Teachers’ Pensions Policy & Calculations manager
Department for Education
Apply before 11:55 pm on Tuesday 24th September 2024
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About the job
Job summary
The Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) has around 2 million members and annual turnover of approximately £15bn. The Pensions Team is responsible for all aspects of the scheme, including policy, service delivery (via an outsourced contract) and finance. This means the postholder can expect to get a rapid grounding in each area of civil service expertise: policy, delivery, communications, stakeholder work (with teacher unions and HM Treasury for example), procurement and finance. It would therefore suit someone interested in acquiring a broad skillset to enhance their career prospects within the Civil Service.
This is a high profile and fast-paced policy area and there are a number of significant projects over the next few years which the successful candidates will help to develop – thereby ensuring the Scheme supports Ministers’ aims for recruitment and retention and that scheme members and employers continue to receive an excellent service.
The TPS team is a friendly one, which prides itself on creating and maintaining a supportive, inclusive, and enjoyable atmosphere to work in. Whilst the policy area is complex, new members of the team will quickly find themselves feeling at home and will enjoy the support of a team, that contains a wealth of expertise, to help them learn and develop in the role. This is a team for people looking to learn and establish credibility with senior officials across Government and within DfE.
The team is currently based in Darlington, Manchester and Sheffield, so occasional travel may be required.
Job description
This is a pivotal role within the Division, which aims to ensure that the Scheme remains one of the best available and supports the recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers. This role has a significant impact on the operation of the TPS. The quality and accuracy of the data held is fundamental to ensuring the core operation of the scheme and the calculations are vital to ensure the correct pension is paid to the correct member.
Following a recent procurement exercise, the teams current focus is on the project of transitioning our outsourced administration contract from the current supplier to the new supplier. The post holder will support the development of the new supplier’s operational systems with a focus on supporting their understanding of the scheme and the supporting legislation to ensure that the scheme calculations are accurately developed and are robust before incorporating them into their IT system. This person will work closely with the incumbent to extract, sort and deliver data that is suitable for transition to a new IT system while working with the new supplier to provide advice and guidance as needed, ensuring that scheme delivery is efficient for both members and employers.
The role will require close collaboration and the successful person will lead a small team in working collaboratively with other delivery leads, cross-government departments such as HMRC and GAD and payroll providers. This will include IT and data experts, systems analysts and business analysts to deliver a complex and essential part of the overall delivery model. The team will be required to review detailed calculations relating to pensions, tax, indexation, service accruals and contributions. These are highly specialist calculations following numerous sets of financial and non-financial legislation.
As the link between all parties, the post-holder should be confident in leading on stakeholder engagement across the project to ensure consistency in approach, quality of data and to ensure a smooth transition from day one through successful delivery of accurate and consistent data and the resulting calculations.
The post holder will also actively contribute to the project management, identifying dependencies, managing risks, and delivering key milestones to timelines.
Job Responsibilities will include but are not restricted to:
- Lead on analysing complex policy and delivery issues and problem solve suitable solutions with the Scheme administrator.
- Provide technical policy support to the new supplier to ensure the pension delivery system remains compliant with the regulations that govern the TPS and all other pension, finance, and tax related legislation, as well as non-financial legislation such as GDPR.
- Work with the Scheme administrator to develop, test, and implement robust processes and systems to deliver the solution.
- Identify, track and manage project risks, completing regular reviews and taking decisive action to mitigate and escalate.
- Effectively engage with project stakeholders to encourage collaborative and consistent delivery across all aspects of the project delivery.
- Use project management tools and techniques to ensure effective planning and implementation of TPS projects.
- Provide regular project updates/reports to project stakeholders on progress, delivery timelines, risks and challenges.
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
- Strong experience of stakeholder engagement, customer management and people management.
- Strong communication skills, including interpretation of complex legislation and communicating requirements in a clear and simple manner.
- Project/programme management experience in delivering full life cycle projects.
