Pensions Manager

Job description

Overview of Responsibilities

UKAEA's pay arrangements and grading structure are currently under review as part of a transformation project and proposed multi-year pay deal. UKAEA aims to introduce a new grading structure in 2024. This will enable us to lead the delivery of sustainable fusion energy and maximise the scientific and economic benefit. Now is a great time to join the Organisation and be part of the journey.

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions.

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy.

As the Pensions Manager, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring the day to day running of the pension scheme on behalf of the participating employers (18, with 7 of these active employers). The pensions team are responsible for spending of £275m on benefits and collection of £51m in income.

You will act as the main point of contact for the employers, administrator and other stakeholders, whilst ensuring pensions information remains up to date and relevant for members on the UKAEA intranet.

The pensions manager will manage the governance arrangements for the pension scheme, ensuring that the Pensions Oversight Board operates as expected and receives the right reporting and papers

You will be supporting the head of pensions on major change projects, including the planned move to alpha, GMP, dashboards and procurements, whilst deputising where necessary for the head of pensions

You will be required to work freely and have the confidence in your ability to make sound decisions, especially when making improvements to operational efficiency.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Improving operational efficiency and act with the authority of the pension scheme in defined areas (e.g. challenging on performance).
• Acting as the main pensions lead for UKIFS, a UKAEA subsidiary in the scheme.
• Managing the governance arrangements for the pension scheme, ensuring that the Pensions Oversight Board operates as expected and receives the right reporting and papers.
• Liaising with the following stakeholders: employers, the pensions administrator, auditors, HMRC, members, the Pensions Regulator, actuaries, scheme medical advisers and wider government stakeholders (including DESNZ). Depending on the nature of the work this will either be leading on meetings or supporting the head of pensions.
• Managing the historic compensation cases and processing insurance claims.

Qualifications

Essential Requirements:

Demonstrable experience needed in at least two of the three following areas:

Pensions technical/administration:

• Experience of calculation of benefits.
• Communicating with members.
• Processing work orders and answering technical queries.

Pensions governance:

• Acting as secretary to pensions boards (or equivalent).
• Supporting boards in organising meetings and papers.
• Minute taking.
• other board support.

Pensions specialist:

Likely to be a wide-ranging role within pensions, involving areas such as

• Finance/audit
• Payroll
• Contract management change
• Consulting
• Engagement.

This is not an exhaustive list, but the applicant should detail any pensions experience and how it is relevant to the job.

Additional Information

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

We welcome applications from under-represented groups, particularly individuals from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities, and women. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) Partner and Inclusion Ambassadors, actively promotes EDI and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.