Government Actuary's Department
Head of Public Service Pensions
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10 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 4PU / Edinburgh Government Hub Queen Elizabeth House, Edinburgh EH8 8FT
Job Summary
You will lead GAD’s public service pensions actuarial team, setting the strategic direction for one of the department’s most significant areas of client work, with a team of around 40 staff. You will ensure the team plays a central role in supporting government clients on complex pension policy, risk, financing and delivery issues across the UK public service pensions landscape.
As Head of Public Service Pensions, you will be accountable for ensuring GAD provides clear, robust and practical actuarial advice that commands confidence with senior clients and supports effective public policy outcomes. You will bring professional judgement, strategic insight and operational leadership to help shape the future of GAD’s pensions offer.
You will act as the senior ambassador and public face of GAD’s public service pensions work, representing the department with clients, stakeholders and the wider pensions community. Leading through senior actuaries who manage client portfolios, you will build a collaborative, inclusive and professionally excellent team that works across GAD to deliver high-quality outcomes for clients.
Job Description
You will provide strategic, operational and professional leadership for the actuarial team, setting priorities and ensuring that advice is technically sound, clearly communicated and relevant to the needs of government clients. Particular responsibilities include:
Strategy and Planning
- Developing the business plan and strategic goals for the team, aligned to the departmental strategy, and ensure these are delivered.
- Ownership of the team’s strategic investment priorities.
- Effective foresight of potential client activity for your team, including the business pipeline.
- Aligning actuarial work plans with clients’ policy, financial and operational priorities.
Transformation and Operational Effectiveness
- Sponsorship of transformation programmes for major team projects.
- Taking action to ensure efficient delivery and productivity improvements.
- Supporting the development of new actuarial advice on public service pensions, reflecting UK government policy aims, financial pressures and wider developments in the pensions landscape.
People and Professional Leadership
- Providing oversight, coach and support senior team members who manage the client portfolios. Support career development across the team, inspiring staff to reach their potential.
- Creating and sustaining an inclusive, supportive and high-performing culture across the team, ensuring effective leadership, talent management, workforce planning and colleague engagement.
- Contributing to the professional leadership of the department by advising, mentoring and constructively challenging colleagues and their work.
Client and Stakeholder Collaboration
- Commercial leadership, with oversight of new business pipelines, development activities and client relationship management across the team.
- Building and maintaining strong and influential relationships with senior stakeholders in client departments.
- Ensuring advice is tailored to client needs and that intelligence about client priorities and risks is shared to support wider engagement.
- Ensuring the team works collegiately and collaboratively with other business units, drawing on wider actuarial and analytical expertise where this improves client outcomes.
Responsibilities
You will provide strategic, operational and professional leadership for the actuarial team, setting priorities and ensuring that advice is technically sound, clearly communicated and relevant to the needs of government clients. Particular responsibilities include:
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Strategy and Planning
- Developing the business plan and strategic goals for the team, aligned to the departmental strategy, and ensure these are delivered.
- Ownership of the team’s strategic investment priorities.
- Effective foresight of potential client activity for your team, including the business pipeline.
- Aligning actuarial work plans with clients’ policy, financial and operational priorities.
Transformation and Operational Effectiveness
- Sponsorship of transformation programmes for major team projects.
- Taking action to ensure efficient delivery and productivity improvements.
- Supporting the development of new actuarial advice on public service pensions, reflecting UK government policy aims, financial pressures and wider developments in the pensions landscape.
People and Professional Leadership
- Providing oversight, coach and support senior team members who manage the client portfolios. Support career development across the team, inspiring staff to reach their potential.
- Creating and sustaining an inclusive, supportive and high-performing culture across the team, ensuring effective leadership, talent management, workforce planning and colleague engagement.
- Contributing to the professional leadership of the department by advising, mentoring and constructively challenging colleagues and their work.
Client and Stakeholder Collaboration
- Commercial leadership, with oversight of new business pipelines, development activities and client relationship management across the team.
- Building and maintaining strong and influential relationships with senior stakeholders in client departments.
- Ensuring advice is tailored to client needs and that intelligence about client priorities and risks is shared to support wider engagement.
- Ensuring the team works collegiately and collaboratively with other business units, drawing on wider actuarial and analytical expertise where this improves client outcomes.
Person specification
Key external stakeholders include: HM Treasury, UK government departments, devolved administrations, public service pension scheme stakeholders and other public sector clients. Key internal stakeholders include: the Government Actuary, Executive Committee, Non-Executive Directors, Actuarial Directors, business unit leadership teams, corporate functions and staff. The role holder will have responsibility for the fee income and delegated expenditure of the team, operational processes and controls. The role holder will be expected to role model GAD’s professional standards, values and behaviours, and to represent the department with senior clients and stakeholders. They will also contribute to the collective leadership and management of the wider unit.
The role holder will be expected to connect with other actuarial and multidisciplinary teams to share experience, develop consistent approaches where appropriate, and support the professional development of colleagues through line management, coaching and mentoring.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (or international equivalent) (Essential)
- Substantial experience of providing actuarial advice on pensions, including the ability to explain complex technical issues clearly to senior non-specialist audiences (Essential)
- Developed insight into the UK pensions landscape, including public service pension schemes, funding, benefit design, governance, risk and stakeholder considerations (Essential)
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Alongside your salary of £141,109, Government Actuary's Department contributes £40,879 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
As well as competitive salaries, we offer a substantial package of benefits:
- Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day-to-day work.
- 25 days annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition, we offer 9 days public and privilege days leave per year (pro rata for part time staff)
- A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
- 5 days of paid volunteering leave
- Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
- Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year.
- Occupational sick pay
- Family-friendly policies such as help with caring responsibilities, special leave, generous paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
- Access to employee assistance programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice.
- The opportunity to join a trade union.
- A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.
- Salary advances for travel costs, including annual season tickets and cycle-to-work schemes.
- Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice.
- Complimentary BUPA health check.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained.
- A Personal statement of up to 500-words explaining how you meet the essential criteria for the role, with particular reference to the criteria provided in the person specification of the JD.
Your CV and Personal Statement will be used to assess the essential criteria listed in the job description.
During the interview you will be assessed on the experience and behaviours listed in the Person Specification and detailed in this advert. The interview will include a presentation, details of which will be sent to those invited to interview.
Application deadline: 1200 hrs on 07 September 2026
Shortlisting: By w/c 14 September 2026
Engagement Session: 21 September 2026
First Round Interviews: 23 and 24 September 2026
Final Round Interviews: 01 and 02 October 2026
Interview location: In office (Either London, E14 4PU or Edinburgh, EH8 8FT)
Please apply via our recruitment portal below.
As part of the application form process, please submit your CV and supporting
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