ABOUT THIS POSITION
The Retirement Office is comprised of twenty one positions that are responsible for providing pension information to members of the City of Phoenix Employees Retirement System (COPERS) and the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS). The City's Deferred Compensation Plans (457/401(a)/ PEHP) are also managed within the office. Each of the benefit functions in Retirement report to their respective Board of Trustees that are responsible for overseeing roughly $8 billion in retirement assets. The Retirement Office is divided into three areas: Administrative/Operations, Benefits, and Investments.
The Retirement Department is seeking a motivated and dedicated Investment Officer to join our team. This position is responsible for the oversight of COPERS' investment portfolio of over $4 billion. This position does not directly invest plan funds.
The Investment Officer will work with the Retirement Programs Director, the COPERS Board of Trustees, and their external investment consultants and managers to design, implement and manage retirement fund investments including investment policies, guidelines, and processes that will prudently achieve market rate of return on invested funds of the retirement fund.
This position will monitor, analyze, and interpret investment portfolio performance evaluation reports to make recommendations to management or the Retirement Board on changes to investment policy.
Information regarding COPERS investment portfolio, Statement of Investment Beliefs and Investment Policy Statement are available on COPERS Website .
Responsibilities include:
- Ensure that the Boards' investment policies are implemented efficiently and effectively to accomplish the investment objectives.
- Ensure that policies and procedures provide adequate controls to safeguard assets.
- Present to the Boards on the strategic direction of the investment programs, coordinate activities with investment consultants, and create strong lines of communication between all parties involved in the investment programs.
- Ensure COPERS' Statement of Investment Beliefs are considered in the investment decision-making process consistent with COPERS' fiduciary duty to participants and beneficiaries.
- Monitor and evaluate investment managers to ensure that assets are managed in accordance with established policies, performance expectations, and contractual obligations, and resolve any issues, as needed.
- Work with the investment consultant on investment matters, such as development of the asset allocation and implementation strategies, manager due diligence, development of investment policy recommendations, etc.
- Negotiate contracts with general partners, investment managers, and service providers, and coordinate the legal review with counsel.
- Maintain effective and positive relationships with the Retirement Programs Director, the COPERS Board, investment managers, consultants, custodians, City departments, and other stakeholders.
Currently, there is one vacancy, and one anticipated vacancy, in the Retirement Department.
This position has a flexible/alternative work schedule and the option to telework up to two days per week following six months of employment, with Department approval and subject to business needs.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
- Ability to assess the needs of the department to ensure training needs are met.
- Ability to have developed competencies in strategic thinking, facilitation, process improvement, creativity, dealing with ambiguity, problem solving, and, most importantly, interpersonal skills.
SALARY
Pay Range: $104,728.00 - $140,337.60 annually.
Hiring Range: $104,728.00 - $133,660.80 annually.
Pay Range Explanation:
- Pay range is the entire compensation range for the position classification.
- Hiring range is an estimate of where you can receive an offer. The actual salary offer will carefully consider a wide range of factors, including your skills, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, training, and internal equity.
Internal Only: Please understand that this is pay grade 069. If selected, your salary offer will be based on the applicable promotion or demotion worksheet in accordance with the City Pay Ordinance.
- Promotions occur when the last two digits of the pay grade increase.
- Demotions occur when the last two digits of the pay grade decrease.
- Lateral transfers occur when there is no change to the last two digits of the pay grade.
- When there is a change in the first digit of the pay grade, there may also be a change to your classification or unit.
Your job classification can be found in eCHRIS > Personal Details under your name, located in the top left section of the page.
The pay grade and classification/unit of your current position may be found by looking up your job title on the job description page .
BENEFITS
A comprehensive benefits package is offered which includes:
- Traditional pension with employer and employee contributions, click here for more details: Pension Information
- 401(a) and 457 plans with employer contributions
- Choice of generous medical HMO, PPO, or HSA/HDHP plans
- Medical enrollment includes a monthly $150 City contribution to a Post-Employment Health Plan
- Wellness incentive of up to $720 annually
- Dental, vision, and life insurance options
- Employer paid long-term disability
- Free Bus/light rail pass
- Tuition reimbursement program up to $6,500 per year
- Paid time off includes 13.5 paid holidays, 12 vacation days, and 15 sick days and personal leave days
- Paid Parental Leave for eligible employees up to 480 hours (12 weeks) of paid leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child during a 12-month period
- Federal Student Loan Forgiveness offered through Savi
For more details, visit: Unit 007 Benefits
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Three years of professional and supervisory experience in municipal, financial, investments, and banking operations.
- Including experience in investment portfolio management and expertise in analysis and execution of trades of all types of securities.
- Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration or a related field.
- Other combinations of experience and education that meet the minimum requirements may be substituted.
- All finalists for positions are subject to a criminal background check applicable to the department or position.
- For information regarding pre-screening and driving positions, click here .
- The City job description can be found here .
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
The minimum qualifications listed above, plus:
- Advanced degree (MBA) with an emphasis in finance or behavioral finance.
- Seven or more years of relevant investment experience.
- Three or more years of experience in supervision or management.
- Experience with and understanding of Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT).
- Experience in/with
- Financial reporting and auditing.
- Negotiating complex investment manager contracts.
- Private market asset classes.
- ESG and DEI factors within an institutional investment program.
- Managing endowment, trust funds, or retirement plan assets.
- Defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans.
RECRUITMENT DATES
Recruitment closes July 20, 2026. All materials must be received by 11:59 p.m. on this date.
This is a position-based recruitment and will not result in any ongoing eligibility list. This recruitment and any selection processes resulting from this recruitment may be used to fill other related vacancies within the organization now or in the near future.
HOW TO APPLY
Apply online by completing the required information and attaching,
as one document, your cover letter and resume. Please include your experience as it relates to the qualifications stated above. Only the highest qualified may be posted to the eligible to hire list. The results of the resume screening process will be sent to your primary email address.
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- If you require assistance at any stage of the application process due to an accessibility issue, please contact the Human Resources Department by phone at (602) 495-5700 or by text at (800) 367-8939 . You may also fill out and submit a Reasonable Accommodation Request Form .
REFERENCE
Investment Manager, JC:03200, ID# 62216 , 07/06/26, USM, DB, Benefits:007.
Building the Phoenix of tomorrow.
#DoWorkThatMakesPhoenixWork
City of Phoenix is an equal opportunity employer. AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and other national service alumni who meet the required qualifications are encouraged to apply.