Senior Pensions Specialist

Senior Data and Projects Pensions Specialist

Fantastic opportunity to work with a globally renowned FTSE business in London for 18 months.

Advantage are seeking Pension Specialists with extensive pension operations experience in either an in-house or third-party administrator environment. This is a unique opportunity to work with an in-house Trustee services team who provide benefits to approx. 45,000 members with annual pension and other benefit payments of around £900 million a year and assets in excess of £18 billion. They process benefits in over 30 different currencies and you'll be overseeing the weekly and monthly pension payroll with payments exceeding £50 million per month.

As a Senior Data and Projects Pensions Specialist you'll provide day-to-day delivery of complex pension project activities across various pension funds supported by the unit. Assisting in the management of key relationships with the 3rd party IT system providers and internal teams you will ensure integrity of data held on the pensions administration system is maintained whilst delivering the desired outcomes across multiple projects.

These projects will include pensions system enhancements and data for activities such as actuarial valuations and GMP equalisation exercises.

Responsibilities

• Integral role helping with the oversight of the main pension administration system supplied by a 3rd party (Compendia). This covers the day-to-day relationship with the 3rd party, being actively involved in upgrades and providing input on the strategic direction for the system.
• Overseeing schedule of activities required to ensure compliance with legislative and reportable events.
• Working with large volumes of sensitive and personal data to respond to time critical requests, actively delivering annual processes and reviewing the quality of data held in the TSU. For example, annual events include the production and delivery of pension benefit statements and valuation extracts for the Scheme actuary.
• A point of contact for relationship with key service providers, such as Equiniti, Altavia, Lexis Nexis, IT and internal Info Risk team.
• Working with these providers on cross-boundary projects, such as the implementation of a major pension IT system upgrade whilst ensuring business continuity throughout the project and the successful delivery of Pensions Dashboards.
• Provide support and coaching to the wider Data, Projects and Systems team of one person in London and five people in Krakow, assisting with their development and also providing pension specific training across the TSU.

Candidate Skills and Experience

Given the nature of the role, you should have extensive previous pension operations experience in either an in-house or third-party administrator environment.

The successful applicant is expected to have the following:

• Pension qualifications (e.g. PMI, CPC)
• Excellent knowledge of UK defined benefit pension schemes
• Deep knowledge of UK pension legislation
• Experience of working with pension administration systems (preferably Compendia)
• Experience of working with large volumes of sensitive pensions data
• Knowledge and experience of external market practices and products in pensions
• Self-starter and effective team player
• Ability to influence, develop and lead
• Able to focus on the detail without losing sight of the broader issue or strategy

Submit your CV now to be considered for this fantastic 18month contract opportunity with a globally renowned business.