a mission to excel in our industry and within our team, supported by people who truly care about our organization.
Sentinel was recently recognized by The Boston Globe as a Top Place to Work in 2020 and 2023. In 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024, Sentinel earned a Top Workplace USA Award from Energage.
At Sentinel, we welcome people from diverse experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives – and we wouldn’t have it any other way. So even if you don’t meet every single requirement, please consider applying if you like what you see. Our priority is to find talented individuals who enrich our team culture, contribute with enthusiasm, and are passionate about what they do.
Sentinel is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone to our team. If you need reasonable adjustments at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.
Some of our Benefits:
- PTO (vacation, sick, personal time bank)
- FTO (Flexible time off for vacation, sick, and personal time) after 2 years of service
- 12 Paid Holidays (10 stated and 2 floating holidays)
- 2 Community Volunteer Days
- 5 Summer Half Days
- Medical, Dental, Vision
- Life Insurance
- LTD & STD
- Retirement Plan with 4% Employer Match
- Parental Leave
See What We Stand For: https://www.sentinelgroup.com/About-Us/Join-Our-Team
Who we are:
Sentinel Group proudly serves nearly 5,000 clients throughout the U.S. For 35 years, we’ve remained devoted to positively impacting the lives of our people, our clients and our communities. With a 9-year average associate tenure among our 265 professionals, our team’s commitment to excellent service has positioned Sentinel as the only provider who makes benefits EASY: easy for your people; easy for your business; and easy for you.
Our ultimate goal is to help companies and their employees prepare for their future health, wealth and retirement needs. Whether it’s through retirement plans, group health insurance, reimbursement accounts or financial planning, we engineer simple solutions and continuously strive to make them better. Our in-house experts – and their commitment to excellence – define who we are.
Sentinel is also one of the largest employee benefits firms in Massachusetts (Boston Business Journal) and was named a 2022 Retirement Plan Adviser of the Year in the Mentorship category (PLANADVISER Magazine).
