Scottish Government
Senior Policy Manager
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The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA)
The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) administers pensions for Scottish Teachers, Police, Firefighters' and National Health Service employees on behalf of the Scottish Government.
We're responsible for protecting the financial futures of over half a million people, that’s around 1 in 10 people in Scotland.
If you’re looking for meaningful work, a supportive environment and a career with purpose, you’ll find it at the SPPA.
Our office is based in Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders, the train station is a short two minute walk away and offers regular services to and from Edinburgh Waverley, making it a convenient and well connected location for commuters.
The surrounding area offers access to green space, walking routes and a strong sense of local community, supporting wellbeing both in and outside of work.
Our modern office building is designed to support flexible and collaborative working, with spaces for teamwork, quiet focus and hybrid working. Colleagues benefit from a comfortable, welcoming environment that reflects our commitment to wellbeing and inclusion.
About the Role
The Agency also has an important policy function because Scottish Ministers have executively devolved responsibility for public service pensions (pensions policy in general is reserved to the UK Government). The Policy Team is responsible for providing policy advice to Ministers on public service pensions, including the schemes it administers and the Local Government Pension Scheme. The team also provides advice on occupational pensions more broadly and works closely with HM Treasury, UK Government departments and devolved administrations to shape pensions policy with a focus on ensuring the schemes remain robust, fair, affordable and sustainable.
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In addition to responsibility for the policy behind each scheme, the Policy Team is responsible for producing pension scheme regulations and guidance to support scheme administration to ensure full compliance with legislation. The team also determines appeals submitted by members under each public service pension scheme’s Internal Dispute Resolution Procedure (IDRP).
An exciting opportunity has arisen for two Senior Pension Policy Managers to join our friendly and supportive team. These roles will focus on aspects of policy development across the Scottish devolved public service pension schemes, supporting the four Pension Policy Leads in the team. One of the posts will have a particular focus on the Local Government Pension Scheme, a funded multi-employer scheme administered locally by eleven administering authorities which maintain their own pension funds and invest member and employer contributions.
Responsibilities
- Support the Pension Policy Leads in providing advice to Scottish Ministers in relation to emerging issues and changes to public service pensions.
- Act as a central contact for cross-cutting policy matters where development and implementation of policy and legislation is required.
- For the SPPA-administered schemes, work closely and in collaboration with SPPA Operational Managers to ensure the technical / systems development and implementation accurately deliver the policy intent. For the Local Government Pension Scheme, the Scheme Advisory Board and the Local Government Association are key stakeholders.
- Work closely and in collaboration with individual scheme Policy Managers to support Scheme Advisory Board discussions on policy developments and issues.
- Conduct significant stakeholder engagement with Scottish Government workforce leads, Local Government, UK Government department pension leads, HM Treasury pension leads and the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) to ensure a coherent approach on policy principles.
- Liaise with GAD actuarial advisers and SG colleagues on forecasting and fiscal implications of any proposed changes to public service pensions.
- Support instructions to SG legal directorate on amendments to scheme regulations.
- Provide policy input to SPPA internal project groups, including contributing technical input to calculation requirements and system developments (for the schemes SPPA administers) and the stakeholder communications strategy across all mediums of member, internal and external engagement channels (for all schemes).
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Application Information
The successful candidates will report directly to a Pension Policy Lead and may have line management responsibility for a Pension Policy Manager. Applications are welcome from staff working any pattern of hours.
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