Would you like to be a part of The London Borough of Hounslow, whose diverse workforce are committed to making a positive difference for our residents and visitors by ensuring the quality of our services are maintained to a high standard?
The Council is embarking upon a major programme of change to modernise the way we work and reduce our carbon footprint. In April 2019 we moved to Hounslow House, a new landmark building located in Hounslow town centre, our new technology will enable staff to work remotely and flexibly to improve the service we provide to residents and to help our staff achieve a better work/life balance.

About the Team

The Pension Fund is managed by the Commercial and Projects team within the Finance function. The fund holds £1bn investment portfolio, has c6,500 active members and c15,000 current pensioners and deferred members. The fund has had a very stable management team for a long period and the funds performance has been strong. The administration and investment management functions are largely outsourced overseen by this small team which due to a retirement and a resignation is about go through its most significant period of change for many years.

The Head of Pensions and Investments will be the senior lead for all matters related to the Pension Fund taking responsibility for ensuring effective engagement with key stake holders, management of the day to day activity on the Pension Fund and longer term strategic management of both the Pension Fund and the Council’s Treasury Management. The post holder will also be required to produce and present reports to the Pension Fund Board, Pension Fund Panel and Cabinet. The role involves working with a wide range of professional advisors and Councillors.

We are looking for a talented individual with excellent interpersonal skills and possessing a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail to build on the strong foundations left by the departing team members.

Key Responsibilities

1. Be the Lead Officer for supporting the Pension Fund Panel and Pensions Board.

2. Supporting the Pension Fund Panel and Pension Fund Board to understand investment performance.

3. Leading on the governance of the Pension Fund enabling effective oversight of Pension Fund activities.

4. Maintain and improve effective relationships with fund managers, custodian, actuary, proxy voting provider, investment and treasury advisors.

Your Skills

1. Ability to work effectively and establish positive relationships with non-finance colleagues in a way that establishes confidence, credibility and trust.

2. Ability to review, analyse, challenge, interpret and present financial and activity data both orally and in writing.

3. Good general IT ability and Microsoft Office applications (Excel, Word, Powerpoint).

4. Knowledge and/or experience of fund accounting, financial approval processes and producing financial statements.

Desirable for The Role

• CCAB qualified or other relevant professional qualification, candidates with significant QBE also welcomed
• Experience of Pension Fund and Investment Strategy
• Previous experience of Local Government would be beneficial but not essential for this role

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the employee specification.

If you would like an informal conversation regarding the position please contact Robert.Meldrum@hounslow.gov.uk or 0208 583 2312

Interviews will be held in the week commencing 14th June 2021.

Closing date: 10th June 2021