Pensions Officer

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

West Northamptonshire Council is seeking a Pensions Officer to join the LGPS service, providing expert administration and technical support across pension matters. You will handle complex cases, review new regulations, and help shape processes before rollout across the service.

Role emphasizes technical pensions administration, problem-solving and continuous improvement, with focus on data quality and customer care for members, employers and colleagues within WNC.

Qualifications

• Experience in pension administration and ability to interpret and apply regulations accurately.
• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail.
• Experience handling complex, historical, backlog pension cases.

Responsibilities

• Manage a varied portfolio of pension administration work ensuring records and benefits are accurate and compliant with LGPS, HMRC and internal procedures.
• Take ownership of complex, historical and backlog cases, investigate issues and resolve discrepancies.
• Support implementation of legislative and regulatory changes, review guidance and design new processes.
• Provide technical guidance to colleagues, employers and scheme members and contribute to process improvements.

Skills

Pensions administration

Analytical skills

Customer service

Job description

Helping members navigate their pension journey with confidence is at the heart of this role. As a

Pensions Officer, you'll join a specialist team within the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) service, providing expert administration and technical support across a wide range of pension matters. In addition to managing casework, this team plays a key role in shaping how the service responds to change, making it an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys both technical pensions administration and continuous improvement.

This role offers the chance to work on complex and historical pension cases, helping to resolve outstanding matters and improve data quality across the Fund. You'll also be involved in reviewing new pension regulations and legislative changes, supporting the development of processes and procedures before they are rolled out more widely across the pensions team. If you're looking for a role that combines technical expertise, problem-solving and service development, this is an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here:

Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

What will you be doing?

You'll manage a varied portfolio of pension administration work, ensuring pension records and benefits are processed accurately and in accordance with Local Government Pension Scheme regulations, HMRC requirements and internal procedures. Alongside day-to-day casework, you'll take ownership of more complex, historical and backlog cases, investigating issues, resolving discrepancies and helping to ensure member records remain accurate and complete.

A key aspect of the role will be supporting the implementation of legislative and regulatory changes. You'll review new guidance and regulations, assess operational impacts and help design and test new processes before they are introduced across the wider service. Working closely with colleagues, you'll provide technical guidance, contribute to process improvements and help maintain high standards of service delivery, compliance and customer care.

You’ll also support scheme members, pensioners and employers by responding to enquiries, explaining complex pension matters clearly and providing accurate information that helps customers make informed decisions.

You’re an experienced pensions professional with a strong understanding of pension administration and the ability to interpret and apply complex regulations accurately. You enjoy investigating issues, resolving challenging cases and working through detailed information to achieve positive outcomes.

You’ll be comfortable working with both routine administration and more technical casework, with the ability to identify improvements and support changes to processes and procedures. Strong analytical skills, attention to detail and a methodical approach are essential, as is the ability to communicate complex information clearly to colleagues, employers and scheme members.

Most importantly, you're someone who enjoys continuous improvement, takes pride in delivering excellent customer service and is motivated by helping shape and develop services for the future. You'll share our THRIVE values and our commitment to delivering a high-quality pensions service for members, employers and colleagues across West Northamptonshire.

At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner.

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain