presents
Christian Education Benefit Solutions
Canadian Managing Director
https://www.christianeducationbenefitsolutions.org/
Overview
Christian Education Benefit Solutions
Christian Education Benefit Solutions (CEB Solutions) provides health and pension products and services, designed specifically by and for the Canadian Christian education community. As a Christian education community with decades of experience and a deep commitment to strengthening Christian education, we understand the unique challenges that Christian educational institutions face as they meet the retirement and health care needs of their staff.
Christian schools are faced with the challenge of using limited resources to meet the retirement and health care needs of teachers and staff. To help meet this challenge, Christian Education Benefit Solutions has developed products and services that are the best fit for the Christian education community.
Our flexible, cost-effective health and pension plans provide a range of benefit solutions to help Christian educational organizations attract and retain world-class staff. The CEB Solutions Health and Pension plans are given oversight by a Trustee board made up of Canadian Christian education champions and plan participants who are passionate about ensuring Christian Education in Canada flourishes.
Mission
Helping Christian Communities Flourish
Christian Education Benefit Solutions has always been more than a benefits provider. We're here to help Christian communities flourish. For teachers and staff, this means pension plans designed for varying levels of contribution. It means comprehensive health plans, including life, disability, dental, and medical.
Values
Passionate about Christian Education
Growth Oriented
Excellent & accurate customer service
Servant minded
Our Story
Our Story
The world we live in was created by God for us to live and flourish in. While there are many places of joy and beauty in our world, there are also places of sadness and injustice. As Christians, we are called to care for this world and to advance God’s Kingdom in it. This is possible when loving and kingdom-focused Christians are equipped and actively present in all sectors of Canadian society.
For that to happen, it is critical that our children and young people receive quality, Biblically-informed care and education, setting them on a path to be God-honouring people in every area of their life.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 ESV
Christian education is a key way to ensure children and young people grow and develop their character, knowledge and skills in a Godly manner, allowing them to discern truth, interpret culture, live fully, and rightly handle the Word of Truth. We know that all educators, administrators, and Christian educational organization staff need to be cared for and valued. One way care and value are provided is through the provision of pension and health benefits.
We believe that for staff in Canadian Christian educational organizations to be supported well, they require pension and health benefit plans that address their unique needs and circumstances. It is this belief that led to the creation of Christian Education Benefit Solutions.
History
Christian Schools International
In 1919, three Chicago Christian school principals sat around a kitchen table and outlined an important idea. They envisioned a national coalition of Christian schools, each independently controlled, but united in the common purpose of strengthening and serving Christian schools. This consolidation would make it possible for schools to accomplish those things that each would find difficult or impossible to do alone.
The following year, eight independent Christian school associations formed the National Union of Christian Schools (NUCS). It was to be an organization that would serve, not rule; unify, not dominate.
In 1943, the pension plan was established in recognition of the Christian school community’s responsibility to care for teachers in retirement. In 1963, the insurance program was added.
This organization of Christian schools changed its name in 1978 to Christian Schools International (CSI). The new name reflected the growth of Christian education to other countries, and more accurately conveyed the scope of the organization.
Christian Education Benefit Solutions
While the origin of Christian Education Benefit Solutions (CEB Solutions) started with CSI, the commitment to serve those in Christian Education in Canada dates back to September 1, 1972. It was at this moment when a new Canadian plan was established resulting in a plan with 418 participants.
Christian Education Benefit Solutions provides health and pension products and services designed specifically by and for the Canadian Christian education community. As a Christian educational community with decades of experience and a deep commitment to strengthening Christian education, CEB Solutions understands the unique needs of Christian educational organizations as they help to provide financial security in retirement and health care needs of their staff.
The flexible, cost-effective health and pension plans provide a range of benefit solutions that help Christian educational organizations attract and retain world-class staff. The CEB Solutions Health and Pension plans are given oversight by a Trustee board made up of Canadian Christian educational champions and plan participants who are passionate about ensuring Christian education in Canada flourishes.
