Head of Pensions Administration Consulting
Description
- Job grade: Other
- Contract type: Permanent
- Type of role: Commercial, Risk Management, Strategy
- Working pattern: Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time
- Number of jobs available: 1
Location
About the job
Job summary
You will lead GAD’s Pensions Administration Consulting team, setting the strategic direction for one of the department’s fastest growing areas of client work, with a current team of around 20 staff.
You will ensure the team plays a central role in supporting government across a range of pensions administration challenges, including procurement and transition to new providers, data quality, quality assurance, governance and response to emerging policy changes. This is an opportunity to shape the future of public service pensions administration, with your leadership helping ensure workers and pensioners receive the accurate, timely service they deserve.
Further information on GAD is provided in the attached pack: Head of PAC - Candidate Pack
Job description
As Head of Pensions Administration Consulting, you will be accountable for ensuring GAD provides clear, robust and practical advice that commands confidence with senior clients and supports effective outcomes. You will bring professional judgement, strategic insight and operational leadership to help shape the future of GAD’s offer and ensure effective management of the delivery across the team.
You will act as the senior ambassador, commercial leader and public face of GAD’s administration consulting work, representing the department with clients, stakeholders and the wider pensions community.
Leading through senior specialist consultants, you will maintain a collaborative, inclusive and professionally excellent team that works across GAD to deliver high-quality outcomes for clients.
Person specification
You will provide strategic, operational and commercial leadership for the consulting team, setting priorities and ensuring that advice is technically sound, clearly communicated and relevant to the needs of government clients. Particular responsibilities include:
Strategy and Planning
- Developing the business plan and strategic goals for the team, aligned to the departmental strategy, and ensure these are delivered.
- Ownership of the team’s strategic investment priorities.
- Effective foresight of potential client activity for your team, including the business development pipeline.
- Aligning work plans with clients’ policy, financial and operational priorities.
Strategic Growth and Operational Effectiveness
- Oversight of commercial development activity, expanding the team’s existing support and introducing new offers, guiding the marketing to meet client demand and to reflect developments in the pensions administration landscape.
- Taking action to ensure efficient delivery and productivity improvements.
- Evolving the operating model to facilitate continuing growth of the team.
People and Professional Leadership
- Providing oversight, coach and support senior team members who manage the work portfolios. Support career development across the team, inspiring staff to reach their potential.
- Creating and sustaining an inclusive, supportive and high-performing culture across the team, ensuring effective leadership, talent management, workforce planning and colleague engagement.
- Contributing to the professional leadership of the department by advising, mentoring and constructively challenging colleagues and their work.
Client and Stakeholder Collaboration
- Commercial leadership, with oversight of new business pipelines, development activities and client relationship management across the team.
- Building and maintaining strong and influential relationships with senior stakeholders in client departments.
- Ensuring advice is tailored to client needs and that intelligence about client priorities and risks is shared to support wider engagement.
- Ensuring the team works collegiately and collaboratively with other business units, drawing on wider analytical and actuarial expertise where this improves client outcomes.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Substantial experience of communicating about pensions administration challenges, including the ability to explain complex technical issues clearly to senior non-specialist audiences. (Essential)
- Substantial experience of communicating about pensions administration challenges, including the ability to explain complex technical issues clearly to senior non-specialist audiences. (Essential)
Benefits
As well as competitive salaries, we offer a substantial package of benefits:
- Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day-to-day work.
- 25 days annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition, we offer 9 days public and privilege days leave per year (pro rata for part time staff)
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
- 5 days of paid volunteering leave
- Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
- Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year.
- Occupational sick pay
- Family-friendly policies such as help with caring responsibilities, special leave, generous paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
- Access to employee assistance programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice.
- The opportunity to join a trade union.
- A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.
- Salary advances for travel costs, including annual season tickets and cycle-to-work schemes.
- Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice.
- Complimentary BUPA health check.
Things you need to know
Artificial intelligence
Selection process details
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained.
- A Personal statement of up to 500-words explaining how you meet the essential criteria for the role, with particular reference to the criteria provided in the person specification of the JD.
Your CV and Personal Statement will be used to assess the essential criteria listed in the job description.
During the interview you will be assessed on the experience and behaviours listed in the Person Specification and detailed in this advert. The interview will include a presentation, details of which will be sent to those invited to interview.
- Application deadline: 23:55 hrs on 20 November 2026
- Shortlisting: w/c 23 November 2026
- First Round Interviews: w/c 30 November 2026
- Second Round Interviews: w/c 07 December 2026
- Interview location: In office (London, E14 4PU and Edinburgh, EH8 8FT)
Please apply via our recruitment portal below.
As part of the application form process, please submit your CV and supporting statement. Please do not email your CV outside of this process as it will not be accepted.
Shortlisting criteria is based on the Person Specification as set out in the Assessment Criteria section of the Job Description. Please ensure you provide examples of how you meet the Assessment Criteria; a strong application will also demonstrate that you meet the required criteria that are identified as key for this role. Applications will be shortlisted in line with the essential criteria for the role. The desirable criteria will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates. Behaviours will be assessed at sift and interview stage. Candidates who are successful at shortlist will be contacted as soon as possible and advised of the interview process and assessment (exact times and dates will also be confirmed).
A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Agency Notice: We will not pay agency fees for any candidate submitted in response to this advertisement unless we have explicitly agreed and contracted with an agency to support that specific role prior to advertising. Agency referrals will only be recognised where prior approval has been obtained from the Recruitment Team for the specific vacancy. Any other candidate submissions will be treated as direct applications.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : GAD Recruitment Team
- Email : [email protected]
Recruitment team
- Email : [email protected]
Further information
Attachments
| Head of Pensions Administration Consulting Job Description Oct 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 579kB) |
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