Helen Dean will step down as the CEO of Nest next year, after almost eight years in the role.
Dean, who was awarded an CBE for her services to the pensions industry, is widely seen as one of the architects of auto-enrolment, having previously headed the team at the Department for Work and Pensions who were tasked with coming up with a solution to the problem of pension under-saving in the UK.
Dean the worked for the The Personal Accounts Delivery Authority (PADA), Nest’s predecessor, changing from policy to delivery, before moving over to be a key member of Nest’s original team. Nest is now the UK’s largest pension scheme in terms of number of members, with more than 12m savers.
Dean said it seemed an appropriate time to step down from this role, with Nest’s new scheme administrator contract in place. She says this would allow for her successor to continue to drive forward the digital transformation of Nest’s platform.”
She says: “The success of Nest is down to the hard work of many, many people I’ve had the pleasure to work with over the years.”
She adds: “It’s important for the continuity of Nest that the board has plenty of time to run a competitive and thorough recruitment process, as the priority will be finding the right person for the role.
Nest’s chair, Brendan McCafferty, adds: “[Dean] has helped revolutionise workplace saving, and the fantastic position Nest finds itself in is down to her excellent leadership. I deeply value her energy, expertise, and passion for ensuring the Nest project she started all those years ago remains a success.
“Our focus now is looking for the best person to fill [Dean’s] shoes, not an easy task, but I am confident we will find someone who can build on the strong foundation she helped create, advancing our digital scheme. and providing a world class service, for millions of people across the UK.”
During her time as CEO Dean signed the Women in Finance Charter on behalf of Nest, oversaw the creation of Nest’s first diversity groups and published Nest’s gender and ethnicity pay reports, committing Nest corporation to a path of continual improvement.