Senior Pensions Project Consultant

About XPS Group

XPS Pensions Group is no ordinary company. We've earned numerous awards and accolades, making us an industry leader in pensions consultancy. As the largest pure pensions consultancy in the UK, we have approximately 2000 employees spread across 15 locations nationwide. Listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market, we pride ourselves on our ability to think and act differently, offering expert advice to over 1600 pension schemes and administering pensions for over 1,000,000 members.

Grade: Senior Consultant
Employment Type: Permanent, Full Time
Location: Hybrid
REQ: 003328

Our teams of pension administrators provide services to a wide range of trust-based company pension schemes, including defined benefit, defined contribution, career average revalued earnings, and hybrid schemes. Our range of pensions administration services include scheme administration, communication, scam identification, payroll services, pension scheme accounting, de‑risking projects, and technical consultancy. Our administrative approach is scheme‑based; one team is responsible for every aspect of each client’s service, enabling us to build the best possible relationships and provide the clarity of focus each scheme deserves.

Ultimately, pension schemes are there for their members; we place just as much emphasis on delivering excellent customer service as we do on technical proficiency and quality control.

• Act as point of contact generally and to explain complex issues
• Attend client and trustee meetings to present project updates
• Support the production of process documents
• Communicate and train on processes or work streams
• Assist teams on complex projects and technical questions
• Manage and allocate work of team members for processes or work streams
• Provide management reporting
• Oversee budgets for work streams
• Develop marketing materials, internal updates, and newsletters

• Set and achieve project delivery deadlines within scope and budget. Ensure client sign off on fees and scope has been secured as the work commences
• Deliver projects within agreed budgets, identify out-of-scope work and proactively manage and discuss with the clients to ensure that all work is billed in a timely manner
• Create and maintain centralised data management plan processes
• Complete and review calculations for pension benefit data both manually and spreadsheet based
• Undertake and review rectification actions to member benefits and issue communications
• Partner with Client and Administration Managers within the business on project delivery requirements and stakeholder management
• Deal confidently with HMRC, Clients, Scheme Actuaries, Scheme Administrators, Consultants, Pension Accounts/Payroll, Members and third parties by phone, email, and letter
• Check and authorise other team members’ work
• Understand and apply benefit structures, Trust Deed & Rules, Inland Revenue guidance notes, PSO, Disclosure requirements
• Provide technical information both verbally and in writing
• Comply with ISO and AAF accreditations
• Check and authorise project work
• Provide general support to the deputy/team manager
• Support delivery of a continuous improvement programme, championing operational excellence while identifying areas where the project delivery service to clients could be improved and/or expanded
• From time to time undertake other activities of a similar nature that fall within capabilities

• Commercial acumen in order to plan, manage, track and deliver project revenue, client and business requirements within budget
• Strong organisational skills with proven ability to manage resources and operational delivery of a team to ensure revenue targets met and work delivered to plan
• Technical pensions and data projects knowledge to be able to explain complex issues to key stakeholders internally and externally
• Ability to manipulate spreadsheet data using formulas, such as Index, V‑look up, Pivot table and Macro is essential
• Efficiently resolve issues by identifying solutions to enable projects to be effectively delivered in accordance with client requirements
• Proven ability to lead a project providing strategic direction…