Job Type:
Permanent
Build a brilliant future with Hiscox
The Role
Hiscox is seeking a COO who will have leadership responsibility for the Operations and Change functions within the Hiscox London Market business unit, as well as holding the SMF24 responsibility for HSL. They will report into the Hiscox London Market CEO and sit as a member of the Hiscox London Market Leadership Team and the HSL Management team. They will have frequent exposure to key business unit and Group stakeholders, including the Group CEO, Non-Executive Directors and senior management.
Hiscox is first and foremost looking for someone who can be a member of the Hiscox London Market leadership team, to think, act and engage as a business leader, contributing to the wider strategic goals of the business. As such, it is expected they will be able to contribute beyond their own functional area of expertise.
Specifically, with regards to operations and change, the COO is pivotal in setting the operational strategy, driving operational excellence, and ensuring efficient business processes, whilst leading the Change and Operations colleagues from across the London Market business. This is a significant leadership role comprising a team of 60 FTE split across London, York, Guernsey and Miami, with responsibility for an additional 50 FTE through outsource providers.
Beyond the day-to-day leadership of the team, a critical component of this role relates to continuing to accelerate the business’s ability to deliver efficiencies and scale through the opportunities presented by digital, data and AI. The business has invested heavily in recent years in these areas to achieve a market leading position; something they are very keen to maintain. This has included collaborating with Google Cloud to launch the London insurance market’s first lead underwriting model enhanced by generative AI.
In summary, this is a critical role in the business; one which demands inspirational leadership skills and requires the ability to think long term, whilst also having the hands-on management skills required to step forward to resolve short-term issues if/when they arise. This role is responsible for ensuring that the business has the appropriate operational controls, processes and talent in place to effectively support the business now and in the future.
Principal Accountabilities
Goal, Vision and the 2030 Ambition
- The COO, working with the London Market Leadership Team, has a leading role to play in setting the goal, vision and strategy for the London Market business unit, creating a compelling and ambitious vision for the future, centred around the needs of our customers.
- Having set the ambition, the COO will be responsible for delivering the digital, data and operational elements of the ambition to enable the business to meet its growth and profit targets.
Leadership Responsibility
- The COO role has broad leadership responsibilities and will be expected to be an ambassador of the Hiscox values and act as a role model (as well as mentor or coach when required) for all.
- The COO role is responsible for the day-to-day operational performance across four separate functions; London Operations, Guernsey and Miami Operations, Claims Operations and HSL Operations. This is a broad remit and requires the COO to have strong management skills and a broad understanding of the operational elements of not only a Lloyd’s syndicate, but also a Guernsey based insurance company.
- The COO also leads the London Market Change Team. The Change capability is well developed; we have fully adopted an agile methodology and deliver through six long-live value streams.
- At Hiscox we care hugely about ensuring our people reach their full potential. We nurture the diverse skills needed for future success, provide constructive feedback to drive performance, and create an environment where people feel safe to take risks with their careers is critical. A succession pipeline for key roles across the Operations and Change functions is also key.
Invest in Innovation
- In Hiscox we are passionate about embracing change and challenging the status quo, monitoring the evolving environment with curiosity. We are agile and adaptable, changing our approach where needed. We seek external insight and innovative solutions and are comfortable taking calculated risks in support of our strategy. The COO will be expected to be a role model and leader in this behaviour.
Building our Digital Ecosystem
- Hiscox London Market’s digital vision is to build the best digitally powered London Market insurer. The COO is central in delivering this vision by leading the team of Product Managers who, in conjuction with our CTO and Technology team, are responsible for delivering this vision and making it a reality.
- The COO will be expected to lead the methodology of delivering change, working closely with the Change Leadership Team and CTO.
Operational Efficiency and Process Improvement
- The COO is accountable for ensuring SLAs are achieved continuously across all internal and external operational processes and business needs are met, and that any operational risks and performance issues are addressed and resolved.
- The COO is expected to work with each of the Operational Managers to develop and deliver a strategy and plan for transforming their separate operations functions including the development and implementation of fundamental operational disciplines, processes, standards and practices.
- The COO needs to stay abreast of industry trends, market developments and emerging technologies to ensure our operational processes and procedures are progressive and competitive.
Change Delivery
- The COO is responsible for managing our change management capability, reducing the cycle time to implement change initiatives and deliver against agreed business cases. This includes overseeing overall change portfolio prioritisation, partnering with senior stakeholders to make strategic decisions and trade-offs that support the organisation’s transformation goals, and ensuring capacity and budgets meet demand levels through effective resource strategy and planning.
