Technical and Trustee Services Executive

Job description

Job Title: Technical and Trustee Services Executive

Location: Kingston Head Office'

JOB PURPOSE

UNILEVER UK & Ireland PENSIONS (UUKP)

UUKP is a friendly team that believes in supporting and helping each other and that values getting things right.  UUKP is responsible for providing expert pension services for Unilever’s UK pension arrangements and some of the Irish pension arrangements which includes:

·  A large hybrid UK registered pension scheme with four sections.  There are around 72,000 members in the main sections and the value of assets is approximated £710.5bn.  One section of the scheme provides executive benefits to around 160 members.  The Trustee of this pension scheme is a trustee company with 11 directors.
·  A small section 615 scheme (for overseas service) with assets of around £155 million and around 715 members.  The Trustees of this pension scheme are a trustee company with 3 directors and The Law Debenture Pension Trust Corporation plc.
·  A closed defined benefit (final salary) Irish arrangement, circa €300m assets
·  A number of UK and Irish company unfunded arrangements, circa £200m liabilities

The Pensions Technical and Trustee Services team:

·  assists the Head of Trustee Services in managing external advisers to the Trustees and providing specialist pension services to the Trustees and, on certain matters, the Company in the areas of governance, compliance, communications, legislation, regulation, funding and policy. 
·  is responsible for providing technical pensions expertise to the Trustees, Company and outsourced Third Party Administrators and the in-house Expert Administration Team.  This includes working with actuarial and legal advisers in investigating technical pensions matters, proposing solutions, getting approvals and providing instructions on implementing changes.

Unilever is the place where you can bring your purpose to life with the work that you do – creating a better business and a better world.  If you are someone that likes to do the right thing and do it well then this role is just for you!

RESPONSIBILITIES

·  Manage/ provide assistance on projects in the areas of governance, policy and benefit administration (of a largely technical or trustee governance nature).
·  Assist in researching technical queries raised by internal and external stakeholders, identifying and gathering all relevant information, liaising with external advisers where appropriate and drafting briefing papers/summaries (with recommendations where appropriate).
·  Assist in ensuring schemes are compliant in all areas of regulations and legislation and carrying out certain compliance activities such as obtaining relevant information from internal and external stakeholders to complete the Pensions Regulator’s Annual Return and completing compliance paperwork for implementing changes to Participating Employers.  Update quarterly reports providing status of all compliance matters.
·  Manage distribution of SMPI statements and ensure database for legacy Additional Voluntary Contribution providers is kept up to date.
·  Manage the various internal and external stakeholders in order to produce the statutory Scheme Annual Report and Accounts and dDraft sections for the Trustees’ report in the Scheme Annual Report and Financial Statements and get stakeholder sign-off.
·  Monitor technical bulletins; identify and provide summaries of key matters of interest to relevant stakeholders, identifying actions and ensuring those actions are taken by appropriate stakeholders.
·  Accurately maintain technical databases of important historic scheme information.
·  Manage the production and execution of formal documents process: liaising with internal and external stakeholders to explain why documents are required, obtain relevant approvals, answer queries and ensure documents are executed within required timescales.  Assist in logging and safely storing documents.
·  Complete surveys and statutory requests for information.
·  Provide assistance to secretaries of the Trustee Boards and Committees; including pro-active forward agenda planning, preparation of papers for Trustee meetings (including occasionally presenting at Trustee/Committee meetings), ensuring other contributors are aware of what is required of them and that they provide their papers in good time, writing up minutes and monitoring and chasing actions.
·  Assist in maintaining best practice in trustee governance.  Maintain key Trustee governance and key information documents and ensure the Trustee electronic storage system is kept up to date with assistance from the Admin Support Team.  Assist in delivery of Trustee training, assist trustees with their personal development plans and oversee the Admin Support Team in implementing changes to the Trustee Boards. Produce quarterly performance reports for the Trustee Boards against the Service Level Agreement with the company for review and sign off by the relevant Trustee Secretary.  Ensure annual renewal of trustee liability insurance is carried out.  Carry out, or supervise Admin Support Team in carrying out, routine regular trustee governance actions such as updating training or gifts/hospitality logs.
·  Assist in dealing with cases referred to the Trustees for discretionary decisions or going through the Internal Resolution Disputes Procedure
·  Provide assistance on any other matters as required by the Pensions Technical and Trustee Services Team Manager or Head of Trustee Services

ALL ABOUT YOU

Skills

The Pensions Technical and Trustee Services Executive is a crucial member of the team.  They will have a passion for:

·  Bringing structure to all work carried out by the team, ensuring that not only they themselves are organised but also that their work, and the work of other team members, can be easily accessed and understood by the team, improving team efficiency.
·  Producing high quality work that is free from errors and keeping comprehensive databases that are always accurate and up to date.
·  Working as part of a team, pro-actively helping other team members
·  Developing and improving processes.
·  Being curious; knowing what is going on and understanding the wider context for their work.

