Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 23,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.
People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.
Group Risk Senior Manager
Who are we?
Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mind-set, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 20,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.
Our people are our biggest asset as well as our largest shareholder group and are everything that makes us unique; our inclusive culture, the quality service we offer our clients, and our continued growth, all come from our people-first approach. There’s no such thing as individual success. We all need to play our part, contributing our skills and experience to make a true difference. That’s Howden.
Why work at Howden?
We have always been employee-owned and driven by entrepreneurial spirit. Right from the beginning, we've focused on employing talented individuals and empowering them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers at the same time. Simply put, we hire talented specialists and give them what they need to make a difference for clients. Always have, always will.
People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down disappointed head-hunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.
What is the role?
We are looking for a Group Risk Senior Manager to join us to support delivery of our vision and strategy for enterprise risk at Howden. The successful applicant will support further embedding of our enterprise risk management framework across the group globally, and the role holder will be a key part of the Group Risk team in an established and growing Group Risk function.
The role is highly visible, requiring interaction with senior stakeholders at Group-level and across all business divisions internationally. The individual must be an independent, self-starter who is able to lead initiatives and collaborate with senior management constructively and effectively.
The individual will support the Group Risk Director, divisional Chief Risk Officers and local risk and compliance teams globally, to embed the Group Risk Management Framework and methodologies for identifying, assessing, mitigating and escalating risks.
Please note this is a full-time, permanent role based in our Central London office.
What will you be doing?
Support the Group Risk Director in the socialisation, embedding and further development of the risk management framework across the Group (including the assimilation of data from our internal risk management software).
Aligns risk reporting strategy with the Group's broader goals and objectives to anticipate potential risks that could impact these objectives
Facilitates risk assessments across the Group, including (but not limited to) the analysis of current mitigation to key risks, identification of emerging risks, analysing root causes, perform scenario analysis, and review against risk appetite statements / tolerances. Highlight gaps and / or weaknesses with corresponding solutions.
Builds and maintains relationships with key stakeholders, providing risk management guidance, challenge and consultation.
Contributes to the successful delivery of a Risk Management Information System rollout across the Group
Responds appropriately to urgent issues and perform ad hoc risk assessments as they arise.
The successful individual is expected to be competent in the practical application of risk management within the insurance industry
Strong interpersonal skills to develop and maintain relationships with divisional risk teams & Group and divisional stakeholders, providing valuable input and challenge. A high degree of professionalism required.
Seek opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the Group Risk team through working collaboratively with colleagues and other teams / departments (e.g. Internal Audit, Legal) and with external contacts (e.g. External Audit).
Maintain awareness of organisational structures and activities, including cross-border activities and intercompany relationships/dependencies, in order to understand business dynamics, pressures and needs.
What are we looking for?
Ideal candidates will have previous working experience of operating in a second line risk management department of a financial services firm in the UK and Insurance sector expertise is essential.
Able to evidence competent knowledge and experience of practical implementation of a risk framework in a global business.
Proven experience of identifying gaps or areas of improvement and leading/delivering remediation in a business essential
Experience required of Risk Management Information System implementation projects and preferable if the candidate has held prior leadership roles in delivery (Governance Risk and Compliance tools or other risk systems)
Previous leadership and delivery of 2LOD oversight and challenge activity a requirement (e.g. Deep dive risk reports, post incident risk assessments)
The candidate should be able to evidence a breadth of experience across the enterprise risk management domains
Strong analytical, written communication and presentation skills required
MS Office including MS Excel to an intermediate level (including Macros, V-Look ups and Pivot tables).
Prior people management and budget management expertise preferable
Ability to understand and convey complex matters to senior stakeholders (e.g. incident management oversight: coordinating with all functions on the reporting, investigation and escalation of operational incidents)
What do we offer in return?
A career that you define.
Our business succeeds by allowing our people to make a mark in the areas they care about most: personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity, or creating new insurance products that address society’s greatest challenges.
And we know that separate home and work lives don't really exist. If you're happy and healthy at home, you're more likely to be happy and fulfilled at work – and vice versa. That's why we do our best to support our people in every aspect of their lives.
Diversity and Inclusion
At Howden we value diversity - there is no one Howden ‘personality type’. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:
Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond
We consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness, and respect – regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.
Our sustainability promise
We’re on a life-long journey to become an ever-more sustainable group. It's a commitment to taking care of our people and the world we live in, to doing good business, and to making a positive impact wherever we can. Our governance processes, company policies, and review systems are all geared towards our goal of making a positive impact in the world. You can read more about our sustainability work here.
What do we offer in return?A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:
Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond
We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.
If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.
*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.
Permanent