Data Management
- The COO oversees a specialist team responsible for data governance, data analytics and business intelligence who deliver actionable insights that inform strategic and operational decisions.
- This includes enforcing data management policies, standards and best practices to ensure consistent data quality and integrity across the organisation.
HSL Operations
- This role has oversight responsibilities for the overall operational capabilities of HSL to ensure that all business units writing onto syndicate capacity operate within agreed operational service standards and the latest regulatory guidance and have a programme of continuous improvement.
Material Risk Taker - SMF24
- The COO role is the designated SMF24 for HSL with prescribed responsibilities for day-to-day operational performance of the business, the change management programme, the service that we deliver to our brokers and the operational resilience of the business.
- The role includes ensuring that the activities of the operations function are compliant with prevailing regulations, that the entire business meets its Conduct, Operational Resilience and Customer obligations and that we maintain and measure ourselves to the highest market standards.
- The SMF24 role has oversight responsibilities for the wider HSL business, managed by working with the business units in UK, Europe, Bermuda and US to ensure that where they are placing business on Syndicate paper, they are meeting the operational and regulatory standards of both Hiscox and our regulators (Lloyd’s, PRA and FCA).
Candidate Profile
A proven leader who through inspirational leadership and passion can drive positive change within their teams and the broader organisation. They will ideally come from the insurance industry and will have hands-on experience of transforming operations in organisations of a relevant size and complexity. They will have a solid understanding of the external market as well as experience of operating in a data driven and forward-thinking business. Knowledge of the Lloyd’s Market is desired, although not a necessity.
The successful candidate will be process driven and excel in designing and implementing efficient and effective processes to increase the productivity of the business. They will be known for cutting through complexity, able to lead teams when times are tough, providing the clarity and motivation required. They will have a history of building trust and collaborative relationships and be adept at influencing internal and external stakeholders. The candidate will have experience building high performing teams that include insourced, vendor and outsourced staff, based both on and offshore.
The ideal candidate will be a pragmatic leader who looks for the right business and commercial outcomes. They will bring a clear ‘outside in’ view of trends, and challenge embedded views with commercial judgement and appropriate skill.
Key Skills
Inclusive Leader: The candidate’s ability to attract, lead, develop and retain high performing, diverse talent is key to success. They will excel in communicating a clear, inspiring vision and delivering results through others by empowering individuals to take the lead and holding them to account. The ultimate goal is to enable business performance while making Operations and Change a great place to work for the ambitious and talented.
Strategic Delivery Driver: They will combine the skill to set up a medium-term strategic agenda while also delivering tangible short-term results within a rapidly transforming business. The ideal candidate will have the ability, determination, and tenacity to prioritise and move major initiatives forward, injecting pace and focus, removing blockers while consistently thinking of the bottom-line impact and taking others along on the journey.
Highly Collaborative Change Agent: Hiscox’s culture requires a highly inclusive approach to change delivery. The successful candidate will be able to work collaboratively across business functions and constantly balance conflicting demands in a transparent manner. They will also have hands-on experience of leading modern change teams, operating in an agile manner.
Effective Communicator and Influencer: The incumbent will have excellent communication and influencing skills. Technically credible with their team, peers and the Board, they will be capable of flexing their style to the audience and distilling complexity with ease. Operating in a semi-matrix environment, their ability to use informal structures and organisational culture to get things done will be critical. The candidate will have a history of seeking input in decision making and influencing stakeholders to get to the optimal outcome for the business.
Outward Looking: Curious about emerging solutions and their applicability to Hiscox, the candidate will champion innovative ideas, focusing on tangible business value. They will continue to build a deep understanding of current and future trends and be capable of shaping a strategy that leverages efficient processes to support business performance.
Service Minded: Excellent performance is central to the organisation’s strategy and Operations and Change are core enablers of the 2030 Ambition for London Market. They will support a strong innovation culture and have experience managing operational services in a digital world in a cost-effective way.
Diversity & Hybrid Working
At Hiscox we care about our people. We hire the best people for the job and we’re committed to diversity and creating a truly inclusive culture, which we believe drives success.
We have also learned that working life doesn’t always have to be in the office, so we have introduced hybrid working to encourage a healthy work life balance.
This hybrid working model is set by the team rather than the business to enable you to manage your own personal work-life balance. We see it as the best of both worlds; structure and sociability on one hand, and independence and flexibility on the other.
Apply now for further information
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