Head of Pension Operations

The Role
Rare opportunity to join Shell’s in-house pension department as Head of Pension Operations, reporting directly to the Head of UK Pensions. Shell’s pension administration is carried out in-house for four UK-linked defined benefit pension schemes covering around 45,000 members, £23 billion of assets making benefit payments approaching £900 million a year. The role combines technical knowledge with management and leadership, together with hands on experience in all aspects of pensions administration and payroll.

With a team in London and accountability for a team in our offshore centre in Poland, the Head of Pension Operations is responsible for the management and strategy of day-to-day operational pension administration activities of the UK and UK linked pension schemes. The administration team comprises 10 people in London and around 20 people in Poland.

Where you fit in?
The role is part of the leadership team of Shell’s UK Trustee Services Unit which provides executive pensions support to the trustees of Shell’s pension schemes in the UK and manages the pensions administration and related activities, including finance and payroll. The Trustee Services Unit operates as a division of Shell International Limited and is part of Group Treasury.

As a member of the Trustee Services Unit Leadership Team, the successful candidate will work across the team supporting other initiatives and leading development of the wider team.

What’s the role?
The successful candidate will be accountable for the following:

• Responsibility for delivering administration services and pension payroll for four UK-linked pension schemes covering around 45,000 members. The Head of Pension Operations oversees the administration team in London (two direct reports and with a total reporting line of nine), ensuring delivery of operational excellence on day-to day activities. In addition, the Head of Pension Operations has accountability of the administration team in Shell’s offshored team in Poland (team of 20), with day-to-day management of the team carried out locally in Krakow.
• Focusing on operational excellence, high levels of accuracy and delivering a good member experience, the pension administration team process large volumes of transactions and queries which involve sensitive and personal data. The successful candidate will continuously develop the pension administration strategy, administration system (EQ Compendia and other supporting systems) and the associated processes. This is whilst maintaining service level agreements and high member satisfaction.
• Successfully implementing large high-profile projects, such as the upgrade of the pension IT system (EQ Compendia) and processes to enable member self-service through a web-based portal and analysing and delivering scheme changes resulting from legislative changes (such as GMP Equalisation and roll out of Pensions Dashboard), whilst maintaining a focus on member-centric engagement and development.
• Providing support and guidance to the team in London and Krakow to ensure accurate and timely delivery of all operational processes including monthly payroll and related actions, pension lifestyle events (retirement, death, transfer, divorce etc) and complex member enquiries.
• Implementing a positive member experience across all interaction points. You will also be the high-level escalation point for member queries and complaints that arise.
• Interaction with the Trustee Boards of the Funds, preparing and presenting relevant Committee and Trustee Board papers on administration and related operational activity. This includes overseeing the MI reporting for the Funds both within the Trustee Services Unit and to the Trustee Boards. The Head of Pension Operations has an important role reporting out to the Risk and Operations Committee for the largest UK pension fund.
• Act a subject matter expert on pension administration to other pension plans around the Shell Group on an ad-hoc basis.

What we need from you?
Given the nature of the role, you should have extensive previous pension operations experience in either an in-house or third-party administrator environment.

The successful applicant is expected to have the following:

• Pension qualifications (e.g. PMI, DPA)
• Excellent knowledge of UK defined benefit pension schemes
• Deep knowledge of UK pension legislation
• Experience of working with pension administration systems (e.g. Compendia)
• Knowledge and experience of external market practices and products in pensions
• Experience of managing a team
• Self-starter and effective team player
• Ability to influence, develop and lead
• Able to focus on the detail without losing sight of the broader issue or strategy 
• Ability to contribute to the development of the broader Trustee Services Unit. 

In addition to the salary and benefits offered by Shell, travel is expected to Krakow on some occasions (typically two to four times a year).

About Shell
Shell started operations in the United Kingdom more than 110 years ago. Since then, we have grown into a leading innovative Energy company that rewards its employees by investing heavily in their careers and learning. Our people are our greatest asset, and our commitment to your career will see you thrive in a work environment that offers an industry-leading development programme.

An innovative place to work
There’s never been a more exciting time to work at Shell.

Join us and you’ll be adding your talent and imagination to a business with the ambition to shape the future – whether by investing in oil, gas and renewable energy to meet demand, exploring new ways to store energy, or developing technology that helps the world to use energy more efficiently, everyone at Shell does their part.

An inclusive place to work
To power progress, we need to attract and develop the brightest minds and make sure every voice is heard. Here are just some of the ways we are nurturing an inclusive environment – one where you can express your ideas, extend your skills, and reach your potential.

• We’re creating a space where people with disabilities can excel through transparent recruitment process, workplace adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Feel free to let us know about your circumstances when you apply, and we’ll take it from there.
• We’re closing the gender gap – whether that’s through action on equal pay or by enabling more women to reach senior roles in engineering and technology.
• We’re striving to be a pioneer of an inclusive and diverse workplace, promoting equality for employees regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
• We consider ourselves a flexible employer and want to support you finding the right balance. We encourage you to discuss this with us in your application.

A rewarding place to work
Combine our creative, collaborative environment and global operations with an impressive range of benefits and joining Shell becomes an inspired career choice.

We’re huge advocates for career development. We’ll encourage you to try new roles and experience new settings. By pushing people to reach their potential, we frequently help them find skills they never knew they had, or make career moves they never thought possible.