Interim Pensions Manager

Key Details

• Location: Chelmsford, Essex - minimum 2 days per week on-site in Chelmsford, Essex (hybrid working available)
• Contract Type: Interim
• Sector: Public Sector
• Benefits: Local Government Pension Scheme, free parking, gym access, health & wellbeing services, staff discount scheme
• Salary: Circa £75,000 Pro Rata depending on experience. There is room to negotiate for the right candidate.

The Opportunity

Pursuit Executive is working on behalf of a prominent public sector organisation to appoint an interim Deputy HR Pensions Manager. This is a senior specialist role with genuine breadth and impact, offering the chance to lead complex pension and medical retirement casework within a large, operationally demanding environment.

You will act as the professional lead for pension governance and compliance, ensuring statutory obligations are met under the relevant public sector pension schemes. This is a role for someone who is CIPD / MCIPD qualified who combines deep technical expertise with the gravitas to operate confidently at the most senior levels of an organisation.

What You Will Be Doing

Reporting into senior leadership, you will take ownership of a wide-ranging brief that includes:

• Acting as principal lead for all medical health retirement processes, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, employment law, and pension scheme rules across both officer and staff populations
• Managing and resolving complex pension and medical retirement casework, including medical appeals, discretionary pension decisions, forfeiture cases, internal dispute resolution complaints, and ill-health retirement assessments
• Representing the organisation at formal hearings, including medical appeal proceedings and pension complaints investigations
• Maintaining Pension Boards and acting as principal liaison with Board Chairs to ensure all statutory responsibilities and governance requirements are fulfilled
• Providing authoritative advice and guidance to the Chief Officer, Scheme Managers, and senior stakeholders on all aspects of pension policy, regulations, and governance
• Leading the development and refinement of pension and medical retirement policies and operating models, including change activity arising from upcoming legislative reform
• Undertaking statutory reviews of medical retirement pension allowances on behalf of the Scheme Manager, and producing reporting on outcomes
• Liaising at a national level, interpreting regulatory updates and ensuring the organisation's interests are represented in relevant external forums
• Line managing an HR & Pension Adviser, managing workloads, performance, and quality of service delivery

What We Are Looking For

Our client is seeking a candidate with a strong blend of technical expertise, personal credibility, and operational leadership. You will need to demonstrate:

• A background in HR and/or pensions, having operated at Head of Service, Senior Lead, or Principal Adviser level (or equivalent)
• Substantial experience - typically 10+ years - in pensions governance, policy development, and the management of statutory pension responsibilities
• Deep knowledge of public sector pension schemes and/or LGPS regulations, with the ability to interpret and apply them in complex, sensitive contexts
• Hands-on experience of ill-health retirement and injury pension processes (highly desirable)
• A proven track record of representing an organisation at formal hearings and making defensible decisions with legal, financial, and reputational consequences
• Experience advising Chief Officers and senior stakeholders, and engaging confidently with trade unions, staff federations, and staff associations
• Degree-level education (or equivalent experience), supported by a relevant professional qualification such as CIPP, PMI, or MCIPD
• Familiarity with The Pensions Regulator's Code of Practice and public sector pension administration requirements
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex pension matters clearly for non-specialist audiences

Next Steps

Please submit your CV for consideration by clicking 'Apply'. Only those with full rights to work within the UK will be shortlisted for this role. Your appication will be treated with the strictist of confidence.