Head of Pensions Systems (UPM)

Preston Source: WhatJobs

£85,000–£95,000

Head of Pension Systems (UPM)

Hybrid or remote-based with travel to Preston.

Salary: £85,000-£95,000 DOE | 37 hours per week

A glance at the role

Our Head of Pensions Systems is a business-critical role, responsible for driving the strategic direction, development and operational capability of the LPPA pension administration system, currently based around the Civica UPM pension platform. You will manage the day-to-day relationship with Civica and other technology partners, ensuring the systems remain robust, compliant, scalable and aligned to LPPA’s strategy.

You will build and lead a sector-leading Pensions Systems team, responsible for developing and supporting the platform including its configuration, workflows, automation, data integrity and web portals enabling the LPPA to provide an excellent service to its members, employers and clients.

Working closely with member services teams and internal and external project teams, ensure there is a responsive and well-governed project delivery pipeline that supports regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement that underpins LPPA’s ability to deliver excellent pension services at scale.

A bit about us

Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) is a multi-award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s leading pension administration companies. We strive to deliver the best experience for over 1,500 employers and more than 700,000 members of Local Government, Police and Firefighter pension schemes, keeping them fully informed about their pensions whilst working closely with employers to continuously educate and support them.

What we can offer you

Competitive salary £85,000-£95,000 DOE + inclusion in annual bonus scheme
30 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and 2 additional concessionary days and 1 day for your birthday, with the option to ‘buy and sell’ leave.
Access to an excellent pension scheme (Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contributions.
Access to Health or Dental Plan and an Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme
Free Car Parking in Preston City Centre

What you’ll be doing

Product Ownership & System Governance

Serve as the technical product owner for the UPM system and its associated portals.
Ensure UPM is configured to best-practice and documentation is maintained.
Oversee release management, testing and safe deployment of changes.
Lead the Pensions Systems team in delivering a high-quality support service.
Monitor SLAs, XLAs, and drive continuous service improvement.
Manage incident, request, problem, and change management aligned with ITIL 4.
Drive workflow automation to reduce manual processes and improve efficiency.
Own development and enhancement of Member and Employer Portals.
Manage relationships with Civica and relevant technology suppliers.
Collaborate with external organisations to share best practice.
Incident manager for performance and availability issues with the pension system and associated portals

Leadership & People Management

Lead and develop high performing operational technology teams, promoting:
Clear accountability
Strong customer focus
Continuous improvement
Develop talent, capability, and succession within the team.
Develop the team to support the change portfolio and day-to-day operational needs.
Foster a culture of collaboration, resilience, and service excellence.
Communicate clearly to ensure team members are working harmoniously and to the same standard
Communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels, ensuring clarity, alignment, and shared understanding of priorities.

Strategic Contribution

Act as key adviser to the Chief Technology Officer, contributing to the development and delivery of the IT Strategy
Attendance at Change Board ensuring effective decisions are reached to aid with the progression of projects and problem solving
Provide expert leadership on the strategic direction of the UPM platform and associated portals, ensuring alignment with LPPA’s digital and operational goals.
Champion automation, workflow optimisation, and integration opportunities to reduce manual effort and improve service quality.

You’ll need

Proven experience of managing a pension administration system (UPM preferred)
Understanding of UK pension administration processes and regulatory requirements
Experience in system configuration, workflow design and governance
Leadership experience of a support and/or development team
Proven leadership experience in managing and developing high-performing teams, with a focus on talent development, performance management, and fostering a culture of innovation and accountability
Experience managing suppliers and third party service providers
Strong stakeholder engagement, communication and analytical skills
Experience and understanding of system development and SQL database development
Understanding of ISO 27001 and managing audit requests.

Nice to have

Experience working with Civica UPM or other pension administration platforms.
ITIL v4 certification or experience applying IT service management principles.
Experience with automation tools, workflow technologies, APIs and system integration solutions.
Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies and continuous improvement practices.

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