Experienced Careers

Everything we do within the administration department ensures we are delivering positive outcomes for our members, whether that is calculating retirement benefits, chasing 3rd parties on behalf of members and especially taking time to listen and understand our members worries and concerns.

Every day brings something different in the role; each scheme has its own unique complexities meaning each day is a learning opportunity. Sometimes complex cases can prove extremely gratifying when solved, especially when it results in a good outcome for all involved. Broadstone benefits from a supportive and collaborative culture which is not all that common in the industry. I work closely with a variety of teams to achieve a common goal which keeps my work engaging.

There is a genuine focus on personal and professional development. Broadstone has provided full study support for my professional exams and continuous development which has been instrumental in my career progression.

There is a great work/life balance with Broadstone, the workload is managed well, allowing us to manage our professional responsibilities without impacting our personal time.

As a pensions team manager my job isn’t just about pensions knowledge and calculations, it’s about knowing my team and understanding how each of them work so I can get the best out of them. Everyday, I organise and delegate jobs whilst encouraging and motivating. I am always forward planning to ensure that we have the right resources available for whatever comes in.

In terms of career development, I started here as a Senior Administrator and progressed to a Principal, before being promoted to Team Manager. Broadstone has always acknowledged and rewarded hard work. This also goes for the Clients who recognised my work ethic; I was offered the opportunity to cover for the Pensions Manager of one of our largest clients whilst she was on maternity leave. This experience taught me so much, giving me insight into how the other side works from the Client’s perspective allowing me to provide an even better service to my clients.

The atmosphere here at Broadstone is like no other company I have worked for. All Administration staff (c. 250 people) get on and work together as though they are one big team. The most rewarding aspect of working here is the sense of unity and achievement that we feel as a team when we experience the wins.

Our department is very close-knit and has been since I joined (almost 6 years ago now!). The admin team is really supportive and has a great track record of administrators progressing through the business (whether in admin or beyond). A great example of the atmosphere on the team is that all 34 people in the (regional) team attended the Christmas social last year which must be a record!

The job is very rewarding. I particularly enjoy receiving feedback from members and hearing about the positive impact we have made by streamlining a member’s retirement process. I was given plenty of opportunities during my time as a trainee administrator, and I think it is important to provide the same opportunities to other administrators early on in their career. Helping someone go from shadowing at trustee meetings to being completely independent and being the main point of contact for our clients gives is really fulfilling.

If you’re thinking of pursuing a career with us, my advice would be to take every opportunity you are offered! If you have a chance to gain exposure to a part of the business you haven’t seen before, then do it. At the very least you’ll see how other areas of the business work.

I would also advise people to do exams, the technical knowledge that you gain from sitting exams is really useful and you’ll quickly learn that complex cases on the job become a lot easier.

I joined Broadstone in May 2019 and since then, thanks to Broadstone’s investment in internal progression, I am now a Team Manager with goals to progress even further. From early on, Broadstone allowed me to train and develop, as attend external client meetings and obtain external qualifications.

My role is very fulfilling as I get to work closely with a wide range of people in different roles throughout the business, as well as externally. I work alongside Client Relationship Managers, Actuaries and Consultants, as well as administrators on my own team / wider department to provide the best possible service to our clients and members.

The entire administration department is treated as one big team rather than many small teams. We all support and help each other in different ways which is invaluable to our success. I believe the cohesion of the administration department is what contributes to all the awards we have won recently.

Broadstone genuinely supports a healthy work-life balance. We don’t expect people to work over their contracted hours, we want people to feel satisfied in their role and enjoy their life away from the office as well in it. Even though I have progressed a long way in a short period of time, I still feel I am at the beginning of my journey with Broadstone.

I began my career with Broadstone, in the Bristol accounts and payroll team, in 2014 after my A-levels. With Maths not being a natural talent of mine(!), accounting was not a career path I saw as long-term. However, the company values really resonated with me, and I enjoyed working with the talented and like-minded people at Broadstone. I knew I wanted to continue my career here.

Over the next few years, I was given the opportunity to work on our pensions administration team. Following this experience, I was keen to build on my pensions knowledge and work closely with our administration clients. It felt like a natural progression then when I moved into our Client Relationship team in 2019, initially supporting before taking on responsibility for my own portfolio of administration-only clients. Subsequent opportunities have arisen, allowing me to work closely with our sales and marketing team.

My day-to-day role now includes the production of proposals and pitch documents for the many tender opportunities we receive as well as client management. The two different roles bring variety to my day but also complement each other and enable me to continue to improve my knowledge and confidence – I have developed invaluable inter-personal skills, high levels of attention to detail and good organisational skills – all of which are vital for a role in the CRM and Sales teams. In addition, Broadstone has supported me through various professional qualifications during my 11-year career.

In my experience (with stints on four separate teams!), it is well worth exploring the various career paths within Broadstone and you will likely be supported if you’re interested in working within a different department or team.

Every morning, I discuss the most pressing and urgent priorities for the day/week with my team leader, including looking at payrolls, projects, and member work. I also take responsibility for monitoring tasks on the team, checking in with colleagues to see if they need any assistance with their workloads. If there are fundamental training needs on the team, I take the initiative to write process notes.

Talent and hard work are recognised and rewarded at Broadstone. I started as a Trainee Administrator in July 2019 and have quickly risen to Principal Administrator. Also, I was a finalist for the ‘Professional Pensions Rising Star Awards 2023’ in the ‘Administrator of the Year’ category.

My role is more than just simple button clicking, it is technical and sometimes intense, requiring a combination of written and numerical skills. I am also a part of the GMP Equalisation working group and a BroadCalc “Superuser”, developing process notes for department-wide use and delivering training across offices.