Pensions Officer

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Pensions Officer to join our Pension Team on a Full Time Permanent basis.

Here at Mersey & West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust we have built up our successful Employment Services model incorporating Payroll, Pensions and HR Administration over a period of time and currently provide services to nearly 70% of NHS organisations within the Cheshire and Merseyside region.

We have ambitious plans for the future and are seeking a likeminded individual to join the team at this exciting stage. We are now recruiting a highly motivated individual with a "can do" attitude, who is not fazed by hard work and has a commitment to providing excellent customer service.

Interview date: To Be Confirmed

Main duties of the job

Reporting to the Pensions Team Leader, you will work on most pension matters for allocated accounts which include calculation of NHS Pension retirement benefits, assessment of employees under Automatic Enrolment legislation, resolving NHS Pension errors on Pensions Online and assisting with the training of Pension Administrators. Some experience and in depth knowledge of pension regulations are required as you will be required to mainly work independently, but some training will be given for complex areas.

This is a fast paced demanding role and you will hit the ground running. You will be educated to NVQ4 qualification or have equivalent level of experience and have detailed and comprehensive knowledge and understanding of pensions and Auto enrolment legislation, procedures and practices and possess excellent communication skills and the ability to build effective working relationships at all levels.

In return, you will join a very supportive team who have a wealth of knowledge to support your training. You will receive the usual NHS benefits plus on-site car parking facilities. We positively encourage and support professional development.

Job responsibilities

• The post holder will ensure accurate information is provided to NHS Pensions/NEST, and other workplace pension schemes promptly and courteously resolving any queries.
• Ensure pension contributions are correctly processed within strict and tight specified deadlines under pressure.
• Maintain pension-related records for payments or deductions and where appropriate process complex manual calculations based on the above.
• Process opt-out and refund documentation related to NHS Pensions accurately and within strict deadlines.
• Interpret both National (AfC), M&D and local Terms and Conditions of Service surrounding pensionable pay and refer any unknown or ambiguous areas and discuss with Pension Team Leader.
• Process the monthly/weekly Auto Enrolment duties without supervision.
• Working independently to provide pension estimates for Age, ARER, death in service benefits, Redundancy, and including employers costs where applicable.
• Providing guidance on purchase of ERRBO, Additional Purchase of Pension within the NHS Pension regulations.
• Independently processing all retirement benefits including age, ill health, redundancy, ARER, death benefits and injury benefits.
• Investigate and resolve members enquiries regarding Special Class Status.
• Calculate MARS entitlement payments in accordance with national framework and local client MARS policies.
• Oversee administration of pension contributions recovery in respect of lead Employer Trainees undertaking periods of Out of Programme (OOP).
• Update and maintain a carry forward and brought forward procedures for administration of Year End Record Interface updates.
• Provide information to the Pension Team Leader when necessary to enable the reconciliation of the pension records.
• Ensure pension information is clearly explained to employees and enquiries from employees are handled courteously and confidentially within agreed Departmental standards / response times.
• Ensure that queries relating to external agencies are dealt with promptly, courteously and effectively.
• Maintain confidentiality and security of information at all times.
• Identify discrepancies, unusual features or queries at any point in the process and either resolve or refer to the appropriate officer for action.
• Undertake presentations at Trust inductions and pre-retirement courses providing basic NHS Pension/ Auto Enrolment information.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with other individuals of the Directorate, other officers of the Trust, colleagues from the NHS Executive, NHS Pensions and officers from other agencies to ensure the delivery of a professional service focused on achieving a high level of customer satisfaction.
• Effectively liaise with agencies and statutory bodies on all matters relating to the pension functions.
• Provide Clarification of interpretation of HMRC regulations regarding Pension Lifetime Allowance and Annual Allowance regulations and inform the member accordingly.
• Effectively liaise with Finance colleagues on all matters relating to the workplace pension schemes.
• Co-ordinate with Finance Leads on the production of information required to complete the annual Greenbury Returns.
• Respond promptly and courteously to all correspondence and enquiries from individuals, statutory bodies and requests for information from NHS Pensions/NEST, or other appropriate organisations.
• Participate effectively and promptly in the provision and analysis of accurate statistical and management information.
• Advise managers and staff on local and national regulations, completion of pension documentation and employees pension membership.
• Provide information and, if appropriate, advice to employees on all matters related to pension contributions and the NHS Pension Scheme, accurately, promptly and courteously.

ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Ensure all documentation is filed in accordance with departmental procedures and that stored material is in good condition and readily retrievable to respond to queries and for audit purposes.
• Participate in pension record processing ensuring timescales are met, the Trusts policies and procedures are followed and all information is accurate and up-to-date.
• Complete pension record processing within the necessary timescales and in accordance with internal/external pension procedures.
• To be fully conversant with the effective utilisation of the NHS Pensions Online system, including data entry, system navigation and report generation.
• Validate all output from the monthly pension interface process to ensure all employees records have been updated.
• Process appropriate pension reports, schedules and documents to Payroll Officers on a monthly/weekly basis to assist in the cleansing of pension data.
• Interpretation of AfC / Trust terms and conditions of employment relating pensions.
• Interpretation and application of Statutory regulations regarding pensions. Undertaking on-going Data Cleanse activities in respect of NHS Pensions.

TRAINING RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain own compliance with the Trusts mandatory and statutory training requirements.
• Demonstrate activities in own area to new staff to support induction training.
• Deal with escalated queries from Pension Administrators.
• Develop skills and competencies of self through training and development activities, ensuring that progress is maintained and future needs identified and actioned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for the supervision of Pension Administrators in pension areas they are not familiar with.
• The daily training of Pension Administrators in unfamiliar areas and ensuring that their designated training logs are completed to demonstrate development in skills.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Achievement of CIPP Level 3 and/or equivalent qualification and/or equivalent experience

Knowledge & Experience

• Knowledge of a range of workplace pension scheme regulations, Auto enrolment & HMRC pension legislation
• Knowledge of data legislation including Data Protection and Information Governance
• Experience of working in a customer service environment
• Experience of navigation around Pensions Online and extracting pension data/reports
• Knowledge of payroll & pension procedures and legislation
• Knowledge and experience of producing pension data from reports within ESR
• Experience of using an electronic payroll system
• Extensive experience in a role that produces pension calculations for the NHS Pension scheme and alternative workplace pension schemes

Skills

• Computer skills including the use of Microsoft Office applications of Excel, Access, Word and Outlook

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust