Corporate Functions Technical Lead - Birmingham, United Kingdom - Beazley Management Limited

Description

General

Job Title: Technical Lead for Corporate Functions

Division: Beazley Shared Services – Information Technology

Reports To: Head of Corporate Functions Technology Delivery – Group Technology

Key Relationships:

Group Head of Finance, Group Head of Culture & People, Chief Underwriting Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Head of Operations, Head of Strategy Innovation & Architecture, Head of Enterprise Architecture, Head of Infrastructure and Operations, Business Change leaders and Delivery Leads, Technical delivery leaders and teams, software vendors, system integrators, service providers and business leaders across the organization.

Role Overview:

As the Technical Leader and Domain Architect for Beazley Corporate Functions, you will play a crucial role in driving innovation, efficiency, and technical excellence across all enabling functions of the business. You will spearhead the transformation of our corporate functions including Culture & People, Finance, Procurement, Risk and Compliance, and be responsible for overseeing the technical capabilities of the divisions. Ensuring technology alignment with business objectives, and leveraging technology to optimize operations and enhance decision-making capabilities

Role Summary:

In an insurance company, the value stream for corporate functions involves activities aimed at supporting the core business operations. This typically includes functions such as human resources, finance, IT, legal, compliance, and administrative support. Each function contributes to the overall efficiency, compliance, risk management, and strategic decision-making within the company. For example, Culture & People ensures the company has the right culture and talent, Finance manages financial resources, capital investment and regulatory reporting, Risk ensures business risks are identified and addressed, Compliance ensures policies are followed and regulatory requirements are met. Overall, these functions work together to provide the necessary support for the company's core insurance activities, ultimately delivering value to customers and stakeholders.

Throughout the corporate functions value stream, collaboration and communication between finance professionals, HR professionals, and other stakeholders is essential to ensure a culture of continuous improvement. Innovation in processes, technology, and data analytics play a crucial role in enhancing efficiency, decision-making, and the overall competitiveness of the company.

As the Technology Lead for the Corporate Functions value stream at Beazley , you will be responsible for designing the software architecture of the corporate functions domain and managing the quality of technology delivery of our development teams through ensuring the use and implementation of technology best practices, standards, patterns, and reference architectures. You will supervise and assist with the design and development of domain-level roadmaps and evolve the architecture strategy for all functions within the value stream, across all countries and lines of business. Working closely with the enterprise architecture and strategy teams you will be pivotal in the enablement of future business strateg y.

Your technical expertise, strategic vision, and leadership skills will be instrumental in driving innovation, enhancing operational efficiency, and maintaining the highest standards of information security and integrity. You will collaborate with various business, operations, and technology stakeholders to ensure the efficient and effective utilization of technology to enable seamless processing and optimise employee, customer and broker experience. This role requires an understanding of the insurance industry, as well as specific expertise in corporate functions technology delivery, support and maintenance.

We are looking for an accomplished technology expert, who will work closely with global technology and enterprise architecture teams as well as SMEs across the business. In this crucial role, you will be responsible for providing technical leadership and architectural expertise in the design and implementation of innovative technology solutions for our corporate functions domain. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in shaping the technological landscape, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction and technical leadership for corporate functions, guiding the implementation of innovative solutions to improve efficiency and effectiveness to enable growth.
• Define and maintain the technical architecture roadmap for corporate functions systems and processes, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security. Collaborate with enterprise architecture and cross-functional teams to define technology roadmaps aligned with business goals and objectives.
• Identify opportunities to streamline corporate functions workflows through automation, digitization, and integration of data and analytics.
• Collaborate with risk management teams to ensure corporate functions processes comply with regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
• Lead the design, development, and implementation of technical solutions to support corporate functions workflows, including rating engines, data analytics platforms, and decision support systems.
• Lead and inspire a team of developers and technical professionals, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and excellence.
• Stay up to date on emerging technologies, industry trends and competitor activity, providing thought leadership, insight into a vision of the possible, recommending and driving adoption of relevant advancements.
• Develop and maintain a deep understanding of the corporate functions domain, including industry trends, regulations, and business challenges
• Design and architect scalable, secure, and robust systems that meet the unique requirements of corporate functions processes.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the existing technology landscape, identifying opportunities for improvement and optimization.
• Foster strong relationships with internal and external partners, ensuring alignment between technology and business strategies.
• Manage and enhance software/data architecture best practices, standards, patterns, and reference architectures as part of the wider architecture team.
• Supervise and assist with the design and development of domain-level roadmaps.
• Collaborate with business, operations, and technology stakeholders to ensure the efficient and effective utilization of technology.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and innovation to enhance corporate functions processes, optimize efficiency and improve decision quality.
• Engage with 3 rd party suppliers including software vendors, ensuring that changes delivered are in line with standards
• Collaborate with the IT infrastructure team to ensure a robust and secure IT infrastructure that supports corporate functions processing activities.
• Work with Enterprise Architecture team to adopt governance frameworks, polices and procedures related to corporate functions systems, ensuring corporate functions outcomes are catered for.
• Ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of corporate functions data and systems through the implementation of robust security measures and compliance with relevant regulations (e.g., data protection, Beazley security standards and privacy laws ).
• Serve as a subject matter expert on corporate functions technology and architecture, representing the division in cross-functional initiatives and industry forums.

