Pension scheme manager : Employers and vacancy sources

Pension scheme managers are employed by various types of organisations in both the public and the private sectors, including:

• large companies, where the role may include organisation of the company pension scheme or liaising with the external providers of staff pension programmes;
• large public sector pension providers;
• life assurance companies, where you may start work as a trainee and work in different fields before specialising in pensions work;
• pensions consultancies and third party pensions providers - organisations that provide pensions services for and on behalf of other organisations, including consultancy services and management and administration services.

Most graduate positions are based within large companies or institutions. Smaller companies are more likely to operate either externally managed schemes or stakeholder schemes, with the company secretary or finance director dealing with decision-making.

However, it is important to stress that graduate programmes are not the only way to enter the industry. Smaller pensions providers (e.g. some public sector organisations) do not recruit graduates via training programmes but recruit experienced pensions staff. It is therefore possible to begin in pensions administration and then, by gaining pensions qualifications, develop your career within pensions management.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• Pension Careers  
• Pensions World  
• Financial Times  
• The Daily Telegraph Jobs  
• Independent Jobs  
• Times Online    
• jobsgopublic  
• Local newspapers.
• University or college careers services.

Recruitment agencies commonly handle vacancies, and there are specialist recruitment agencies for the pensions industry. The Pension Careers  website, working in partnership with The Pensions Management Institute (PMI) , is a useful source of information and lists both current vacancies and details of recruitment consultants.

Get tips on job hunting, CVs and covering letters and interviews.