Pensions Administrator Ref. 3757

Flexible working: due to the sensitive nature of the work, this is an office‑based role with little to no opportunities for home working. We recognise the importance of a good work‑life balance and offer part‑time and compressed hours, with flexibility around start and finish times.

About us: MI5 keeps the country safe from serious threats like terrorism and attempts by states to harm the UK, its people and way of life. We carry out investigations by obtaining, analysing and assessing intelligence, and then work with a range of partners, including MI6 and GCHQ to disrupt these threats. Through our protective security arm, we provide advice and guidance to government, businesses and other organisations about how to keep themselves safe. A role in MI5 means you’ll do unique and challenging work in a supportive and encouraging environment, making a real difference to UK national security.

The role: As a Pensions Administrator, you’ll be part of the team overseeing pensions for colleagues across MI5 and MI6. You’ll answer enquiries, provide guidance and work with current and past MI5 and MI6 staff to keep them updated on pension matters. You’ll bring an existing knowledge of HR, pensions or payroll to the team and take responsibility for a variety of tasks, including completing all processes related to pensions such as calculations, updating records and filing personal information compliantly. With your attention to detail, you’ll be trusted with sensitive information and work efficiently whilst adhering to legal obligations. You’ll establish your place in a growing department and regularly collaborate with teams across Policy, Payroll and HR. You’ll also have the chance to take on individual project work to help with your own development. Please note that whilst there are no line‑management responsibilities in this role, you will act as a mentor to junior staff.

About you: You’ll have a minimum of 1 year’s experience in a pensions role, supported by a minimum of 2 GCSEs at Grade 4/C or above in mathematics and English language (or an equivalent Level 2 qualification), and proficiency with IT. You’ll be comfortable working with numbers and have confident maths and calculation skills. Organised and able to balance multiple tasks at once, you’ll also be customer‑focused, collaborative and an effective communicator. You’ll be taking queries by phone or email and will be required to answer colleague questions with clarity. Plus, you’ll have experience handling complaints and difficult conversations. Importantly, you’ll have a passion for pensions and be excited about the chance to contribute to MI5 and MI6’s work.

Training and development: When you join, you’ll be assigned a dedicated buddy to help you settle in and get on‑the‑job training from our pension specialists. You’ll have access to internal training courses available from any of the UK’s Intelligence Services, as well as access to internal communities, support networks, and mentors. If you’re interested, you’ll also get the option to gain a CIPD or similar pension accreditation (subject to places). We’ll provide you with study leave and funding to do it, along with plenty of internal support to help your learning. You’ll be expected to stay within Pensions for your first four years, after which time, you’ll be able to apply for roles across the organisation.

Rewards and benefits: You’ll receive a starting salary of £40,428, rising to £43,705 after one year, plus other benefits including:

• 25 days’ annual leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years of service
• 10.5 days public and privilege holidays
• Opportunities to be recognised through our employee performance scheme
• A dedicated development budget
• An interest‑free season ticket loan
• An excellent pension scheme
• A cycle‑to‑work scheme
• Facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on‑site coffee bars (at some locations)
• Paid parental and adoption leave

Equal opportunities: At MI5, diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under‑represented in our workforce such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio‑economic backgrounds.

We’re Disability Confident: MI5 is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so.

To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

• You’ll be required to reach the minimum pass mark for the online Situational Judgement Test (SJT), which assesses criteria important for all roles in our organisation.
• You are able to demonstrate experience of working in Pensions – assessed at application sift.
• You demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively – assessed at application sift.
• You meet minimum pass mark for motivational questions – assessed at application sift.

There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best.

What to expect: Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios.
• Application sift, looking at your motivation and skills for the role and the organisation. There will also be a competency question.
• An interview, examining your responses to different situations typical to the role.
• If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment and then proceed to the vetting stage.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply: To work at MI5, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process on our website.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage. Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate.

The role is based in London, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application. An interest‑free loan is available to assist with relocating into privately rented accommodation to take up the offer of employment. We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in‑person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process.

Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation. Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel, using the most economical option, and provide original hard‑copy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member.

Right to Withdraw Statement: Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.