Independent Person - Sutton Pension Fund

About the Borough

The London Borough of Sutton is situated less than 30 minutes by train from Central London, with direct connections to London Victoria and London Bridge. Found in zone 5 with good transport links in and out of London, Sutton boasts award winning parks and open spaces, low crime rates, affordable housing and great schools. As well as high levels of resident engagement and satisfaction, providing quality services and success in addressing our financial challenges, whilst involving residents in key issues and high street changes.

Sutton is continuously investing in the health, wellbeing and education of our residents and the future generation, as set out in the “Ambitious for Sutton” corporate plan. We are home to the Royal Marsden Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research. Together with the development of the London Cancer Hub, Sutton will be the world’s leading life-science district, specialising in cancer research and treatment. Our vision will create around 13,000 jobs while contributing £1.2bn to the UK economy each year, a vibrant community of scientists, doctors and innovative companies intended to deliver real benefits for cancer patients and drive economic growth. With the regeneration of the local areas with new homes and schools, Sutton is passionate about working closely with our residents and vulnerable groups to help them maintain their independence and create a balance between support and independent living.

The Council is seen as a driving force within the South London Partnership of five outer south west London boroughs focused on strategic growth, regeneration and investment. As we strive to improve our services and spaces for our residents as set out in the ‘Ambitious for Sutton’ corporate plan, Sutton aims to shape the future of the borough and adapt to the needs of its residents to make our Borough a great place to live, work and raise a family.

About the Service and Team

The London Borough of Sutton is seeking to appoint an Independent Person to provide objective, expert support, challenge, and advice to the Pension Committee, Senior LGPS Officer and Pension Board in overseeing the award winning Sutton Pension Fund.

Applications are welcome from qualified individual professionals or from named individuals representing a specialist consultancy or advisory firm.

About the Sutton Pension Fund

The Sutton Pension Fund is part of the UK Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The Fund manages net assets of over £1 billion on behalf of more than 19,000 scheme members and nearly 70 active and scheduled employers, including local education authorities, academies, and admitted bodies.

The Fund is proud to have been awarded LGPS Pension Fund of the Year (Assets under £3.5 billion) at the 2026 LAPF Investment Awards, highlighting its strong governance, innovative investment strategies, and commitment to delivering excellent outcomes for its stakeholders.

The role is non-voting, and there to act as an independent voice helping the Committee make well-informed decisions and to support the strengthening of overall fund governance.

About the Role and Our Ideal Candidate

The Independent Person plays a key oversight role, contributing independent commentary, technical expertise, and constructive challenge across all aspects of fund management.

These include but are not limited to:

• Provide independent oversight, assurance and challenge across all pension areas, including investment and funding, administration and governance.
• Provide strategic advice to support the development and review of pension fund strategies and the business plan.
• Support Pension Fund Committee in being an effective decision-making body, working with Committee members to build knowledge and understanding to enable effective assessment and challenge of advice.
• Provide impartial advice and broader pensions sector perspective to assist in decision making.
• Constructively challenge advice presented by investment advisers, actuaries, officers, the asset pool and other advisers as appropriate.
• Work with officers to help identify emerging risks and support the monitoring and mitigation of these.
• Work in the best interests of scheme members and employers to promote the long-term sustainability of the Fund.
• Support the LGPS Senior Officer, acting as a trusted adviser and sounding board, contributing wider industry insight and best practice to support effective governance, robust oversight and high quality decision-making.
• Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of governance and compliance arrangements, including the implementation of governance review recommendations.
• The role will also encompass oversight of the administering authority's position as both shareholder and client of its asset pooling company, London CIV, supporting the monitoring of the asset pool’s implementation of the Fund’s investment strategy.

About You

The successful candidate will bring significant pensions experience and expertise together with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing the LGPS. Applicants should either:

• Hold a relevant qualification from the Pensions Management Institute (PMI)
• be a member of, and accredited by, the Association of Professional Pension Trustees (APPT)
• or be able to demonstrate extensive knowledge and experience within the LGPS environment.

Candidates should possess in-depth knowledge of pension fund governance, investments and administration, (Within an LGPS environment preferred) together with a comprehensive understanding of the regulatory framework and current developments affecting schemes. The ability to work effectively with elected members, senior officers, advisers and other stakeholders, while providing independent and objective challenge will be essential.

The Independent Person must be able to act independently and avoid any conflict of interest. You should not have current roles, relationships or interests that could reasonably be seen to compromise your independence in relation to the Sutton Pension Fund, its administering authority, scheme employers or investment arrangements.

The Independent Person is expected to comply with the Fund’s Conflicts of Interest Policy, including making an annual declaration of interests

Our Offer to You

As an organisation that values and nurtures talent, we’re committed to helping you fulfil your potential and will offer you a supportive, friendly and collaborative environment to grow and develop your career and skills. We’re constantly striving to improve our ways of working so putting your ideas across however big or small; will be fully encouraged and supported by your colleagues and our dynamic and experienced management team.

Employees have access to a wide range of benefits to enable staff to achieve a work life balance, some of which include:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 26-32 days plus bank holidays (pro-rata if part-time working hours apply) depending on service and grade
• Enhanced Maternity, paternity, shared parental, adoption and dependents leave
• Two volunteering days per year
• Flexible Working - Smarter Working Scheme (dependent on the role)
• Adjustable and agile working arrangements using Google Chromebooks
• Learning and development portal offering a range of courses
• Discounts on a range of local shops, restaurants, gyms and leisure centres
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Bicycle loan facilities and cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle leasing scheme
• Confidential health & wellbeing and counselling support

Application Process

Apply online outlining what skills, abilities and experience you can bring which makes you an ideal candidate for this role. Please refer to the requirements outlined in the job profile when completing your application and check your CV details have been uploaded correctly in the relevant sections.

We understand and recognise the benefits of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workplace and are embracing AI where appropriate, to boost our productivity and streamline how we deliver our Council services efficiently; to provide the best possible outcomes for our residents and communities.
However, we reserve the right to reject applications where it is apparent that AI-generated content has been used in isolation and without personalised responses. At Sutton we value authenticity and are looking for individuals who can clearly demonstrate their own skills, experience and motivation for the role that they are applying for and embrace and demonstrate our PRIDE values.
Here at Sutton we have core values of Transparency and this is to be demonstrated during the application process and completion of the supporting statement and will be further tested at interview and selection stage for those who progress forward.

The closing date is given as a guide. We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received, it is strongly advised that you complete and submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

As part of our award winning Diversity Programme we anonymise all applications received to reduce conscious and unconscious bias enabling every application to be reviewed on the knowledge, skills and experience shown in your application. We encourage our interview panels to be as diverse as possible (age, cultural, neurodiverse etc.) to reduce bias where possible. We are fully committed to removing barriers and enhancing the diversity of our workforce.

Additional Information

We are proud to be a diverse and welcoming Borough and we strive to create a workforce which reflects the community we serve, and instil a sense of belonging in our staff. We celebrate and respect differences and appreciate the value of having a diverse workforce, therefore we welcome applications from under represented groups.

To support our workers and their families we offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums and inclusive staff networks who help drive our diversity agenda.

We are also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader Employer and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for a role. As an accredited London Living Wage Employer all our employees are guaranteed the London Living Wage regardless of their length or type of contract.

The UK has a points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the GOV.UK website for right to work guidance. Sponsorship availability varies and is subject to eligibility requirements and budget limitations. As a result, we cannot guarantee sponsorship for all roles and will evaluate sponsorship requests on a case-by-case basis.