Implementation Workstream Lead

DC Lifestyle Changes: Implementation Workstream Lead

6 month contract £650 - £750 per day (Inside IR35) London, City (2 days a week in the office)

I'm working with a leading pensions and investment management organisation that's changing the lifestyle strategy on its DC scheme. That means moving affected members from their current investment strategy onto a revised one, and they need someone to own how that change is delivered.

Reporting to the DC Lifestyle Changes Project Manager, you'll take day-to-day ownership of the Implementation Planning workstream and keep it aligned to the overall project plan.

The Role

You'll work closely with Member Services and operational SMEs to build the end-to-end implementation approach and a detailed runbook. That covers the blackout period, member migration, cutover and the move onto the new lifestyle strategy.

You'll lead blackout planning, pulling together SME input to identify the transactions and member journeys affected, the operational impacts, workarounds, exception handling and restart arrangements. You'll also set out the migration and cutover approach, so the sequencing, dependencies, owners, controls and key decision points are all clearly defined.

Ahead of go-live, you'll run dress rehearsals and readiness activity, set the readiness criteria and Go/No-Go checkpoints, and make sure each workstream provides the evidence needed for an informed decision. You'll own the workstream's risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies, elevate blockers to the PM and governance forums, and keep reporting clear so everyone knows where things stand.

Key Skills Required

• Investment management experience (essential)
• Strong DC pensions domain knowledge, including DC administration and member transactions
• Hands-on implementation experience covering blackout, migration, cutover and runbook ownership
• Experience running dress rehearsals, readiness criteria and Go/No-Go checkpoints
• Comfortable working closely with Member Services and operational SMEs
• Owned risks, issues, assumptions and dependencies and reported into project and governance forums
• Clear communicator who can give stakeholders confidence that delivery is on track

Nice to Have

• Experience of investment switching or lifestyle strategy changes
• Background in a DC master trust, large own-trust scheme or DC provider