THE OPPORTUNITY

The role is responsible for:

Pension

• Executing the organisation’s UK pension scheme obligations to ensure regulatory compliance
• Managing the external administrator to ensure service delivery within budget and the contracted service level agreement
• Supporting the Trustees as required to ensure that they can operate effectively and compliantly
• Establishing an annual employee communication plan and ensuring delivery against that plan to improve ROI and engagement

General

• Supporting the delivery delivering, and management of UK employee benefits programmes in an engaging, legally compliant and cost-effective manner
• Managing and delivering projects as required to support delivery of the HR strategy
• The role’s scope excludes Partner pension and benefits arrangements

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

UK pension scheme

• Arrange quarterly Trustee meetings.  Draft agenda.  Prepare meeting packs.  Maintain and update governance documentation including annual calendar, fee tracker, conflicts of interest register, Trustee training logs and risk register.  Draft reports to the board.  Attend and contribute to meetings
• Draft minutes and actions log.  Liaise with third parties to progress actions to completion
• Produce an annual communications plan, consulting with the administrator, Trustee board and internal comms team.  Draft and arrange issue of communications to active and deferred members, including webinars, newsletters, animations, letters and emails
• Complete all statutory reporting including HMRC Event Report, Annual Scheme Return, Accounting for Tax Return and ONS Surveys
• Lead pension projects, liaising with internal and external stakeholders to deliver timely, compliant outcomes including triennial auto re-enrolment, investment reviews, provider reviews and compliance with new statutory and regulatory requirements
• Coordinate the production and audit of the annual accounts, liaising with finance, the scheme consultant, administrator and auditor.  Agree engagement letters.  Provide documentation for preparation of the accounts.  Draft the narrative content including a compliant Chair’s Statement.  Answer auditor queries.  Arrange review and sign-off by the Trustee
• Manage the relationship with the administrator, including attending monthly calls, escalating service issues and reviewing complaints
• Co-ordinate Member Nominated Trustee Director appointment process: monitor term dates, communicate vacancy to active members, assemble and be part of interview panel, make recommendation to Trustee board and arrange new Trustee Director induction plans
• Manage sensitive and complex member cases, including complaints and death cases.  For death cases this involves information gathering on behalf of the Trustee, liaising with potential beneficiaries, submitting claims for life assurance sums and pension disinvestments, preparing reports and recommendations for the Trustee and arranging payment.  Ensure complaints are managed in accordance with the Scheme’s internal dispute resolution procedure
• Maintain a documentation library on both the internal cloud system and board meeting software.  Ensure all processes are documented and kept up-to-date
• Update scheme literature and forms annually and ad hoc as necessary.  Maintain and update pensions content on the employee-facing benefits portal
• Arrange updates to the trust deed and rules with legal counsel
• Agree annual and ad hoc provider budgets, negotiating on fees as appropriate.  Scrutinise invoices and arrange payment.  Maintain a fee tracker tracking spend against budgets.  Maintain a cashbook of receipts and payments into the Trustee bank account
• Proactively identify and implement solutions to improve processes and member experience, and / or potential cost saving opportunities
• Act as point of contact for queries from members, beneficiaries and the administrator

General

• Support the implementation of UK benefits policies (including policy renewals) ensuring that they reflect our strategic principles and that key performance criteria are agreed and monitored so that ROI can be assessed on an on-going basis
• Through on-going proactive analysis identify UK policy and communication improvement opportunities to improve ROI in a manner that balances commercial objectives with employee engagement
• Drive continuous improvement, and proactively discourage complacency, to ensure that stakeholders seek advice from us and hold the team in high regard
• Develop personal expertise to ensure that the advice provided is always the most appropriate and considers the latest thinking
• Proactively contribute to broader Reward Team debate to ensure that we do not operate in specialism silos but rather as a coherent, effective and value adding centre of excellence
• Ensure that policies within the role’s remit are tax efficient and compliant organisationally and from an external regulator and legal perspective
• Manage third-party suppliers robustly to ensure that service standards are at least met, and that delivery is within budget
• As and when required deputise for the Senior Manager Reward – Benefits and peers to ensure on-going delivery across the team
• As required undertake broader project work to support the delivery of the HR strategy

ABOUT YOU

• Proven defined contribution pension scheme management or consultancy experience
• Proven employee benefits management or consultancy experience
• Proven experience of effective working with Trustee, HR and Finance business partners
• Ability to analyse, organise and present in an engaging manner numerical and statistical data
• Creative thinking, problem solving and attention to detail is essential
• Proven ability to communicate with, and influence, key stakeholders. The role holder must be able to explain complex matters clearly and simply
• Self-starter with high tolerance for ambiguity
• A working style that can adapt to different audiences and environments
• Ability to work to tight deadlines and under pressure.  The role holder must be able to organise time well to deliver effectively on time and to budget

Desirable

• Experience of working in a partnership and/or matrix environment
• Experience of using SuccessFactors

ABOUT US
DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES
In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING
We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING
In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.