AE Policy and Pensions Commission

Posting date:	09 January 2026
Salary:	£63,075 to £74,005 per year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	23 January 2026
Location:	SW1H 9NA
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	440555/1

Summary

Private Pensions and Arm’s Length Bodies Directorate (PPALB), within DWP’s Policy Group, is responsible for developing and delivering policy in relation to UK occupational pensions. Additionally, PPALB are responsible for management and oversight of DWP’s Arm’s Length Bodies.

The advertised role is within the Automatic Enrolment and Defined Contribution Division (AEDC), within PPALB. This Division is responsible for all elements of Automatic Enrolment and Defined Contribution pensions policy, from steps to support and encourage people to begin pensions saving, to the DC market and what happens to their money once they are saving, to the choices people make at the point of retirement when they seek to turn their savings into an income in older age.

Automatic Enrolment (AE) is our flagship intervention to support people to begin pension saving and has transformed the workplace pensions landscape, increasing the proportion of eligible employees who are saving from 55% to 89%. It is one of the great public policy successes of the past 20 years.

The Government has recently launched the Pensions Commission, an independent panel with a remit to look across the entire pensions landscape and make bold recommendations to Government on steps to increase retirement incomes. AE reform will be a major focus of this work, requiring this team to work very closely with the Commission and then, in time, consider which of their recommendations to take forward.

This role will also support wider DWP teams to work with the Commission, prepare for their recommendations, and help Ministers to consider their response.

This role, working alongside an existing G7-led team, will also lead on elements of current AE policy, working to ensure that we maintain the relevance and appropriateness of the policy in a changing labour market and address (alongside The Pensions Regulator) any issues arising in practice. For example, the team has recently been working with The Pensions Regulator to ensure employers are continuing to meet their obligations for those on parental leave, and working with the Department for Business and Trade on how pensions rights interact with the Employment Rights Bill.

All roles in PPALB involve close working with the pensions industry and stakeholders, working with HM Treasury who share some responsibility for pensions and financial regulation, and working with our independent regulators. We work closely with the joint DWP-HMT Minister for Pensions. We are at a particularly important and exciting point in time, with the Pensions Schemes Bill currently in Parliament representing the start of a five-year transformation of the DC market, and the Pensions Commission developing the next set of reforms to support individuals.

This role would suit someone looking for a policy role which combines elements of policy maintenance and management, future reform and development, and policy and strategy coordination between different teams.

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