General:

• Comply with Beazley procedures, policies and regulations including the code of conduct which incorporates FCA and PRA Conduct
• Undertake training on Beazley policies and procedures as delivered by your line manager, the Culture & People or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) either directly, via e-learning or the learning management system
• Display business ethics that uphold the interests of all our customers
• Ensure all interactions with customers are focused on delivering a fair outcome, including having the right products for their needs
• Comply with any specific responsibilities necessary for your role as outlined by your line manager, the Culture & People or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) and ensure you keep up to date with developments in these areas. This may include, amongst others, Beazley's corporate functions control standards, Beazley's claims control standards, other Beazley standards and customer relationship management
• Carry out additional responsibilities as individually notified, either through your objectives or through the learning management system. These may include membership of any Beazley committees or working groups

Personal Specification:

The successful candidate will be a natural relationship builder and team player, with high energy and a personal drive and passion that shines through. You will have the ability to influence, inform, and successfully manage senior stakeholders, and possess excellent written and verbal communication skills. You will be able to distil complex information into simple and understandable language and contribute to creating product/program/project vision, roadmap, and content presentations.

Skills and Abilities

• Ability to find competitive advantage through the innovative use of new technologies to resolve business challenges, improve operational efficiency and enable business strategy
• Ability to work at pace and meet challenging timelines
• Ability to think systemically and to connect strategically complex pieces of work both current and into the future
• Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams, articulate complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to analyze complex data sets, identify patterns, and make data-driven decisions.
• Ability to stay up-to-date with industry trends and developments, and incorporate new technologies and approaches as appropriate.
• Ability to lead and manage an outsourced development team, fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business requirements into effective technology solutions.
• Ability to think strategically and deliver tactically would be a distinct advantage

Knowledge and Experience

• Strong background in designing and implementing technology solutions within corporate functions such as Finance, HR, Procurement, Legal, and Compliance, preferably within the insurance or financial services sectors.
• Proven ability to develop and execute technology strategies that align with business goals and drive operational excellence.
• Demonstrated expertise in defining and maintaining enterprise-level technical architectures, including experience with cloud computing, microservices, and API integration.
• In-depth knowledge of corporate functions processes and technologies.
• Expertise in system architecture, design patterns, and software development methodologies.
• Excellent leadership and team management skills, with a track record of mentoring teams and leading complex projects to successful completion.
• A deep understanding of the corporate functions process and related systems, in particular AI Automation, data enrichment and data science, APIs and integration, HRMS solutions (e.g. Oracle, Workday), low-code (e.g. Appian), Finance solutions (e.g. Workday) Billing and Payments solutions, ideally within the insurance sector.
• Knowledge of Corporate functions processing systems, methodologies, and best practices.
• Thorough knowledge of regulatory requirements and compliance standards relevant to the insurance industry, with experience implementing controls and processes to ensure compliance.
• Understanding of data security, privacy, and compliance requirements.
• Awareness and experience with various methodologies and frameworks (e.g. , DSDM, SDLC).
• Experience managing 3rd party supplier and vendor contracts to measurable outcomes.

Education:

• Ideally holds Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering or a related field.
• Industry experience and qualifications on systems and development languages.
• Relevant industry certifications (e.g., TOGAF, CISSP, PMP) preferred.

The Rewards:

• The opportunity to connect and build long-lasting professional relationships while advancing your career with a growing, global organization
• Attractive base compensation and discretionary performance related annual bonus
• Private medical insurance coverage for both you and your dependents
• Company paid life assurance and long term disability insurance
• Pension with 10% employer contribution, plus a further matched contribution up to 2.5%
• 25 days of annual leave (prorated for 1st calendar year of employment), plus public holidays, with the ability to flex the religious bank holidays to suit your religious beliefs, subject to approval. Additional annual leave purchase is also available up to a maximum of five additional days per year.
• Up to 2.5 days matched paid leave for volunteering at a charity of your choice and 5 days paid leave to provide or arrange care for a dependent with a long term care need annually
• Up to £550 reimbursement towards home office setup
• Free in-office lunch and monthly lifestyle allowance
• Monthly travel allowance or annual season ticket
• The opportunity to save for, and purchase, shares of Beazley stock
• Six months fully paid parental leave, regardless of how you come to parenthood
• Company paid sabbatical up to 12 weeks after 10 years of continued service
• Support with exam/study leave and fees for relevant qualifications related to furthering education
• Smart working policy and flexible working culture, trusting our employees to do what works best for them, their role and the needs of the business

Don't meet all the requirements? At Beazley we're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't perfectly align with every requirement and qualification in the job specification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right candidate for this, or one of our other roles.