Pensions Operations Manager - Employer Services

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: Grade K. SCP 44 £55,691 to SCP 47 £60,036

Hours Per Week: 36

Base Location: Guardsman Tony Downes House, Droylsden

Assessment Date: Interviews w/c 1 September 2026

Lead with vision, drive operational excellence, and shape the future of pension service delivery as our Pensions Operations Manager

About GMPF

At Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), we are dedicated to securing the financial well-being of our 379,000 members. Every year, these members place their trust in us to safeguard the pension benefits they have earned, giving them confidence and security in retirement. We pay out over £880 million in benefits each year, fulfilling our promise to deliver financial security to our members.

We have almost 200 colleagues in pensions administration who collaborate with over 700 employers, including local authorities across Greater Manchester, the National Probation Service, academy schools, and housing associations. Together, we calculate and deliver pension benefits with precision and care.

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced, forward-thinking leader to join GMPF as a Pensions Operations Manager. This critical role sits at the heart of our Employer Services function, providing operational leadership for our employer support and data teams.

This is a great opportunity for anyone with experience leading teams and managing performance to join a service passionate about working with employers to ensure we can calculate pension benefits accurately and pay them on time.

The Role

As Pensions Operations Manager, you will lead multiple operational teams, ensuring they deliver high-quality, compliant, and customer-focused pension administration services. You will drive continuous improvement, strengthen operational performance, and ensure our stakeholders receive an exceptional service at every interaction.

As Pensions Operations Manager, you will

• Lead End-to-End Operations: Oversee the work of our employer support and data teams, ensuring all their work is delivered accurately, efficiently, and within business planning and regulatory requirements.
• Drive Service Excellence and Operational Performance: Develop and lead innovative improvements to optimise processes, enhance service quality, and serve the evolving needs of members and stakeholders. Embrace digital solutions that enhance both operational effectiveness and member outcomes.
• Provide Inspirational Leadership: Lead, motivate and develop managers and teams, fostering a positive, high-performing culture that promotes accountability, collaboration, engagement, and professional development.
• Champion the Member Experience: Ensure members and beneficiaries receive a consistently excellent service throughout their pension journey, balancing operational efficiency with empathy, care, and professionalism.
• Strengthen Governance and Compliance: Maintain robust controls and governance arrangements across the member services processes, ensuring compliance with LGPS regulations, Fund policies, and audit requirements.
• Collaborate Across the Organisation: Work closely with colleagues across all other service areas to deliver service improvements, support organisational objectives, and embed best practice.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a passionate and ambitious leader to make a lasting impact on one of the UK’s largest pension funds. You will play a key role in shaping the future of our operations, empowering high-performing teams, and ensuring we continue to provide outstanding pension services to hundreds of thousands of members and their dependants.

Why Join GMPF?

At GMPF, we value our employees and are proud to offer:

• Flexible hybrid working arrangements work from home or in our modern, open-plan offices in Droylsden, which feature on-site parking, excellent public transport links, and proximity to the M60. Hybrid flexibility is available after you have completed your training and can demonstrate you can fully deliver the requirements of your role
• Generous benefits package automatic enrolment into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), offering comprehensive benefits and life cover
• Excellent leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and flexible working hours (flexitime)
• Training and career development access to ongoing learning and progression opportunities
• Employee rewards and benefits discounts on gym memberships, a cycle-to-work scheme, a car leasing scheme, plus various health and wellbeing offers

About Us

At Tameside, we are committed to ensuring all our Citizens lead long, fulfilling and healthy lives. We are committed to supporting economic growth, providing high quality health and care services, protecting our most vulnerable and creating strong and supportive, self-sufficient communities.

We recognise that our people drive our success and enable the organisation to deliver on its vision, purpose and priorities, and that our people are our most important resource and asset.

Our values underpin our practice and behaviours, and are at the heart of everything that we do; and we understand that how we do things is just as important as what we do. We pride ourselves on living by our STRIVE values of Support, Trust, Respect, Integrity, Value Diversity and Engage.

Our values underpin our practice and behaviours and are at the heart of everything that we do. How we do things are just as important as what we do.

Our employees’ skills, experience and knowledge are essential to our success along with their happiness, wellbeing, commitment, enthusiasm and motivation to be the best they can be.

Apply Today

If you have the ambition, expertise, and drive to excel in this exciting new role, we’d love to hear from you. For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Joanne Littlejohn, Strategic Lead Employer Services, on 0161 301 7067.

This role is employed by Tameside Council.

Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to offer sponsorship.

We are committed to developing a culture which respects individuals, appreciates difference and allows everyone regardless of background to reach their full potential. We are proud to be an accredited disability confident employer. Reasonable Adjustments will be considered in accordance with the Equality Act 2010 in relation to the Job Role Criteria.

Our rewards and benefits package can be viewed here

We have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel. Please click here for more information on our guaranteed assessment scheme.

Please read the attached recruitment guidance document or visit our website careers page for support with your application and interview.

https://www.gmpf.org.uk/about/careers-and-current-vacancies

The application process will involve both an interview and a task. More details about this will be provided if your application is successful.

For more information about GMPF in general, please see our website at www.gmpf.org.uk.

Click ‘Apply Now’ to take the first step towards shaping the future of GMPF and making a difference to the lives of our members.

difference to the lives of our members.

Supporting Documents

↗ Job Description and Person Specification Profile

↗ Recruitment Guidance Notes