Location

London, Edinburgh

About the job

Summary

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) is a non-ministerial department which provides actuarial solutions including financial risk analysis, modelling and advice to support the UK public sector. GAD carries out actuarial analysis for government departments and public bodies, including the following areas related to pensions within our Specialist Actuarial and Public Service Pensions teams:

• We provide actuarial advice to all the main UK unfunded public service pension schemes, including the civil service, NHS, teachers, armed forces, police and fire service – schemes covering around 15 million people and £1 trillion of liabilities.
• We advise HM Treasury (HMT) and Cabinet Office on policy issues relating to unfunded pension schemes for public service employees. We also provide actuarial advice to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in relation to government policy affecting funded occupational pension schemes.
• We advise several funded occupational schemes in the wider public sector and private sector, including schemes previous moved from the public sector – e.g. the coal and rail industries.
• We advise public sector bodies where staff have their pension arrangements changed in line with Government’s policy for staff transfers within the public sector.
• We also advise the UK government and a range of overseas countries on their social security arrangements.

Job Description

We are looking for qualified actuaries to provide high-quality advice on these various pension issues, who can demonstrate strong client engagement skills to partner with clients, develop networks and support wider business development opportunities. The role will involve managing the production and delivery of large strands of work across multiple high-profile clients within government. This will require strong client engagement skills, starting from the scoping of new analysis through to the communication of the advice. Successful candidates will be expected to be based in either our Specialist Actuarial or Public Service Pension Schemes teams, but will be required to support work in other teams as necessary to align capacity against demand at an organisational level

We are particularly looking for people with strong business development skills, who will be able to partner effectively with our existing and new clients and to understand their needs and take forward initiatives for the development of new business, to broaden the scope of work carried out by GAD for existing and new clients and add value for the public sector.

GAD consultants regularly work in a more diverse range of areas than a typical actuarial consultancy, working closely with both policy makers and operational staff to deliver effective public policy. As an actuarial consultant, you will support senior managers overseeing delivery of actuarial advice to external clients through building client relationships, developing new business, managing project delivery, preparing written advice and presenting effectively to clients. We contribute to policy matters of national importance and therefore confident communication skills and an ability to see the bigger picture are required as you interact with senior civil servants throughout government.

Responsibilities

Please refer to the job description and person specification for more information about the roles.

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving

Benefits

As well as competitive salaries, we offer a substantial package of benefits:

• flexible working arrangements, subject to operational requirements, including flexi time, working from home, part time working
• extensive talent, career and personal development, including a minimum 5 days training each year for all staff and study support for actuarial trainees
• 25 days annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition we offer 9 days public and privilege days leave per year (pro rata for part time staff)
• generous defined benefit Civil Service pension scheme
• family-friendly policies such as help with caring responsibilities, special leave, generous paid maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• dedicated team providing technical and professional support for actuarial staff including regular opportunities to gain CPD/Professional Skills Training and support on professional standards
• access to employee assistance programme and occupational health
• community volunteering programme, the opportunity to join a trade union, and discounted membership of local and national sports and social groups
• salary advances for travel costs, including annual season tickets and cycle-to-work schemes
• complimentary Bupa health check for permanent staff

Things you need to know

Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check

Selection process details

Application deadline: 12:00 pm on 17 January 2022
Shortlisting: Week commencing 17 January 2022
Interviews: TBC
Interview location: Remote via video conference call