- Experience in the development and/or operation of pensions delivery systems and pensions calculation routines in accordance with the supporting legislation.
- Have excellent written and verbal communication including writing reports and able to present options analysis papers both in written and verbal forums.
- Experience of developing high quality teams, motivating and developing them.
- Experience of large-scale data delivery across multiple organisations.
- Strong analytical skills including the ability to analyse financial information.
- Sound IT skills and confidence in using Microsoft products.
Desirable criteria:
- Experience of Pensions legislation.
- Experience of Pension tax rules.
- Experience of Pensions Administration systems.
- Experience of Data analysis.
- Experience of Risk management.
Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview, in the event of a tie break situation, to make an informed decision.
Benefits
Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.
As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK, with a fixed employer contribution of 28.97%.
You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King's Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Application & Sift
At application, you will be asked to provide a CV and Personal Statement which will assess your experience against the essential criteria.
Your CV should cover details of employment history, previous qualifications and previous skills and experience.
Your Personal Statement (maximum 1250 words) should demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the person specification.
In the event we receive a large volume of applications, we will sift the personal statement against the 3 essential criteria below:
- Strong experience of stakeholder engagement, customer management and people management.
- Strong communication skills, including interpretation of complex legislation and communicating requirements in a clear and simple manner.
- Project/programme management experience in delivering full life cycle projects.
Interview
At interview, we will ask Experience based questions to further assess the essential criteria.
Other Information
In your application, please don’t include personal information that identifies you.
This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity - it's called name blind recruitment (opens in a new window).
Please ensure that you remove from your application, all references to your:
- name/title
- educational institutions
- age
- gender
- email address
- postal address
- phone number
- nationality/immigration status
We understand that you might use AI and other resources for your application; however, please ensure all information you provide is factually accurate, truthful, and original and doesn’t include ideas or work that isn’t your own. This is so that your application is authentically and credibly your own.
We reserve the right to raise the minimum pass mark in the event of a high volume or strong field of candidates.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK from the location options provided and not from overseas.
The government is committed to supporting apprenticeships, enabling people to learn and progress in a role whilst earning. We want to monitor the number of people who have completed apprenticeships who are now applying to progress further in their career and are asking this question to all candidates, on all vacancies. You will be asked a question as part of the application process about any previous apprenticeships you have completed. Your response to this question will not affect your application and it is not a requirement of the role to have completed a previous apprenticeship.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstance some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Department of Education of your intention by emailing Pre-Employment.Checks.DFE@education.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Department for Education do not cover the cost of travel to your interview/assessment unless otherwise stated.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.
Candidates will be posted in merit order based upon location preference. Where more than one location is advertised you will be asked to state your preferred location.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
Terms and conditions of candidates transferring from ALBs and NDPBs
Bodies that are not accredited by the Civil Service Commission and are not able to advertise at Across Government on Civil Service jobs will be treated as external new starters and will come into DfE on modernised terms and conditions with a salary at the band minimum.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission but do not have civil service status will be offered modernised terms and will not have continuous service recognised for leave or sickness benefits. Salaries should be offered at band minimum, but there is some flexibility where this would cause a detriment to the individual.
Bodies that are accredited by the Civil Service Commission and do have Civil Service status will be treated as OGD transfers. Staff appointed on lateral transfer will move on to pre-modernised DfE terms (unless they were on modernised terms in their previous organisation). Staff appointed on promotion will move on to modernised DfE terms. Staff will transfer over on their existing salary (on lateral transfer) and any pay above the DfE pay band maximum will be paid as a mark time allowance. Staff moving on promotion will have their salaries calculated using the principles set out in the attached OGD transfer supplementary information.
Reasonable adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
Contact Department of Education via centralrecruitment.operations@education.gov.uk soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Any move to Department for Education (DfE) will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Lizzy Chard
- Email : lizzy.chard@education.gov.uk
- Telephone : 07778358024
Recruitment team
- Email : CentralRecruitment.Operatons@education.gov.uk
Further information
