Operations Manager Pensions

Reporting to the Regional Operations Manager and being a key member of the management team, you will be actively involved in the management and delivery of the pension administration services across the whole business. You will assist in developing the administration teams, you will provide full time management of the teams, with a focus on commercial, people, client and process development. For the right individual client management and fee earning work will also be involved, but the priority of the role is the on-going delivery of services, the development of the capabilities of those reporting to you, and of the systems, procedures, and compliance framework used by the company as a whole.

Ideally you will already an experienced and successful pension professional and you will have a strong track record in managing, developing and delivering pensions administration services.

The role:

• Contribute to maintaining the high-quality standards required within the company and seek continually to enhance the quality long term sustainability of the services provided to our clients across the business.
• Manage and continually develop the pension's administration capability by demonstrating positive leadership skills and actively mentoring Administration Managers when required.
• Actively contribute to the attraction, training and retention of employees by recruiting appropriately; and motivating, rewarding and developing existing employees. Manage HR issues, and coordinate administration resources.
• Develop the commercial aspects of the function, involving Administration Managers in tendering and client facing work, billing effectively for value added to clients, and ensure that profit is delivered. Participate in on-going detailed analysis of the efficiency of our systems and processes.
• Assist on tendering processes, creating responses to tenders and leading the administration aspects of full service tenders.
• Conduct client assignments such as trustee secretarial appointments, project work, client relationship management etc.
• Build strong and productive relationships with senior actuaries across the business, in all other offices.

The person:

• Ability to demonstrate a very thorough knowledge of technical pension administration activities and the ability to apply this knowledge to any scheme.
• Previous pensions administration experience of both Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contributions (DC) schemes is required.
• Proven experience in all areas of the new business lifecycle including formulating and writing proposals, preparing and delivering client pitches and subsequent client negotiations.
• Experience of operating within and contributing to a compliant framework, and a strong understanding of quality standards.
• Previous line management experience is required, including appraisal process, HR issue management, performance management and recruitment related activities.
• IT proficient, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint.
• Proven leadership proficiency - both mentoring and motivating.
• Interpersonal and communication skills required to inspire, motivate, lead and manage a diverse team of professionals from trainee to senior consultant levels.
• Resilience and the ability to work under pressure.
• Strong numerical, analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Being a good and enthusiastic team player.
• A high degree of organisation with the ability to plan and prioritise workloads.
• A strong results oriented commercial and professional focus.
• Confidence in dealing at board room level and have a creative and forward-thinking approach.
• An ability to recognise the need for a customer focused approach to their service delivery both in terms of quality and exceeding customer expectations.
• Well-developed project management skills and the ability to see projects/tasks from concept through to completion within given timescales.