Programme Support Officer (Firefighters’ Pensions)

Location: Home based or Westminster, London

About the role

The LGA is offering an exciting opportunity to work as part of the pensions team at the LGA. The Fire pensions team works with and on behalf of fire and rescue services and authorities in England to support them in their role as scheme managers of the Firefighters’ Pension Schemes. As part of the team, you will play an important role in supporting one of the largest pension schemes in the UK. The broader LGA pensions team works with and on behalf of authorities and other stakeholders across the Local Government pension schemes in England. To be part of this team is to be a vital element in the legislative and administrative framework of some of the largest pension schemes in the UK.

The role requires individuals who can work independently across multiple projects at any one time, update and analyse spreadsheets, produce reports, chase external stakeholders for information, plan and prepare meetings and events, take minutes, raise orders and invoices, monitor budgets, routinely keep project information and records up to date, and understand and follow corporate policies and procedures. You will also need to identify appropriate venues for conferences and training events and negotiate contracts that offer the best value for money.

About you

The successful candidate will need to be a team player who is flexible and capable of working with minimal supervision, well organised with the ability to plan and deliver a varied workload. You will be highly capable and well-motivated, with strong communication and interpersonal skills and have excellent attention to detail.

You must have the right to work in the UK; the LGA are unfortunately unable to offer sponsorship visas. Evidence for the right to work in the UK will be requested at the interview stage.

About us

The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. We work on behalf of our member councils to support, promote and improve local government. We are a politically led, cross-party organisation that works on behalf of councils to ensure local government has a strong, credible voice with national government. We influence and set the political agenda on the issues that matter to councils to help them deliver local solutions to national problems. We also provide councils with the tools and resources to respond to challenges present and emerging, and support improvement across the sector.

We value diversity and encourage applications from all sections of the community.

To apply

We are in the process of transitioning our Applicant Tracking System. If you would like to be considered for the role, please complete this offline application form which includes a supporting statement detailing how you meet the criteria of the role and email this to Recruitment@local.gov.uk before the closing date.

We are specifically assessing candidates against the following criteria:

• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise work to meet deadlines, and a concern for order and accuracy.
• Excellent IT skills, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint with the ability to quickly learn new packages as required.
• Excellent written skills, with the ability to accurately summarise and convey complex information.
• Experience of managing a complex workload, preparing plans and meeting deadlines and milestones.
• Good interpersonal skills, with the ability to deal with members, other clients and colleagues with courtesy, tact and sensitivity.
• Flexible approach to work, with a keenness to adapt to meet changing work requirements.

Closing Date: Monday 24th February 2025
Interview Date: Friday March 7th 2025, interviews will be virtual or in-person.

At the LGA we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. Our recruitment decisions are based on fair, open competition, with appointment on merit. The LGA are proud to be awarded a “Disability Confident Leader”. If you require a reasonable adjustment, which is a change to the format or conditions of the recruitment process to accommodate any disability-related needs you may have, please contact us via HRandPayroll@local.gov.uk

Our benefits

• LGA annual leave entitlement is 29 days, rising to 31 days after three years’ service and to 33 days after five years’ service, plus all UK public holidays (pro rata for fixed term and part time contracts).
• Flexible & agile working – office-based staff are required to work in the LGA’s London office two days per week as a minimum, subject to business need and this may vary significantly between different roles and from week to week.
• Future development – face-to-face and virtual courses are scheduled in line with developmental goals.
• The LGA offers 24/7 access to a free, confidential employee assistance programme managed by Health Assured. This service is also available for Dependants.
• Family friendly policies.

Our values & behaviours

Our Values and Behaviours are there to give us an understanding of who we are as an organisation and who we want to be. They are a framework to help us understand:

• how we work with each other.
• how we work with our members and stakeholders.
• our expectations for ourselves and each other.

Our values are:

Inclusive – We ensure that our work is inclusive of all voices.

Ambitious – We are ambitious for councils and their communities and are committed to striving for excellence in all that we do to support our colleagues, our membership and the sector to deliver the best possible outcomes.

Collaborative – We bring together the expertise and skills needed, working as one team.