Operational Readiness Manager - DB Pensions & Third Party Administrators

PIC; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Generous pension scheme

28 days’ annual leave

Life Assurance and Income Protection

Job summary

Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) is seeking an Operational Readiness Manager within Customer Operations. The role focuses on onboarding new schemes, ensuring go-live readiness, and delivering strong client outcomes through effective governance and post‑go-live support.

Responsibilities include coordinating with outsourced teams, delivering MI, and driving improvements across the administration model while aligning with PIC’s values and strategic objectives.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience with DB pension schemes.
• Proven ability to lead projects and manage multiple workstreams.
• PRINCE2 or APMI certification preferred.
• Strong data analysis capabilities.
• Experience with governance and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Represent PIC on decisions relating to delivery of client projects to PIC standards and operating model.
• Support the Head of Pension Operations in providing high-level service to clients and policyholders.
• Coordinate with transition managers and outsourced teams for smooth onboarding.
• Lead the operational readiness workstream with governance and escalation management.
• Prepare and present MI on readiness, risks, and post-go-live actions.
• Identify and implement efficiencies in PIC’s administration model.
• Develop junior team members and expand their responsibilities.
• Ensure go-live readiness and handover documentation are complete.

Skills

Organisational skills

Communication skills

Persuade and influence

People and resources management

Deadline-driven

Procedural adherence

Stakeholder collaboration

Commercial judgement

Microsoft Excel

MS Office

Education

PRINCE2/APMI certification

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Pension Insurance Corporation（“PIC”）provides secure retirement incomes through comprehensive risk management and excellence in asset and liability management, as well as exceptional customer service. Our purpose is to pay the pensions of our current and future policyholders. We achieve our purpose by setting Companywide strategic objectives and driving a healthy culture based on our PIC Values of Resilient, Adaptable, and Loyal.

• The role requires the ability to effectively collaborate and influence third-party administrators and senior PIC operational managers to effectively deliver new client projects onto the PIC book of business and into PIC’s agreed operating model. It also requires buy-in from the same people to implement improvements to systems, processes, and technology, as appropriate.
• To apply knowledge, experience and oversight on the implementation of new schemes and how this impacts our policyholders, to deliver effective onboarding to our TPA’s and assure good customer outcomes through controlled operational readiness, clear handover and effective go-live support.
• Support new business deal pitches with strong implementation knowledge and experience of scheme onboarding, and operational readiness requirements.
• To deliver strong business outcomes relating to capital, profitability, the Company brand and market reputation whilst achieving positive outcomes to our policyholders on a consistent basis.
• To provide oversight and challenge across operational readiness activity, ensuring key risks, dependencies, readiness gaps, mitigations and Day 1/Day 2 actions are understood, owned and governed.
• Our Company values are expected to be reflected in the delivery and performance of every role.

Specific accountabilities assigned to the role of Operational Readiness Manager within Customer Operations:

• Represent PIC on decisions relating to the delivery of client projects to the requisite standard and in line with PIC’s operating model and operational readiness requirements.
• Support the Head of Pension Operations in providing a high level of service to clients and policyholders at all times.
• Manage with PIC transition manager and outsourced administration teams to deliver successful onboarding for PIC and Scheme Trustees, including clear ownership of readiness items, risks, mitigations and operational handover activity.
• Lead the operational readiness workstream ensuring effective oversight and governance of decisions, and challenge as required. Managing implementation delivery against the target operating models and escalating issues as required where go-live readiness, customer outcomes, service delivery or BAU transition may be impacted.
• Providing comprehensive MI and reporting on TPA implementation quality, operational readiness status, key risks, Day 1 / Day 2 activity, service readiness and post-go-live actions, evidencing value add of implementation team.
• Identify and implement internal process and service efficiencies to improve consistency, scalability and control across PIC’s administration model.

• Develop more junior members of the PIC team to help them expand their role and increased responsibility.

• Manage the various project workstreams to on-boarding new schemes into the PIC operating model ensuring all scheme benefits are fully understood and specified, and that incoming data is fit for purpose for both administration and actuarial valuation, and ensuring the parallel payroll and pension increase runs have been fully tested and signed off or subject to clear agreed mitigations where any activity remains outstanding at go-live.
• Manage the team to deliver detailed analysis to ensure data is fit for purpose and satisfies all PIC requirements including data reconciliation and data verification work, and shadowing payroll and pension increase testing.
• Responsible for ensuring operational readiness requirements are communicated and implemented with Outsourced Admin Team and Customer Experience Team to ensure successful onboarding for PIC and Scheme Trustees, including calculation automation, website release, communications, and ensuring all process and documentation requirements are ready for go live including handover documents, scheme overview, WIP, training, contact model, reporting and post-go-live support arrangements.
• Collaborate with PIC internal actuaries to make sure valuation data requirements are fully understood and documented, including resolving data issues as required to achieve this.
• Lead calls/meetings with outsourced administrator to achieve desired timeframes and outcomes, including readiness checkpoints, issue resolution, escalation management and Go/No Go preparation.
• Prepare, review and present MI to PIC internal stakeholders and Senior Management covering readiness status, implementation quality, risks, service impacts and post-go-live actions.
• Identify and implement improvements/efficiencies in PIC’s administration model.
• Ensure that the projects being completed meet agreed milestones and deliverables, whilst also meeting expected standard in quality and that any exceptions are clearly documented, owned and governed through to resolution.
• Complete internal projects relating to new business onboarding into the PIC model and continuous improvement of the operational readiness framework.
• Understand work within Pension Corporation’s Guideline on Consumer Duty and ensure Consumer Duty considerations are reflected in onboarding, communications, customer journeys, reporting and service readiness activity.

Knowledge

• Good technical knowledge of DB pension schemes
• Thorough knowledge of project management techniques
• Good knowledge of pension buy-ins & buy-outs
• Strong technical knowledge of scheme implementations from buy in to buy out

Skills

• Strong organisational skills
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to persuade and influence both directly and indirectly
• Ability to manage people and other resources effectively
• Ability to organize work to meet deadlines
• Ability to work within defined procedures as recommended by functional teams
• Effective collaboration with key stakeholders
• Good commercial judgement
• Good level of Microsoft Excel competency and working knowledge of other MS products

Experience

• High level of pension experience
• Experience in DB pension scheme onboarding
• Experience of complex data analysis work
• Prince2 or APMI or capable and willing to work towards it
• Experience working at a senior level in a corporate or consulting environment

DE&I at PIC

At PIC, we believe that true innovation stems from embracing diverse perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to building a workplace where every individual, regardless of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or socio-economic background, feels valued, heard and empowered to succeed. We hold ourselves accountable through ongoing initiatives, such as inclusive hiring practices, and equitable career development opportunities that support belonging and community. While we’re proud of our progress, we recognise there’s work ahead, and we remain dedicated to listening, learning and evolving together.

In addition to a competitive base salary and the opportunity to participate in our annual, performance-related bonus plan, upon joining us here at Pension Insurance Corporation, you’ll have access to some great benefits, including private medical insurance, 28 days' annual leave (excluding bank holidays), a generous pension scheme, insurance for Travel, Private Medical, Critical Illness, Life Assurance and Income Protection, and much more.