Technical Associate in London

The Technical Associate provides pensions technical support and guidance to operational teams and the wider business, helping to deliver an accurate, compliant and first-class client and member experience.

Working under the direction of the Technical and Communications Manager and with support from senior technical colleagues, the role assists with technical queries, knowledge capture for new and existing schemes, legislative and industry updates, guidance on the approach to client projects and the implementation of scheme or business changes.

Key responsibilities

• Provide timely and accurate support with day-to-day pensions technical queries referred by the Service Delivery Team, Client Relationship Managers, Client Projects Team and other areas of the business.
• Research technical queries using approved sources, including Aries Insight, scheme documentation, legislation, regulatory guidance and established internal precedents.
• Escalate complex, novel or higher-risk queries to a Senior Technical Associate or the Technical and Communications Manager, clearly summarising the issue, research completed and recommended next steps.
• Assist with maintaining the technical query log, ensuring queries, actions, decisions, precedents and outcomes are appropriately recorded and communicated.
• Support the gathering, review and documentation of scheme knowledge during implementation projects.
• Support the scoping process for client projects or changes resulting from regulatory or best practise developments by helping to definie requirements or review the proposed approach/solution.
• Help translate scheme documentation and decisions into clear guidance, requirements, procedures and practical solutions for operational teams.
• Keep up to date with pensions legislation, regulatory guidance and industry developments, and support the assessment of their operational impact.
• Contribute to technical updates, briefings, guidance notes and other communications for colleagues and, where required, clients.
• Support the review and testing of processes, calculations, communications and system changes to confirm they reflect general or scheme specific pensions technical requirements.
• Assist with the development and maintenance of technical guidance, knowledge materials and training content.
• Specify or document required changes to member communications, processes and reporting arising from legislative, regulatory or scheme changes, with appropriate senior review.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the business to support consistent, compliant and efficient administration practices.
• Follow the policies and processes associated with ISO 27001, information security, data protection and internal governance controls together with knowledge of business continuity.
• Use approved technical tools and libraries appropriately and contribute to keeping shared technical resources accurate and accessible.
• Undertake other reasonable duties consistent with the level and purpose of the role.

Good working knowledge of Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution pension administration.

Experience of researching and resolving pensions technical or scheme-specific queries.

Ability to understand scheme documentation, legislation and guidance and explain information clearly to others.

Experience within pensions administration, technical support, consultancy or a closely related environment.

Good written and verbal communication skills.

Good numeracy and attention to detail, with a methodical approach to checking work.

Experience of pension administration systems and good Microsoft Office skills, particularly Word and Excel.

Ability to organise and prioritise work, meet deadlines and escalte issues appropriately.

Ability to work with appropriate supervision while taking ownership of assigned tasks.

Desirable (but not essential)

• Working towards, or holding, a relevant PMI qualification.
• Experience of technical projects, scheme implementations, benefit change, data or administration change projects – working to agreed timescales and budgets.
• Experience of drafting procedures, guidance notes, training materials or member communications.
• Awareness of the wider UK pensions regulatory environment, including The Pensions Regulator, HMRC and data protection requirements
• Clear and confident communicator who can build positive working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
• Analytical and practical, with a willingness to investigate issues and propose workable solutions.
• Careful and thorough, with a strong commitment to quality and accuracy.
• Collaborative team member who is comfortable asking questions and seeking guidance when required.
• Flexible and able to respond positively to changing priorities
• Organised, dependable and able to manage several tasks at the same time.
• Committed to maintaining and developing pensions technical knowledge.
• Professional, pragmatic and able to handle sensitive or confidential information appropriately
• Reporting line
• Reports to: Technical and Communicaitons Manager