Assistant Director, Restructuring Services, Employer Covenant, Financial Advisory, Manchester/Leeds

Deloitte ,
Manchester, Greater Manchester

Overview

Job Description

Your opportunity This is an exciting opportunity to join Deloitte's growing employer covenant and pensions restructuring team, supporting our wider pensions advisory offering. You will work alongside our established team of specialists, and will be integral to accelerating the growth of our business both in terms of seeking new opportunities and delivering first class advice. Our work spans advice to both pension trustees and corporates on all matters relating to employer covenant, including both regular assessments as well as in restructuring situations. Our client base ranges from large corporates / schemes to mid-market employers. We regularly advise in high profile cases and pride ourselves on our innovative solutions to complex issues. The employer covenant team sits in our Restructuring Services practice, working very closely with pension experts across the firm (eg actuarial, investments, audit, tax). We are a national practice, with covenant specialists in London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow. Are you looking to return to the workplace after an extended career break? For this role we can offer coaching and support designed for returners to refresh your knowledge and skills, and help your transition back into the workplace after a career break of 2 years or more. If this is relevant for you, just let your recruiter know when you make your application. Your role As an Assistant Director in our employer covenant team you will find the work is extremely varied - from performing triennial covenant assessments for Trustees, to supporting Corporates navigate pensions issues in the context of a major transaction or restructuring situation. Our advice is frequently delivered via a written report, anchored on robust financial analysis and reflecting the requirements set out in the Pensions Regulator's code. Therefore it is essential that you have exceptional analytical and report writing skills and experience applying these skills in an employer covenant context. You will be required to lead more junior teams and review their work, as well as working collaboratively with different departments where a multi-disciplinary approach is required. As such, exceptional project management and leadership capabilities are essential. An important part of the role will be business development, and you should expect to spend significant time identifying targets, developing leads, preparing marketing materials, client proposals and presenting at pitches. As such, an existing network of contacts in the defined benefit pensions community would be desirable. Responsibilities: Covenant advice: * Triennial covenant assessments, concluding on the strength of the employer covenant * Advising on options to improve covenant strength * Affordability analysis and advising on implementation of recovery plans * Development and implementation of covenant monitoring frameworks * Advising on the covenant impact of a transaction / restructuring, including in the context of TPR's "moral hazard" powers * Advising on development of mitigation packages * Outlining options to restructure pension schemes in certain situations * Managing diverse teams within an inclusive team culture where people are recognised for their contribution. Business development: * Triennial covenant assessments, concluding on the strength of the employer covenant * Identifying potential targets through research, market awareness and through contacts in the pensions community * Progressing leads * Writing marketing materials and client proposals * Presenting at pitches * Attending marketing events and developing internal and external network Your work, your choice At Deloitte we believe the best impact is the value we add, not the hours we sit at our desk. We carefully consider agile ways of working, both formal and informal, that allow for the best impact for our people and our clients. Please speak to your recruiter about the working pattern that works best for you. Location: You will be based in either the Deloitte Manchester or Leeds office, however the role may also involve travel and will require the flexibility to meet peaks of work inherent in the cycle of a project. We specify full mobility for our financial advisory roles but we make arrangements respectfully. Working from home days are available and flexible depending on clients, deadlines, and projects. Suggested work pattern: Permanent full-time. We do encourage careful consideration of agile ways of working, both formal and informal arrangements that allow for the best outcomes for our people and our clients. If this opportunity is interesting as a permanent role with a degree of flexibility, please do discuss with us. Your professional experience Essential: * Experience of undertaking employer covenant review * A strong understanding of the UK pensions environment, regulatory landscape and the market for pensions advisory services * An existing network of contacts within the pensions communi