Pension Wise Guidance Specialist Central Belt

Pension Wise Guidance Specialist Central Belt
FTC until 31st March 2025
Home based*
£27,000 Salary per annum
Full time (35 hours pw)

Pension Wise is a free and impartial government service that offers people guidance on their defined contribution pension options. Citizens Advice Scotland provides appointments both face to face and via telephone.

You’ll be part of a service that has helped over 375,000 people in the past 7 years, offering them valuable and life changing guidance that gives them the confidence to understand their pensions and how to get the best value out of them. In providing this necessary and impartial service you’ll see positive and rewarding results for the people you help. We receive fantastic feedback directly from the customers who use the service - Pension Wise has consistently received excellent customer satisfaction scores.

You’ll be expected to supply accurate and relevant information and guidance on pension options and choices. You’ll need to have a good foundation knowledge of pension law and practice, as well as a thorough understanding of a broad range of pension arrangements.

*This is predominantly a home-based role where you will mostly conduct telephone appointments. There will be an occasional requirement for face-to-face appointments in your delivery area. The face-to-face appointments will be conducted from one of our local bureaux, travel expenses will be reimbursed. The face-to-face delivery area for this role is Central Belt (Helensburgh, Livingston and Perth). Your specific delivery area will be determined by your location.

Some of the key accountabilities of the Pension Wise Guidance Specialist:

• Provide pension and retirement information and guidance to members of the public, in line with the defined Pension Wise Service, through a medium of different channels.
• Help consumers to understand the full implications of their pension choices.
• Raise consumer awareness of pension scams and fraudulent activity, encouraging consumers to report any issues to the relevant authorities.
• Respond proactively and flexibly to customer demand, working to agreed service delivery standards.
• Provide timely and accurate follow up information that adds value to the consumer and is clear and easy to understand.
• Ensure that all work conforms to the Pension Wise quality standards.
• Ensure that all required management information is both captured and reported on a timely basis.
• Complete training, continuous professional development and other requirements to gain and maintain accreditation.
• In addition, you may be required to carry out ad hoc projects to improve the service we provide, attend development meetings and workshops, and support promotional activity for the service.

It is essential for the Pension Wise Guidance Specialist to demonstrate the following skills and experience:

• Solid foundation knowledge of pensions’ law and practice across a broad range of pension arrangements; occupational, personal and state pension. Also, an understanding and appreciation of wider retirement issues.
• The ability to build a rapport and communicate confidently, empathetically and professionally.
• Ability to translate complex ideas and topics into clear, concise and engaging content that the general public are able to understand.
• Numeracy skills to understand and translate financial matters to customers.
• Good questioning skills to understand key customer issues.
• Proven ability to work on own initiative - to monitor and maintain own standards and meet service delivery targets.
• A commitment to ongoing personal and professional development.
• Proven IT skills.

Desirable:

PMI or CII qualifications (or equivalent in related areas) would be of benefit however, they are not essential.

Additional information
Full training, supervision and support is provided. If you are successful in your application and offered a position, you will be enrolled onto a comprehensive induction programme.

We’re passionate about flexible working, you will be required to work 35 hours per week Monday-Friday between 08:00-20:00 and one Saturday per month between 08:00-17:00. You will be given time off in lieu for each Saturday you work.

Benefits

• 30 days annual leave (plus 10 public holidays)
• Pension contributions (Employer 8%, Employee 4%)
• Sickness Allowance
• Maternity/Adoption Leave: 26 weeks full pay then SMP
• Paternity Leave: 4 weeks at full pay
• Flexible working