Jill Nimmo, 43
Pensions Manager, Leeds University
Administrative 3/4 (cica £30,000 p.a.)
Job advertised in The THES , March 21 2003
The departure of vice-chancellor Alan Wilson is just one of many pension issues Jill Nimmo has had to deal with since she started as pensions manager at Leeds University last September.
Linda Mortimer-Pine, deputy director of human resources, says that the ability to talk to people at all levels in the university, from vice-chancellor to cleaner, is a key asset in a pensions manager, and Nimmo had plunged straight in.
"In institutions such as Leeds, which has more than 6,000 staff, pensions managers have to deal with everyone. Some people are quite scared about pension issues, so we wanted someone who could describe things in layman's terms," says Mortimer-Pine.
The interview panel of senior managers was also looking for "someone with vast experience of pensions, a good understanding of legislation and who had worked in-house and also on a consultancy basis".
Thirty people applied for the job. Nimmo was chosen because "she was by far the most experienced of the candidates and matched the person spec. It has been a good appointment. She's fitted into the university culture quite quickly and has made herself indispensable", Mortimer-Pine says.
Nimmo has worked in pensions for 22 years but never in the public sector.
"I was working for a firm of pension consultants but wanted to get back to in-house pensions management," she says.
What she likes about university life is talking to members "face to face or over the phone. As a consultant I was working with a faceless client and the work was very much fee-oriented".