Job Description
Job title: Pensions Manager
Location: London
Salary: £47,677
Flexible working: due to the sensitive nature of the work, this is an office-based role with
little to no opportunities for home working. We recognise the importance of a good work-
life balance and offer part-time and compressed hours, with flexibility around start and
finish times.
About us
MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to
harm the UK, its people and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing
and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ
to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and
guidance to government, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves
safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and
encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.
The role
As a Pensions Manager, you’ll help oversee our processes and support your colleagues as a
subject matter expert. You’ll balance high-volume casework with training and mentoring a
growing team as you bring your expertise to our busy department. Working at pace, you’ll
maintain quality and ensure our processes and systems run smoothly.
Day-to-day, you’ll be taking on project work, supporting with problem-solving, handling
complaints and carrying out extensive quality checking. So, multi-tasking is key as you’ll be
balancing your own workload alongside your team’s. You’ll answer queries from, and give
advice to, pay teams and provide insights and guidance to senior leaders.
You’ll also collaborate with colleagues throughout the UK’s Intelligence Services and build
relationships with external partners. Everything you do will contribute to supporting the
growth of the department, from helping your team improve their skills and knowledge, to
using your experience to come up with ideas for continuous improvement.
About you
You’ll bring existing knowledge about, and experience working in, pensions and have a
minimum of 3 years’ experience in a similar role or sector. This will be supported by line
management experience. You’ll also need a minimum of 2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above in
maths and English language (or an equivalent Level 2 qualification). Importantly, you’ll be an
adaptable, organised leader with a focus on wellbeing.
Comfortable with numbers, you’ll have keen attention to detail and be able to check
calculations and spot errors with ease. You’ll also be a confident communicator able to
adjust your style depending on whether you’re supporting your team, building external
relationships, or presenting to senior leaders.
Whether you’re managing complex retirement cases, identifying solutions or managing
stakeholders, you’ll be organised and balance target-driven performance with empathy. And
of course, you’ll be IT systems literate.
Training and development
We’re passionate about your personal development, so we have lots of ways to help grow
your skills. As a line manager, you’ll be offered a Management Training Pathway. Plus, you’ll
have access to internal training courses available from any of the UK’s Intelligence Services,
as well as access to internal communities, support networks, and mentors.
You’ll be expected to stay within Pensions for your first 4 years, after which time, you’ll be
able to apply for roles across the organisation.
Rewards and benefits
You’ll receive a starting salary of £47,677, plus other benefits including:
25 days’ annual leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an
additional 10.5 days’ public and privilege holidays
opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
a dedicated development budget
an interest-free season ticket loan
an excellent pension scheme
a cycle to work scheme
facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations)
paid parental and adoption leave.
Equal opportunities
At MI5 diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly
diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of
the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual
orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We
therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups
that are under-represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority
background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:
https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/diversity
We’re Disability Confident
MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions'
Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently
about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled
people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate
number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this
position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the
Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of
application process) are:
1. a minimum of 2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C in mathematics and English language (or an
equivalent O-Level, BTEC or Level 2 qualification)
2. you must be able to demonstrate delivering positive outcomes in a timely manner.
3. you will be required to meet the minimum pass mark for the questions which
explore your motivation to work for the organisation and this particular role
There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to
enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments we
can offer.
What to expect
Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of
each stage, in order:
1. application sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the
organisation. There will also be a competency question
2. an interview, assessing competencies, skills and experience relevant to the role
3. if successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment and then proceed to
the vetting stage
Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next.
Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise
you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.
Before you apply
To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read
our full eligibility criteria on our website.
This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s
something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more
about the vetting process on our website.
Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take
any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant
stage.
Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your
contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate.
Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or
surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your
application with us more securely.
The role is based in London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please
consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An
interest-free loan is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation
to take up the offer of employment.
Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based
overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from
outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not
discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.
Right to Withdraw Statement:
Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role
from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received.
Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid
disappointment.