Flexible Working: opportunities include full-time, job share and compressed hours. Hybrid working options will be considered. Occasional travel to other locations will be required.

About Us 

MI5, MI6 and GCHQ are the UK’s Intelligence Services. We work together to safeguard Britain’s people, interests and businesses from various threats at home, overseas and online, including cyber-attacks, espionage, terrorism, and organised crime. Working across our vital missions, you’ll deliver impact at the heart of national security, all within a supportive and inclusive environment that allows everyone to thrive.

The Role    

As a Senior Pensions Specialist, you’ll lead a team responsible for managing pensions to the highest standards. Together, you’ll provide an efficient, professional service, working to Service Level Agreements and deadlines.

Day to day, you’ll oversee your team’s work to ensure compliance with regulations and standards, through peer review. Additionally, you will stay vigilant as rules change, keeping the team up to date with current legislation.

You will also be responsible for processing member events, liaising with trustees, members and third parties, and attending internal and external meetings. Clear communication skills will be essential, as you‘ll be sharing knowledge across the team and dealing with a range of contacts.

As a Senior Pensions Specialist, your team will be escalating complex queries to you and looking to you for guidance and training. With your leadership skills, you’ll ensure that team members get the support they need, as well as opportunities for learning and development.

You will be able to take on ad-hoc projects and you’ll play a key role in the Pensions team, helping to give our current and former members of staff the peace of mind that a well-run pension brings.

About You 

Ideally, you will be experienced in pensions management, although we may also consider CIPD qualified applicants with a strong HR background. Either way, you will be numerate, aware of pension legislation and proficient in Microsoft Office, including Excel. Along with your technical skills and knowledge, you will also need to be good with people. Being at the heart of Pensions Management, communication and co-operation are just as important.

Leading with empathy and integrity, you will bring enthusiasm for your work and the team, inspiring those around you to do the same. You’ll use a collaborative management style and be able to tell us where this has been effective in the past. Your attention to detail will support sound decision making and enable you to resolve queries efficiently and effectively.

Training and Development 

You’ll have access to a wide range of training and development resources to help you grow and learn. There are internal and external courses, plus the opportunity to achieve chartered status with an appropriate professional body. To help you navigate life at our organisation, you’ll be assigned a buddy, who’ll be there from day one. Soon, you’ll be the one supporting others, as you gain experience within the team.

Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of £43,957 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
• Personal Learning Budget
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Excellent pension scheme
• 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.

We’re Disability Confident

MI5 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s 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.  Being Disability Confident, we aim to offer a person-to-person interview to any candidate who self-identifies as disabled and meets the essential criteria for the role.  This is our ‘Offer of Interview’ (OOI). To secure an interview for this vacancy, the essential criteria (in order of application process) are:

• Eligibility questions – you will be asked a series of questions. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be directed to the initial application form.
• Application form – you will be asked a series of questions relating to this vacancy and are required to meet the minimum pass mark set.
• On successful completion of these stages, you will be invited to attend a virtual Interview.

What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• An initial sift of your application.
• Successful applicants will be invited to an online interview, where you will have the opportunity to demonstrate key behaviours relevant to the role.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you 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 here.

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 here.

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 discretely.

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. A loan is available to support people relocating to London.

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 withhold 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.