Non-Executive Chair of the Armed Forces Pension Board

The Pension Board is responsible for assisting the Secretary of State for Defence, as Scheme Manager, in ensuring compliance with the scheme regulations and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the scheme and any statutory pension scheme that is connected with it.

The Chair of the Armed Forces Pension Board will be responsible for developing public service pension scheme governance and will deal with a wide range of stakeholders including MOD employers, in particular with MOD Pensions Policy and members, Ministers, the Scheme Administrator (Defence Business Service (DBS)) and The Pensions Regulator (tPR). The Chair will be expected to contribute in a way that will benefit scheme members, employers and the taxpayer.

The Chair will provide effective leadership of the Pension Board and develop Armed Forces Pension Governance on behalf of the Scheme Manager. The Chair must ensure that the Pension Board is run in accordance with the Terms of References (ToRs) and will be committed to equality, efficiency and innovation.

Responsibilities

• The Chair will work closely with the MOD Pension Team who will provide administrative support and will take steps to ensure that a standing Agenda is in place.
• Reports are accurate and timely.
• All members contribute to deliberations.
• A record is held of all decisions and significant discussions.

The Chair has responsibility for ensuring that the Pension Board operates as an effective and efficient mechanism to facilitate compliance with the Armed Forces Pension Schemes (AFPS) regulations, the Pensions Regulator’s Code of Practice and other relevant legislation. In order to do this the Chair must have an understanding of current Pensions policy and public accountability.

The Chair must promote consensus between the bodies and individuals represented on the Board by working to create mutual understanding and by facilitating action to resolve differences in the event of disagreement. The Chair must ensure that Board members collectively and individually understand their roles and responsibilities and will have a role in ensuring that they maintain their knowledge and understanding.

The Chair must agree requirements and expectations with individual Board members within the ambit of the ToRs; ensuring support is provided in the form of induction, developing and mentoring where necessary; and reviewing the performance of Board members.

The Chair should be cognisant of the cycle of Pension Valuations and the need to focus the Pension Board on this work in a timely manner. The Chair will report annually on the activities of the Pension Board to the Scheme Manager (Secretary of State for Defence), and may carry out other functions related to the AFPS at the direction of the Scheme Manager.

All pension schemes are required by law to have a Scheme Advisory Board and a Pension Board. The Armed Forces Pension Board is managed to ensure its members have a broad balance of skills and experience to enable it to undertake its key role of assisting the Scheme Manager (Secretary of State for Defence) in ensuring compliance with the scheme regulations and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the scheme and any statutory pension scheme connected with it.

Board composition

The Pension Board is chaired by an independent, voting Non-Executive Director (NED) who has responsibility for assisting the Scheme Manager to comply with the scheme regulations and other legislation relating to the governance and administration of the scheme and requirements imposed by the Pension Regulator. The Pension Board has an equal number of employer and employee members who collectively represent the interests of all of the Schemes’ beneficiaries and stakeholders. There are currently 12 members (including the Chair) and four attendees in an advisory capacity. A separate recruitment campaign is being run to add a new voting NED Board Member, increasing the membership to 13.

Person specification

Essential criteria

The successful candidate will need to be able to demonstrate the following essential criteria:

• Experience: A proven record of chairing at board level and experience of working in a Pensions environment.
• Knowledge: An understanding of the broader context of changes in public sector management as well as public sector pension policy.
• Relationship Building: The ability to command the confidence of key stakeholders including Ministers, Board members, senior Government officials and scheme members.
• Communication: Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to listen, accept challenge and constructively challenge others in discussions with clarity and respect, whilst holding high standards of corporate and personal conduct.
• Judgement: Sharp and clear thinking with the ability to critically analyse a wide range of information and make clear, effective and objective evidence-based recommendations to support the delivery of Board objectives.
• Collaboration: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence key stakeholders, and an ability and willingness to work closely with Board members to reach consensus through active debate and logical argument.