They will have a natural ability to apply logic and bring problem solving skills to put their knowledge, and new knowledge they acquire, into practice.  Being able to research and understand new and sometimes complex pensions matters, with the help of advisers, and to identify, and be able to communicate, actions needed. 

They will

·  Have excellent verbal and written communication skills.  Able to use those skills in a range of ways from writing clear reports for decision by the Trustees, to influencing others and giving them clear instructions where their help is needed, or they need to take action.
·  Be confident to work independently and exercise judgement but also to judge appropriately their limitations and what matters should be consulted on or escalated for decision.
·  Enjoy managing a large and varied workload and have the ability to prioritise effectively to deliver to critical timescales.
·  Be confident in the use of IT systems

Experiences & Qualifications

·  They will likely be qualified to degree level and working towards the professional exams for Associate Membership of the Pensions Management Institute and possess sound knowledge of UK pensions legislation and best practice. 
·  Their experience is likely to have been in a technical pensions role or trustee secretarial role or as a consultant.  However, candidates with the right skills, knowledge and ability to learn and develop would be considered.

Leadership

·  You are energized by delivering fantastic results. You are an example to others – both your results and your resilience. You are constantly on the lookout for better ways to do things, engaging and collaborating with others along the way.
·  As an individual you are the one responsible for your own wellbeing and delivering high standards of work. You must also focus on the Consumer and what they need. You are humble and have your head up, looking around to interpret evidence and data smartly, spot issues and opportunities to make things better.

·  Critical SOL (Standards of Leadership) Behaviors
·  PASSION FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE: Takes personal responsibility and accountability for execution and results. Has an owner’s mindset, using data and insight to make decisions.
·  PERSONAL MASTERY: Sets high standards for themselves. Actively builds own wellbeing and resilience.
·  CONSUMER CLIENT/MEMBER LOVE : Whatever their role, always looks for better ways to serve consumersclients and members. Invests time inside and outside to understand the needs of consumersclients/members.
·  PURPOSE & SERVICE : Has humility, understanding that leadership is service to others, inside and outside Unilever.
·  AGILITY : Explores the world around them, continually learning and developing their skills.

NOTES

About Unilever  

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2 billion consumers a day. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes around the world, including Dove, Tresemme, Lynx, Lifebuoy, Shea Moisture, Persil, Domestos, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum, Marmite, The Vegetarian Butcher, Graze and Pot Noodle.

Faced with the challenge of climate change and the need for human development, we want to move towards a world where everyone can live well and within the natural limits of the planet. That’s why our purpose is ‘to make sustainable living commonplace’  

What We Offer  

Not only do we offer a competitive salary and pension scheme, we also offer an annual bonus, subsidised gym membership, a discounted staff shop and shares. You’ll have the opportunity to work directly with our renowned and exciting brands in a flexible and hybrid working environment.

Whilst the role is advertised on a full-time basis, we would be happy to discuss possible flexible working options and what this may look like for you. We are a key advocate of wellbeing and offer a variety of support for our people including hubs, programmes and development opportunities. We strive to achieve a family-friendly and inclusive workplace and to, above all, create possibilities for all. 

Diversity at Unilever is about inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities, and growing together for better business performance. We want to push boundaries, and have the flexibility needed to keep adapting in an ever-changing, more dynamic world. This means giving full and fair consideration to all applicants, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity. 

As part of your hiring journey, we are happy to support requests for reasonable adjustments, to improve your recruitment experience.

To find out more, including more information about our Employee Resource Groups, please click here .

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How is Unilever tackling this?  

Many of Unilever’s recruitment sites publish a warning to candidates about recruitment fraud. The Cyber Security team also proactively scan for signs of people setting up fake Unilever sites and act to close them down. 

What can I do?  

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Unilever does not accept responsibility or liability for any candidates who are financially impacted by recruitment fraud. Your vigilance is key!