Christian Schools International (CSI) historically had been the Plan Sponsor for retirement and health benefits for Christian Schools in Canada. Recently, a strategic decision was taken to transfer the sponsorship of the plan from Christian Schools International to the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society (CEBSS).
The name is new but the Trustees and staff team providing pension and health insurance benefits have not changed. Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society (CEBS Society) was established to serve as the new sponsor. CEBS Society appoints the trustees and approves amendments to the Christian Education Pension Plan.
Leadership,Governance & Structure
LEADERSHIP
Howard Van Mersbergen
Managing Director of Christian Education Employee Benefits
For the last 35 years, Howard has faithfully lead the work of the benefits department under the direction of the trustees and the management committee. Howard believes and sees his role as a true "privilege to serve Christian educators" every single day.
Howard lives and practices his Christian faith at work and manages the department with the fruit of the Spirit in full display. He has a true “open door” policy in which he is always available and eager to discuss ideas and solutions. He genuinely cares about the employees. Howard leads by example and cultivates a culture that is excellent, detail-oriented, accountable and caring all at the same time.
Howard is passionate about Christian education, diligent, looks out for the best interests of the schools and their employees. Howard is widely known in the Christian education community. He is professional, caring, always ready to listen, encourages collaboration, firm yet kind, not condescending, straightforward, and extremely knowledgeable.
The Leadership Team comprises the following individuals:
Managing Director, US & Canada - Howard Van Mersbergen
Assistant Managing Director - Brian Meekhof
Pension & Insurance Account Manager -Todd Schilthuis
GOVERNANCE & STRUCTURE
Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society (CEBS Society) is the Canadian Sponsor of the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension Plans.
The Society is represented by a Board made up of former Trustees, Christian educators, former members of Christian educational organizations or people who have expertise in pension or health benefits. Their role is to:
- 1.Appoint the Trustees;
- 2.Approve plan design changes to the Christian Education Pension Plan;
- 3.Serve as an appeal board with respect to the decisions of the Trustees affecting beneficiaries of the Plans; and
- 4.Service in an advisory capacity to the Trustees as the Trustees require.
All Canadian Christian educational organizations participating in the health and/or pension plan are automatically members of the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Society.
The Canadian Trustees are responsible for the management of the Trust Funds and the administration of the Plans.
The Trustees appointed to manage the Christian Education Benefit Solutions Health and Pension Plans actively ensure that the plans meet the needs of participating schools and individuals and advocate on behalf of plan participants. With skill and experience, each Plan Trustee deeply cares for Christian education, and bears the fiduciary duty to represent the best interests of the schools, organizations and individual staff members participating in the Plans.
As fiduciaries, the Trustees are held to high standards of excellence, and participate in ongoing training, intensive quarterly working board meetings, and work with a large number of advisors and partners.
Christian Education Employee Benefits (CEEB)
Plan participants receive excellent, responsive service through the Christian Education Employee Benefits (CEEB) Team. This team is the core of the operational support for CEB Solutions and is located in Grandville, MI. The team is comprised of dedicated professionals who serve plan participants in Canada through a deep commitment to excellent customer service. They all have a deep familiarity with the details of the plans themselves and understand the unique needs of Christian Educational school employees.
Christian Education Employee Benefits (CEEB) Management Committee
The CEEB Management Committee is comprised of 2 members of the US Trustees and 2 member of the Canadian trustees. This Management Committee responsible for overseeing the budgetary and staffing decisions on behalf of all the trustees. They meet on a regular basis with the Managing Director and provide strategic guidance needed on a regular basis.
