The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.
Role title: Lead Specialist – Trusteeship, Administration & DB Supervision
TPR grade & pay group: R&O 7 – Lead Specialist
Directorate: Market Oversight
Starting salary: Salary starting from £54,074 per annum dependent on skills and experience, plus excellent benefits package, and flexible working arrangements
Contract type: Permanent
Location: Brighton/hybrid (6 days per month in the office)
Closing date: 29 June 2026
The role and responsibilities
As a Lead Specialist you will oversee complex engagements, drive improvements across the pensions market, and act as an internal subject matter expect.
You’ll join our Administration Relationships team, a specialist group within the Trusteeship, Administration & DB Funding Supervision Theme. The team works closely with third‑party administrators and trustees/scheme managers to strengthen the quality, resilience, and effectiveness of pension scheme administration.
You will provide expert judgement, and deliver effective, risk‑based supervision across a diverse and evolving landscape. You will work collaboratively with trustees/scheme managers, advisers, administrators, industry bodies, and internal partners to address risks, improve practices, and uphold regulatory expectations.
You will:
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Lead the delivery of timely and effective interventions on the most complex and high‑profile cases, ensuring strong regulatory outcomes across your portfolio.
- Provide coaching, mentoring, and knowledge sharing to build capability within the Theme and more widely across TPR.
- Support the Theme’s management team in delivering change initiatives and deputise for Principals where required.
- Lead external engagement on key issues and complex interventions, acting with confidence and credibility at senior levels.
- Collaborate effectively with colleagues across TPR and with external stakeholders to enable joined‑up regulatory activity.
- Provide technical advice, support, and guidance, acting as a subject matter expert while role modelling TPR values and competencies.
The role criteria
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Demonstrated experience in regulation or the pensions industry, with a strong track record of delivering successful, evidence‑based outcomes.
- Experience of engaging with pension administration providers and/or overseeing administration‑related risks, issues, and service performance.
- Strong coaching, mentoring, and motivation skills.
- Excellent influencing and negotiation skills, with credibility up to senior management level in a commercial or regulatory environment.
- Proven ability to build, maintain, and leverage effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, demonstrating resilience and professional credibility.
- Strong critical thinking and sound decision‑making informed by robust evaluation of evidence.
- Awareness of the financial, political, commercial, and social factors shaping the pensions landscape.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly and persuasively.
- Ability to operate autonomously, exercising sound judgement and confidence in decision‑
- Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise effectively to meet deadlines.
The team
The Trusteeship, Administration and DB Supervision Theme works to enhance the system and influence the delivery of better outcomes for savers, by working through a deep understanding of market-wide risks and opportunities.
There are 4 themes each focusing on specific areas of the market with a mixture of individual scheme/provider and industry-wide engagement.
The Administration Relationships team focuses on improving standards, governance and operational resilience across the UK pensions administration sector. We engage directly with third‑party administrators and trustees to understand risks, share insights, influence practice, and take regulatory action where necessary.
For more information, please see the role description.
Reward and benefits
We offer 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, a hybrid working model, 35 hour working week (full-time), flexible working patterns, and flexitime. We also provide competitive parental leave, as well as a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%. Our dedicated benefits portal (Edenred) offers retail, gym, tech and restaurant discounts, and a cycle to work scheme.
Our culture
TPR strives to be a high-performing organisation, and we prioritise our people's growth and well-being. We offer various learning, secondment and development opportunities, support flexible working, and foster a diverse and inclusive environment.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is very important to us and we strive to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed. Our modern Brighton offices are in Telecom House overlooking Preston Park, they are over two floors of a shared building facility and when designed in 2023 we followed the government’s workplace design guide to ensure accessibility by design was achieved for our section.
We're proud to have a range of networks and opportunities to bring people together with supportive and safe spaces to connect with one another.
About The Pensions Regulator
With a career at TPR, you’ll be joining an organisation with real purpose and who are proud of their diverse range of skills and experience that positively impact on millions of people. Everyone at TPR plays an important role in helping to keep more than £2trn of savings safe.
Our Corporate Strategy outlines a bold and challenging vision of how pensions regulation should continue to evolve to keep pace with a change in the scale and nature of the pensions landscape. We believe diversity and inclusion are vital to good decision-making for positive saver outcomes. We’re committed to creating a supportive, inclusive, and dynamic work environment where everyone can thrive; understanding the link between the work we do and its positive impact on society.
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Applications
To avoid disappointment, we would invite you to submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close the vacancy early if a high volume of applications are received. This is to ensure that we can continue to provide a positive candidate experience, with each application being reviewed and considered. Unfortunately, once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications.
Current TPR employees who want to apply for this vacancy should first contact their line manager to discuss their application.
We welcome applications on a part time and job share basis.
Selection and interview
If you are shortlisted for interview, we’ll be in contact with you shortly after the closing date. We aim to respond to every application however due to the large volume of applications this is not always possible. If you have not heard from us within 21 days of submitting your application, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
As a Disability Confident Employer, we’re committed to the recruitment, employment, retention, and development of people with disabilities, and to improving their employment opportunities. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the criteria outlined in the ‘what you will bring’ section will be offered an interview.
Diversity and inclusion
TPR is committed to promoting diversity, inclusion and equality in the workplace, creating an environment where everyone is encouraged to be themselves, enabling our people to feel supported, represented and do their best work.
We encourage applicants from all backgrounds and with different identities and experiences to apply for roles with TPR.
Further information
Please visit our website to find out what it is like to work at TPR, our culture, interview process and our commitment to our employees,
If you have any queries about this role, or if you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process, please email [email protected].
