Pensions Assistant

Reference:
25-28878

Job title:
Pensions Assistant

Directorate:
Finance

Service:
Pensions

Closing date:
23/10/2025 10:00

Job type/Hours:
Permanent | 37 Hour

Salary:
£26,403 - £28,142 a year

Pay Scale:
GS4

Location(s):
Caernarfon

**Gwynedd Council offers an attractive employment package, for more information please click on this**Information Pack**

Gwynedd Council operates internally through the medium of Welsh, and offers all its services bilingually. The applicant will be required to reach the linguistic level noted as one of the essential skills in the Person Specification.

Application forms and further details available from Support Service, Gwynedd Council, Council Offices, Caernarfon, LL55 1SH

Tel: 01286 679076

**CLOSING DATE: 10:00 AM, 23/10/2025**

**_

**PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES**:
ESSENTIAL
Ability to work together in a team, as well as on own initiative,
Ability to handle confidential inquiries sensitively and accurately and sensitively.
Ability to work unsupervised and complete work on time within tight targets and solve problems when encountered.
Good interpersonal skills.

DESIRABLE
Be a confident person with the ability to contribute ideas when developing new procedures when needed, i.e. as regulations and legislation change

**QUALIFICATIONS AND RELEVANT TRAINING**:
ESSENTIAL
Education up to GCSE level with 'C' or higher in Welsh, English and Mathematics.

DESIRABLE
'A' level in mathematics, English and Welsh or a degree in a similar field to mathematics

**RELEVANT EXPERIENCE**:
ESSENTIAL
Dealing with people and responding to personal queries.

DESIRABLE
Working knowledge of local government pensions administration as well as experience of administering through the 'Altair' computer system.

**SKILLS AND SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE**:
ESSENTIAL
IT skills - specifically Microsoft packages such as 'Outlook', 'Word' and 'Excel' and preferably the Council's Altair system.

DESIRABLE
Familiar with Local Government Pension Scheme regulations and administration as well as operating and calculating equations and fractions
- ***LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS**:
ESSENTIAL
Listening and Speaking - Intermediate Level
Able to follow a discussion in Welsh, in Clear Welsh, on familiar matters relating to the post. Able to contribute to the conversation and answer questions.

Reading and Comprehension - Intermediate Level
Understand everyday correspondence on familiar issues at work.
Understand longer reports in Clear Welsh and be able to pick up the main points. (help may be required with the vocabulary).

Writing - Foundation Level

**Purpose of the post**:

- Ensure that the people of Gwynedd are at the centre of everything we do.
- The aim of the post is to assist in providing an effective and efficient pension administration service for the Local Government Pensions Plan.

**Responsibility for functions**:
None

**Main duties**:

- Assist in ensuring that all the work is carried out in accordance with the Council's requirements as an administration authority, the Regulatory requirements of the plan, the standards set by the Pensions Manager and the general needs of the plan's members.
- Set up and maintain full and accurate records, in accordance with the standards set and the available information, and to ensure full use of the record to administrate the plan, provide payments for the plan's pensioners and those with the right to authorised compensation payments as well as completing required reports and results according to the needs of the unit.
- Receive, and as far as possible, verify and import relevant and authorised information received from the Fund's employers.
- Complete the pensions payroll and activities following the running of the payroll in accordance with the methods set and any 'ad hoc' tasks set from time to time.
- Essential: to posses the ability to check payments made through tax accounting by hand, verify the deductions made, and complete all the reports and tasks having run the payroll. Ensure any amendment to previous payrolls are dealt with correctly, that deposits and repayments clear within the agreed timescale as a target and that regulatory documents are completed correctly.
- Carry out club and non-club transfers and inter fund adjustments, in and out, in accordance with the Plan's Regulations and the units arrangements. The ability to check transfer accounts and determine the relevant salary to be used in each case.
- Make repayment estimates and true payments in accordance with the Plan's Regulations and the unit's arrangements. Possess the skills to calculate repayments by hand.
- Make benefits' calculations in relation to deaths of existing members, pensioners and postponed in accordance with the Plan's Regulations and the unit's arrangements.
- Train other staff members in their designated field of work at the behest of the Pensions and Salaries Manager.
- Arrange and distribute the post and set up the relevant tasks deriving from the correspondence. Review and maint