Job overview
We are recruiting for a Pensions Officer who shares our vision to be trusted to provide consistently outstanding care and exemplary service to our patients.
The ideal candidate will have a passion for providing excellent customer service, possess an excellent telephone manner and administrative/IT skills.
They will demonstrate attention to detail and be confident using Microsoft technology such as Word, Excel and Outlook. The candidate will be able to work under pressure and adhere to strict deadlines and be effective working in a team. Experience of Oracle or ESR is desirable.
At the heart of everything we do are our core values: Include, Respect, and Improve. We encourage you to embrace these values throughout the recruitment process and in your role with us.
Main duties of the job
The Pensions Officer will be vital to the provision of a comprehensive pension service to employees of NHS organisations whose payroll is run by the Trust.
You will need to work with other Pension Officers, Payroll Officers, and Team Leaders to ensure that staff are on the correct banding and have the correct pension contributions processed.
The successful candidate will understand terms and conditions for Medical & Dental, local trust policies and Agenda for Change regulations, for all grades of staff within the NHS.
The post holder will ensure that NHS pension scheme joiners, leavers, retirement, additional benefits, and preserved benefits are processed accurately and on time in accordance with scheme regulations and local
procedures through the payroll.
Working for our organisation
At East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust, we are proud of the range of general and specialist services we provide and our 6,000 or so dedicated staff ensure our patients get the best care. Our ability to be flexible and innovative in the way in which we work and deliver our services to our catchment has never been more important than it is now.
We run the following hospitals:
* The Lister Hospital, Stevenage
* New Queen Elizabeth II (New QEII), Welwyn Garden City
* Hertford County, Hertford
* Mount Vernon Cancer Centre (MVCC), Northwood
We have ambitious plans to become an outstanding, patient-led Trust where dedicated staff provide high-quality, compassionate care to our patients. We continue to undergo significant transformation and our staff and patients are at the heart of delivering this ambitious agenda.
We are committed to a positive work life balance for our employees. This means that any employee is entitled to seek to work flexible working patterns and we are committed to listen and consider all requests. Such requests, of course, have to be made and considered formally, and will need to be balanced against service needs, but our starting point will always be to find ways to support making them happen.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification applicant pack for further detailed information regarding this role.
Person specification
Qualifications / Training
Essential criteria
* Minimum of 5 GCSEs including Maths & English at Grades 9-4 (A*-C) or equivalent qualifications. OR GCSE in Maths and English and experience of working in a Payroll or Pensions department
Desirable criteria
* NVQ Level 3 / CIPP / IPPM Qualification
* ECDL
Previous Experience
Essential criteria
* Sound knowledge of pay and pension procedures and statutory legislation and experience of working in a payroll department.
* Experience of working in a large fast paced Payroll/Pensions environment.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of working in a shared Service environment
Skills
Essential criteria
* Demonstrate ability to work on own initiative and have excellent organisational skills.
* Impeccable attention to detail, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work closely and effectively with staff at all levels within or outside the organisation.
* Manual Calculations in Pensions.
* Excellent customer service skills
* Intermediate skill level in Excel and Word including VLOOKUPs, Pivots, Mail Merges.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
* Knowledge of NHS conditions of Pay, NHS Pension Regulations, basic calculation of PAYE and NHS working practices.
* Be up to date with current statutory PAYE and Pension legislation.
Desirable criteria
* Experience of Oracle ESR system.
* Working knowledge in an NHS or local government payroll and pensions department.
Other Requirements
Essential criteria
* Understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.
* Role model our Trust values every day
Desirable criteria
* Maybe required to travel across sites.
Our values
We want our staff to believe in, demonstrate and live our values in everything we do.
Include
We value the diversity and experience of our community colleagues and partners, creating relationships and climates that provide an opportunity to share, collaborate and grow together.
Respect
We create a safe environment where we are curious of the lived experience of others, seek out best practice and are open to listening and hearing new ideas.
Improve
We are committed to consistently delivering excellent services and continuously looking to improve through a creative workforce that feels empowered to act in service of our shared purpose.
Committed to our Community
East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion for all job applicants, staff, patients and the wider community. We want to create a workforce which represents the communities we serve. We are on a journey to become a more inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone regardless of their background. In particular we encourage applications from candidates with disabilities, and candidates from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who are currently under-represented in various parts of our workforce .
We understand the importance of balancing work and home life. We are committed to support flexible working for our staff wherever possible and all our employees are given the opportunity to discuss potential for flexible working.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and achieved our status in 2019.
We will remove barriers that prospective candidates might face at any stage of our recruitment process. If you have a disability and would like the advert in an alternative format, or would like to talk about how we can adjust the interview process to best support you, please contact us by emailing resourcing.enh-tr@nhs.net
We are also proud to support our UK armed forces by supporting Reservists, Cadet Instructors, Veterans and military spouses/partners into employment and offering supportive policies that value their contribution to the community and to our Trust.
We are committed to being a carer-friendly environment, addressing the complex needs of families with caring responsibilities. In partnership with Carers in Hertfordshire, all our working carers have access to support from recruitment. We are also a member of Carers UK, providing resources to make balancing work and caring easier. Our approach is inclusive, recognizing diverse challenges and creating a supportive environment where carers feel valued.