SUCCESSION
With Howard's pending retirement, the Canadian task force made a strategic recommendation to the CEEB Management Committee to split the current US Managing Director position into two. This decision was accepted by the Management Committees, therefore in the future there will now be two positions:
Canadian Managing Director and US Managing Director
These leaders will work extremely closely together to ensure there is consistency, alignment and support throughout the entire organization.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Christian Education Benefit Solutions (CEB Solutions) provides health and pension products and services designed specifically by and for the Canadian Christian education community. As a Christian educational community with decades of experience and a deep commitment to strengthening Christian education, CEB Solutions understands the unique needs of Christian educational organizations as they help to provide financial security in retirement and health care needs of their staff.
The flexible, cost-effective health and pension plans provide a range of benefit solutions that help Christian educational organizations attract and retain world-class staff.
The CEB Solutions Health and Pension plans are given oversight by a Trustee board made up of Canadian Christian educational champions and plan participants who are passionate about ensuring Christian education in Canada flourishes. For Canadian Christian educational organizations who desire Christian education to grow and thrive, Christian Education Benefit Solutions offers the best and wisest employee benefit and pension solutions.
The plans currently serve over 100 schools across Canada and approximately 6000 participants. Christian Education organizations from coast to coast are strengthened through the excellent benefits by CEB Solutions. In 2020/2021, the Christian Education Health Plan paid over $7 million in claims to support the Christian education community across Canada.
A Pension Fund of over $475 million is carefully managed by the Trustees in collaboration with a carefully curated network of world-class advisors. The Pension Plan currently serves retirees from 100 schools across Canada, paying out pension benefits of well over $18 million in 2020/2021.
There are many different external business partners and stakeholders that the Canadian Managing Director will work closely with including the Trustees, investment managers, actuaries, attorneys, pension and insurance consultants, marketing firms, staff, and member schools.
This Management Committee has accountability for approving the budget and overseeing the operations for both Canada and the US. Additionally, the Management Committee is overseeing the Search process for both the US Managing Director and the Managing Director for Canada. The US Managing Director has been hired and is currently job shadowing the outgoing Managing Director. The staff in Grandville, MI who support Canada will operationally report to the US Managing Director. While the Canadian Managing Director will not have direct people leadership responsibilities, he/she will spend a significant amount of time interacting, collaborating and partnering with the staff in Grandville.
FIRST-YEAR WINS
In the next 12 months, the Canadian Managing Director will...
- Take ownership of the position and build a strong working relationship with the US Managing Director
- Establish a solid working relationship with the Grandville office staff
- Proactively meet and build a relationship with 5-10% of existing School Stakeholders
- Invest time in establishing good, productive relationships with Canadian Board of Trustees and Sponsor Board
- Learn and get up to speed on the Canadian pension and health plans as soon as possible
- Bring fresh and innovative ideas to growing and managing the Canadian plans
- Demonstrates the capacity to learn and develop in-depth knowledge of the existing plans and the competitive landscape
- Invest the time to complete the necessary certifications and continuous education requirements
- Successfully prepare the reports and critical information for the quarterly trustee board meetings
- Implement the strategic plan developed by the Canadian trustees in conjunction with the marketing plan created by Graf-Martin
THE NEXT SEASON OF LEADERSHIP
The ideal candidate is:
- Passionate about Christian Education
- Christian believer
- Strong Communicator with sales experience, enjoys building and maintaining relationships
- Self-Motivated
- Strategically minded, curious, creative and enjoys thinking outside the box to solve problems
- Willingness to learn the plans inside and out
- Ability to understand and interpret financial statements
- Solid business acumen, experienced in working with consultants (actuaries, regulators, pension & benefit consultants, etc)
- Possesses excellent stakeholder management skills, partnering with the Trustees and School Board leaders
- Aptitude for business development and using market research to build sales strategy
Location & Travel
The Canadian Managing Director position can be done from anywhere in Canada.
It is a remote position with significant travel.
Currently there is high concentration of Christian schools in Ontario and British Columbia. Access to a major airport will be important, as this role will spend a substantial amount of time building relationships, attending Christian Educator conferences and making routine trips to the Christian Education Employee Benefits (CEEB) US office in Grandville, Michigan as the staff supporting the Canadian plans and member schools is based there.
POSITION PROFILE
Canadian Managing Director
Christian Education Benefits Solutions
Canadian Managing Director reports to:
The Canadian Managing Director reports to the Canadian Boards of Trustees through the Christian Education Employee Benefits (CEEB) Committee.
As mentioned above, the CEEB Committee serves the Trustees overseeing the Benefit and Pension plans that have been carefully curated for the employees of the Canadian and US Christian educational organizations. The CEEB Committee is comprised of two members of the US Trustee Board and two members of the Canadian Trustee Board. The CEEB Committee is tasked with employing and managing staff who administer the plans as well as managing the shared expenses of the Canadian and US Benefits Plans.
Supervisory Responsibility:
This position will closely partner and align with the US Managing Director to ensure there is consistent and clear guidance to the Grandville staff supporting the plans in Canada.
The Canadian Managing Director will partner closely with contracted service providers including investment managers, actuaries, attorneys, pension and insurance consultants, marketing firms, staff, and member schools.
Team Culture
The CEEB team in Grandville, MI provides operational support for both the Canadian plans on an ongoing basis in the future.
CEEB is an extremely healthy organization with each team member caring about the other, both professionally and personally. There are 10 members of the team and they are always looking for more efficient ways and more accurate ways to perform their work. The team has a high attention to detail and is deeply committed to providing the highest levels of customer service to their members.
The office is an extremely well-organized office with each team member knowing their responsibilities and executing them well. Additionally, each team member has a backup for their job which works extremely well as they provide support to one another. There are also many double checks of various tasks in the office so that the information is accurate. Excellent and accurate customer service is of highest importance!
POSITION OVERVIEW
Canadian Managing Director
The Canadian Managing Director is the senior employee of Christian Education Benefit Solutions, (“CEB Solutions”), based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The organization provides employee benefit plans including Pensions and other health benefits to Christian educational organizations and their employees in Canada.
The organization is headed by a Board of Trustees and the Managing Director provides direction, support, and leadership to the board. A similar position exists in the United States, providing direction, support, and leadership to the US Board of Trustees.
CEB Solutions serves approximately 100 Christian Educational Organizations in Canada, with approximately 6,000 active and retired participants. The Board of Trustees currently manages a Pension fund of approximately $475million, a fund which is expected to pay out $18.6 million in benefits this year, while the health plan is expected to pay out $7.4 million in benefits this year.
The Managing Director reports to the Boards of Trustees through the Christian Education Employee Benefits Committee.
QUALIFICATIONS
Knowledge, Skills and Core Competencies
- Strong commitment to Christian Education
- Ability to work with and through other people
- Strong strategic planning and vision skills
- Strong critical thinking, information seeking and decision-making skills
- Knowledge of & experience with employee benefits and pension fund management including regulation in both countries an asset
- Awareness of different benefits and pension needs in Canada and the United States
- Organized and detailed in both oral and written communication
- Strong fiscal management and investment skills
- Logical thinker, able to understand complex financial reports and communicate simply to others
- Ability to travel on a flexible schedule
- Ability to set a good example and be caring to staff, board members and participants
- Proficient use of Microsoft Office Suite and other relevant software
Education and Experience
- Post-Secondary College or University Degree
- Related experience / training in employee benefits and/or financial administration
- Knowledge of institutional investment management preferred
- Certification as a Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Certified Financial Planner (CFP), and/or Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) is beneficial as well as a Life and Health insurance license
- Experience in marketing plans to potential clients across Canada
- Experience in dealing with expert consultants
Important items to Note
- Professional development opportunities to be paid for by the plan
- Competitive compensation based on relevant skills and experience
- Travel approximately 50-60% per year
Job location: The position can be done anywhere in Canada
CONTACT
Ready to take the next step?
If you are interested in exploring this role further, please contact Toni McEwan
317.767.4654