Head of Pension Systems (UPM).
Hybrid or remote-based with travel to Preston.

Salary: £85,000-£95,000 DOE | 37 hours per week

A glance at the role:
Our Head of Pensions Systems is a business-critical role, responsible for driving the strategic direction, development and operational capability of the LPPA pension administration system, currently based around the Civica UPM pension platform. You will manage the day-to-day relationship with Civica and other technology partners, ensuring the systems remain robust, compliant, scalable and aligned to LPPA’s strategy.

You will build and lead a sector-leading Pensions Systems team, responsible for developing and supporting the platform including its configuration, workflows, automation, data integrity and web portals enabling the LPPA to provide an excellent service to its members, employers and clients.

Working closely with member services teams and internal and external project teams, ensure there is a responsive and well-governed project delivery pipeline that supports regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and continuous improvement that underpins LPPA’s ability to deliver excellent pension services at scale.

A bit about us:

Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) is a multi-award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s leading pension administration companies. We strive to deliver the best experience for over 1,500 employers and more than 700,000 members of Local Government, Police and Firefighter pension schemes, keeping them fully informed about their pensions whilst working closely with employers to continuously educate and support them.

What we can offer you:

• Competitive salary £85,000-£95,000 DOE + inclusion in annual bonus scheme
• 30 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and 2 additional concessionary days and 1 day for your birthday, with the option to ‘buy and sell’ leave.
• Access to an excellent pension scheme (Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contributions.
• Access to Health or Dental Plan and an Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme
• Free Car Parking in Preston City Centre

What you’ll be doing:
Product Ownership & System Governance
• Serve as the technical product owner for the UPM system and its associated portals.
• Ensure UPM is configured to best-practice and documentation is maintained.
• Oversee release management, testing and safe deployment of changes.
• Lead the Pensions Systems team in delivering a high-quality support service.
• Monitor SLAs, XLAs, and drive continuous service improvement.
• Manage incident, request, problem, and change management aligned with ITIL 4.
• Drive workflow automation to reduce manual processes and improve efficiency.
• Own development and enhancement of Member and Employer Portals.
• Manage relationships with Civica and relevant technology suppliers.
• Collaborate with external organisations to share best practice.
• Incident manager for performance and availability issues with the pension system and associated portals


Leadership & People Management
• Lead and develop high performing operational technology teams, promoting:
o Clear accountability
o Strong customer focus
o Continuous improvement
• Develop talent, capability, and succession within the team.
• Develop the team to support the change portfolio and day-to-day operational needs.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, resilience, and service excellence.
• Communicate clearly to ensure team members are working harmoniously and to the same standard
• Communicate effectively with stakeholders at all levels, ensuring clarity, alignment, and shared understanding of priorities.

Strategic Contribution
• Act as key adviser to the Chief Technology Officer, contributing to the development and delivery of the IT Strategy
• Attendance at Change Board ensuring effective decisions are reached to aid with the progression of projects and problem solving
• Provide expert leadership on the strategic direction of the UPM platform and associated portals, ensuring alignment with LPPA’s digital and operational goals.
• Champion automation, workflow optimisation, and integration opportunities to reduce manual effort and improve service quality.
You’ll need:
• Proven experience of managing a pension administration system (UPM preferred)
• Understanding of UK pension administration processes and regulatory requirements
• Experience in system configuration, workflow design and governance
• Leadership experience of a support and/or development team
• Proven leadership experience in managing and developing high-performing teams, with a focus on talent development, performance management, and fostering a culture of innovation and accountability
• Experience managing suppliers and third party service providers
• Strong stakeholder engagement, communication and analytical skills
• Experience and understanding of system development and SQL database development
• Understanding of ISO 27001 and managing audit requests.


Nice to have:
• Experience working with Civica UPM or other pension administration platforms.
• ITIL v4 certification or experience applying IT service management principles.
• Experience with automation tools, workflow technologies, APIs and system integration solutions.
• Familiarity with Agile delivery methodologies and continuous improvement practices.

Working with and upholding our values:

• Working together
• Committed to excellence
• Doing the right thing
• Forward thinking

Development Centre Delivery Lead – Police & Fire Pensions Learning & Capability

Hybrid, with a minimum of 2 days per week in Preston, or remote-based with frequent travel to Preston.

Salary: £40,000–£50,000 DOE | 37 hours per week

A glance at the role:

Are you passionate about developing people, improving performance and creating learning that makes a real difference?

We’re looking for a Development Centre Delivery Lead to shape and lead our end-to-end Police & Fire learning curriculum, supporting colleagues from induction and new starter training through to ongoing technical and behavioural development.

You’ll use performance insight, QA data and operational priorities to design targeted learning solutions that build confidence, improve accuracy and support better outcomes for our members. Working closely with leaders, managers, SMEs and the MS Development Team, you’ll help create consistent, engaging and measurable learning that supports colleague capability and service performance.

You’ll be joining a friendly, collaborative and member-focused organisation where continuous improvement really matters — and where your ideas, expertise and passion for developing others will be valued.

Alongside a competitive salary and hybrid working, you’ll have access to a strong benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, development and work-life balance.

A bit about us:

Local Pensions Partnership Administration (LPPA) is a multi-award-winning organisation and one of the UK’s leading pension administration companies. We strive to deliver the best experience for over 1,500 employers and more than 700,000 members of Local Government, Police and Firefighter pension schemes, keeping them fully informed about their pensions whilst working closely with employers to continuously educate and support them.

What we can offer you:

• Competitive salary £40-50k DOE
• 25 days’ holiday, plus bank holidays and 2 additional concessionary days and 1 day for your Birthday, with the option to ‘buy and sell’ leave.
• Access to an excellent pension scheme (Local Government Pension Scheme) with generous employer contributions.
• Access to Health or Dental Plan.
• Access to our Enhanced Employee Assistance Programme for when you might need some support.
• The opportunity to earn through our Employee Referral Scheme.
• Access to our bespoke Reward Discount Scheme – ‘Your Perk Site.’
• Opportunities to attend Wellbeing webinars and social events.
• Daily free fruit and snacks available to you in our office.
• Free Car Parking in Preston City Centre


What you’ll be doing:

Curriculum and learning design
• Own the end-to-end Police & Fire curriculum, including design, delivery, evaluation and continuous improvement.
• Define and maintain structured learning pathways and curriculum frameworks.
• Design scalable, reusable and blended learning solutions, including face-to-face, digital and self-led learning.

Performance and impact
• Use KPIs, QA and productivity data to identify capability gaps and shape training priorities.
• Measure and report on training ROI, business impact and improvements in time to competence, quality and productivity.
• Translate operational performance gaps into targeted learning interventions.

Stakeholder influence and quality
• Act as a Police & Fire subject matter expert and training authority.
• Partner with senior leaders and managers to influence training priorities and support business change.
• Set training design standards, quality assure delivery and coach SMEs and trainers to build capability.

What we’re looking for:
We’re looking for someone with strong Police & Fire Pensions knowledge and a genuine passion for developing others. You’ll bring experience in designing and delivering learning that improves capability, service quality and performance outcomes.

You’ll need:
• Strong Police & Fire technical knowledge.
• Experience designing and delivering blended or digital learning.
• Experience using performance insight, QA data or operational feedback to shape training plans.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Excellent communication, organisation and IT skills.
• Confidence working in a fast-paced, outcome-focused environment.
Nice to have:
• Strong facilitation skills across both face-to-face and virtual settings.

Qualifications

• 5 GCSEs or equivalent including Maths and English at Grade C or above

Working with and upholding our values:

• Working together
• Committed to excellence
• Doing the right thing
• Forward thinking