Operations Specialist

Location: Lawrence, MA

Hours: Mon - Fri 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Grade: 13

As the Operations Specialist will be performing accurate and timely deposit operations and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) processing while maintaining strong internal controls, regulatory and procedural compliance, and responsive service to members and internal business partners. This role researches and resolves exceptions, completes reconciliations and required reporting, maintains documentation, supports audits and system initiatives, and serves as a knowledgeable resource on deposit processes.

What You'll Be Doing (Your Responsibilities)

• Process deposit account maintenance, monetary and non-monetary transactions, adjustments, exceptions, research requests, and operational service requests accurately and within established service standards.
• Review and accept remote deposits in accordance with established limits, procedures, fraud controls, and regulatory requirements; monitor exceptions and process returned deposited items promptly and accurately.
• Manage the collection and charge-off process for negative share accounts, including monitoring aging balances, completing member outreach and account research, documenting collection activity, applying approved recovery actions, and processing charge-offs in accordance with policy and applicable requirements.
• Administer abandoned property and escheatment activities, including identifying potentially dormant accounts, completing required due diligence and member outreach, reconciling reportable property, preparing and submitting required reports and remittances, maintaining supporting records, and responding to related inquiries in accordance with applicable state requirements and organizational procedures.
• Administer IRA activities, including account opening and maintenance, contributions, distributions, transfers, rollovers, beneficiary records, required minimum distributions, tax withholding, and year-end processing.
• Review transactions and account records for completeness, accuracy, required authorization, and compliance with policies, procedures, plan documents, tax-reporting requirements, and applicable regulations.
• Prepare, validate, and support timely delivery of tax forms, regulatory reports, certifications, notices, and other required submissions.
• Monitor assigned work queues, exception reports, aging items, service requests, and deadlines; escalate material issues, backlogs, or control concerns to management.
• Research and resolve routine and moderately complex deposit, transaction, tax-reporting, beneficiary, and IRA inquiries in partnership with branches, member-facing teams, Compliance, Finance, Information Technology, and other business partners.
• Maintain complete and accurate records in accordance with records-retention, privacy, information-security, and quality-control requirements.
• Identify errors, recurring exceptions, operational risks, and control gaps; recommend practical corrective actions and process improvements.
• Create and maintain procedures, workflows, job aids, checklists, and training materials; share knowledge and provide process guidance to employees and internal partners.
• Support audits, examinations, compliance reviews, and risk assessments by gathering documentation, responding to requests, and completing assigned remediation activities.
• Participate in testing, implementation, and readiness activities for new products, regulatory changes, system releases, conversions, vendor initiatives, automation, and business-continuity events.
• Track and communicate assigned service levels, volumes, errors, exceptions, turnaround times, and improvement opportunities.
• Provide courteous, timely, and professional service while protecting confidential member and organizational information.
• Maintain current knowledge of deposit operations, IRA administration, tax-reporting requirements, applicable regulations, internal procedures, and industry guidance through training and independent study.
• Live the organization's cultural beliefs by promoting the "See It, Own It, Solve It, Do It" culture, continuously improving member service and the staff experience, and focusing efforts on achieving key results.
• Contribute to the organization's goal of being the "Best Place to Work and Best Place to Bank."
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

What We're Looking For (Your Qualifications)

• High school diploma or equivalent is required. Some college preferred.
• A minimum of one year experience in deposit operations, banking operations, retirement account administration, or a related financial-services function preferred.
• Working knowledge of deposit-account operations, reconciliations, transaction research, exception processing, regulatory compliance, internal controls, records retention, and information security.
• Ability to follow policies, procedures, regulatory guidance, and plan-document requirements and apply them consistently to daily work.
• Demonstrated reliability, sound judgment, attention to detail, and ability to work independently and collaboratively.
• Proficiency in a Windows-based environment, including Outlook, Excel, and Word, and the ability to learn core processing, document-management, reporting, and workflow systems.
• Flexibility in work hours as needed to meet processing deadlines, year-end requirements, conversions, or business-continuity needs.