Overview

Our aim is for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

The Church of England Pensions Board (“the Board”) is a statutory body which is a corporate trustee and administrator of four pension schemes, including both defined benefit (final salary, hybrid and CARE) and defined contribution arrangements. The Pensions Department is responsible for the administration of the pension schemes and for administering a number of charitable funds for the benefit of those retired from the stipendiary ministry and clergy dependants, which underpin supplementary income grants. There are 40,000+ members, pensioners and other beneficiaries.

Post Introduction

To support the work of The Church of England Pensions Board (“the Board) and help administrate the pensions schemes whilst providing outstanding customer service. This includes administration, benefit payments and contribution collections for the Board’s pension schemes and the associated relationships. Pensions administration within set service levels with responsibility for supervision of junior staff.

The rewards for this interesting and varied role include a competitive salary package, a 35 hours working week for work-life balance, a minimum of 25 days holiday plus 3 discretionary organisational days leave (pro rata) and an attractive defined contribution pension scheme. Support is provided for successful candidates who wish to study for qualifications offered by the Pensions Management Institute.

Role Responsibility

The main responsibilities for this role are:

• Supervising, checking, authorising and peer reviewing the work of Pension Administrators and other Senior Administrators
• Dealing with enquiries/calculations of a non-routine or complicated nature, with guidance from the Team Leader(s)
• Line management of Pension Administrators, including training, development and performance reviews
• Training of other staff as required
• Helping with the general running of the Department and carrying out other duties as may be required
• Contributing to other projects as directed by senior staff
• Providing cover for the pensions helpline and pensions and contribution mailboxes, dealing with member and employer queries that arise
• Providing support to members using our pensions website
• Entering new members into Schemes and updating records
• Calculating benefits on leaving, retirement, death and transfer out/divorce
• Producing statements of contributions due and allocating contributions received
• Producing annual benefit statements for scheme members
• Carrying out the day to day administration of the voluntary contribution arrangements and transfers between AVC schemes
• Operating the computer and manual systems related to these duties

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate must have:

Essential:

Education:

• Maths and English GCSE at Grade C or above plus at least two ‘A’ Levels or equivalent
• Must hold the Diploma in Retirement Provision (DipPMI) (or equivalent pension qualification) offered by the Pensions Management Institute.
• Experience in pensions administration

Skills and Aptitudes:

• Good IT skills including word-processing, use of databases, spreadsheets and e-mail.  MS Office (Word, Excel and Outlook) together with Pensions Specific systems
• Numerical skills required for the manual calculation of benefits, contributions and solving numerical problems
• Good written, verbal and telephone communication skills at all levels
• Ability to identify priorities and plan and organise daily work routines in a flexible manner
• Ability to forward plan to ensure monthly, quarterly and annual routines are incorporated into day to day work as necessary
• Ability to work under pressure to meet deadlines
• Flexibility to deal with the unexpected
• Delivering excellent customer service and experience in meeting service standards

Knowledge and Experience:

• Experience in cradle to grave calculations, together with related correspondence with beneficiaries, employers and advisors
• Experience of dealing with scheme members, employers/trustees and advisers
• Experience in the calculation/implementation of HMRC requirements relating to benefits and contributions from pension schemes
• Experience of working within procedures and standards, quickly and accurately
• Experience of working in a team

Desirable:

• Experience of supervising and checking the work of junior staff
• Experience of training staff 

About Us

In the National Church Institutions (NCIs), we support the mission and ministries of the Church of England. We work with parishes, dioceses, schools, chaplaincies and other ministries, and with national and international partners including mission agencies, and other denominations and faith groups.-.  

Find out more about working for the National Church Institutions at Careers | The Church of England

Our emerging values

• We strive for excellence 
• We collaborate 
• We act with integrity 
• We show compassion 
• We respect others 

We welcome everyone and we accept and value people for who they are and what they contribute, treating others in the way we would wish to be treated ourselves. We actively listen to and include others, encouraging and enabling everyone’s voice to be heard in discussions and decisions. When we disagree, we aim to disagree well with respect and kindness.  

We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you. If there is anything we can do to support you in your application please get in touch via email to hr.recruitment@churchofengland.org.

• As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively look to attract, recruit and retain those of you who are disabled.  
• We are a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and welcome applications from those of you who have served in our Armed Forces and their families.