Company purpose:

Our company purpose is to contribute to a responsible and sustainable economy by financing and advising clients according to the highest ethical standards.

Our employer promise is built around three pillars:

• Being a great place to work

• Committed to sustainability and having a positive impact

• Being dedicated to the development of our people

Business area

The UK CIB HR Department supports CIB staff and managers in London, providing them with a full range of strategic advisory and transactional services (in terms of payroll, reward, pension and benefits, recruitment, career management, learning & development and employee relations). In regular contact with the Group HR Department of BNP Paribas S.A. (headquartered in Paris), CIB HR is the entry point for all CIB employees on any HR issue. The team comprises of circa 70 HR professionals.

The UK Group Pension, Benefits & Wellbeing team supports 7 BNP Paribas companies in the UK, covering 7,000 staff plus other workers (consultants, contractors and ex-pats). BNP Paribas operates an award winning and innovate benefits and wellbeing offering and leads best practice in both the banking sector and wider UK corporate world.

Job purpose 

Manage the Bank’s UK DB pension schemes, including managing relations with the professional trustee and leading engagement with the DB Pensions Committee for CIB (covering London and Paris management), and for Arval, Leasing Solutions and Real Estate (at CFO, HRD and CEO level as appropriate). Leads and manages the year end DB accounting work, being expert adviser to UKHR, UK Finance and Group HR (Finance). Manage DB pension projects. Reports to the Head of UK Pensions, Benefits & Wellbeing, but will be expected to manage all key stakeholders independently. Supports on UK DC pension scheme management and projects.

Key responsibilities

• Advanced level expert to lead work on the Bank’s UK Defined Benefit (DB) pension schemes, to include actuarial funding, investment, Trustee accounting, Corporate accounting, administration and vendor management. 
• Manage medium and large DB projects that arise in the year, which is likely to include merging several DB schemes
• Able to autonomously manage all key stakeholders independently, reporting to the Head of UK Pensions, Benefits & Wellbeing 
  • Lead contact and adviser for Heads of HR and CFOs at UK group companies with DB schemes and represent those Group companies to the Professional Trustee 
  • Lead the pension accounting process (IAS19) to support Group HR and local Finance, ensuring timely reporting of balance sheet and P&L numbers, agreeing key financial assumptions with actuaries, Group companies and Group HR and managing market movement issues with the key stakeholders and external auditors 
  • Lead the Professional Trustee relationship ensuring continuing constructive and collaborative engagement. 
  • Lead services to the schemes and trustee to ensure the efficient operation of the schemes and the providers in line with best practice, UK regulatory requirements and Group policies. 
  • Manages third party suppliers, including corporate actuaries, lawyers, company auditors, trustee auditors and administrators, including management of advisor budgets across all UK pension schemes (trustee and corporate). 
  • Member of the Bank’s International Pension Plans Committee, and lead management of the IPP provider in Jersey
  • Support DC Pension Specialist on UK Defined Contribution (DC) Scheme projects, including support for monthly pension contribution reconciliation and DC pension communications. 
  • Management of complex pension employee queries to central mailbox and via internal HR portal. Provision of pension 121s for employees with complex issues on request and provision of pension and support on wider HR matters (such as employee assignments, redundancies etc.) 
  • Technical expert reviewer for work of Head of Pension, Benefits & Wellbeing 
  • Liaising with internal procurement, governance and IT security teams regarding pension team vendor reviews/documentation. 

Managing the documentation and annual review of Pension procedures for internal governance purposes.

Requirements

Essential

• Extensive experience in the pensions industry 
• Expert level of DB pensions knowledge 
• Very good working knowledge of pension tax rules 
• Very good working knowledge of DB pension accounting 
• Ability to challenge expert advisers 
• Strong communication skills for communications to all staff, individuals and key stakeholders in what can be highly technical areas 
• Project management and ability to oversee and manage teams of third party suppliers
• Proficient experience using Microsoft Excel to handle large data sets

Preferred 

Working towards or qualified Actuarial qualification or Diploma working towards or qualified Associate of the Pensions Management Institute or other relevant experience.

And of course, we expect all our colleagues to embody and practice the Group values (alignment with the Bank’s strategy, commitment, work ethic, integrity and Code of Conduct).

A bit more about why you should join us

1. We’re a great place to work

We aim for optimal work/life balance (depending on role, this includes hybrid working, flexible working and agile)

We are proud of our award-winning flexible benefits and health & wellbeing strategy. Our flexible benefits include:

• Generous holiday allowance of at least 26 days (plus bank holidays) – with option to buy and sell holidays.

• Valuable financial plans – a 12% non-contributory pension which has been moved to sustainable investments*, life assurance*, income protection and personal accident insurance.

• Extensive wellbeing and mental health offering – one of the most advanced private medical schemes in the UK, dental cover, wellbeing app, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy support, subsidised gym memberships, bespoke health assessments including genetic testing, Private GP (including digital GP services to parents of employees), Employee Assistance Programme, menopause & fertility support (we are an accredited Menopause Friendly Employer), neurodiversity assessment and support.

• Key onsite services and facilities in London – include physiotherapy, nutrition, massage therapy, physiology, mental health first aiders, seasonal flu vaccinations and free onsite fitness centre.

• Plus, emergency back-up care for dependants, green car leasing, season ticket loan, and a range of other benefits.

* Subject to relevant caps

2. As the eurozone’s largest bank, we are committed to having a positive impact in the world.

For example, we are committed to Net Zero in all of our financing and investment portfolios by 2050. By 2030, 80% of our energy production financing will be low carbon.

But impact for us means more than climate. It means empowering our people every day. Everyone gets four volunteering days each year - in 2023, we achieved over 18,000 hours of volunteering across the UK and reaching over 4,500 young people.

3. We believe in our people

We support our people to develop skills to adapt to the ever-evolving world of work and to prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. We do this through a comprehensive training offering, talent programmes, mentoring, career days and inhouse career tools.

We are proud of the number of our people who progress and secure new roles internally. In fact, in 2023, nearly half of our positions in UK CIB were filled internally. 

Investing in our people also means we have a collaborative and inclusive culture:

• Direct feedback from our people shows that our internal culture sets us apart from our industry peers.

• Each year, nearly 30,000 employees globally are involved in professional networks that play an active role in promoting Diversity and Inclusion within the Group. These include our:

Pride Network, Ability Network (which supports disabled employees), MixCity (gender equality network), Women in Global Markets, Women in Global Banking, Women in IT, Diversity Equity & Inclusion in Technology, Early Careers Network, Multicultural Network and Parents & Carers Network.

Equal opportunities 

BNP Paribas is committed to providing a work environment that fosters diversity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity without regard to age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or any other legally protected status.

Adjustments

We don’t want anyone to be disadvantaged in our recruitment processes, so if you have a disability or health condition which may mean that you’d benefit from some adjustments or additional support, please let us know as early in the process as possible.

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