Business Product Manager - Operations in London

This is an opportunity to join Ascot Group – one of the world’s preeminent specialty risk underwriting organizations.

Designed as a modern-era company operating through an ecosystem of interconnected global operating platforms, we’re bound by a common mission and purpose: One Ascot. Our greatest strength is a talented team who flourish in a collaborative, inclusive, and entrepreneurial culture, steeped in underwriting excellence, integrity, and a passion to find a better way, The Ascot Way.

The Ascot Way guides our people and our organization. Our underwriting platforms collaborate to find creative ways to deploy our capital in a true cross-product and cross-platform approach. These platforms work as one, deploying our capital creatively through our unique Fusion Model: Client Centric, Risk Centric, Technology Centric.

Built to be resilient, Ascot maximizes client financial security while delivering bespoke products and world class service — both pre- and post-claims. Ascot exists to solve for our clients’ brightest tomorrow, through agility, collaboration, resilience, and discipline.

Job Purpose:

• Establish yourself as the product expert and go-to person for understanding the various Underwriting Products including but not limited to, applications, warehouses, methodologies, and reporting solutions.

• Tackle operational issues, mitigate risks, and seek opportunities for process improvement or automation, while staying updated on technical and regulatory changes affecting Underwriting Operations.

• Oversee the sequencing of operational and IT updates within Underwriting, ensuring project outcomes align with goals, and orchestrating the Underwriting team’s engagement in business-wide operational change.

• Continually monitor and update Underwriting business processes, ensuring they are evaluated regularly and adapted to reflect any changes as a result of I.T Initiatives.

• Work closely with the Director of Operational Strategy to ensure any Underwriting initiatives align to Ascots strategic objectives and the required prioritisation has been applied.

• Help develop the Product Management capability, with a focus on developing core competencies and cultivating a culture of ‘continuous improvement.

Detailed Duties:

• Undertake a continuous review of the existing products, identifying areas for improvement, and making recommendations to provide better outcomes for the Underwriting teams.

• Assist in troubleshooting and investigating operational issues that arise within Underwriting, helping propose and work through potential solutions.

• Proactively identify potential operational risks within Underwriting, ensuring all risks are monitored, actioned and if possible mitigated.

• Work with the Underwriting teams to analyse business processes and workflows identifying areas for improvement or automation.

• Familiarise yourself with technical and regulatory changes to understand how they might impact the Underwriting landscape.

• Provide technical support to the business on behalf of Underwriting, including acting as a SME on projects, participating in workshops and contributing to project delivery as required.

• Build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the business including but not limited to Operations, I.T, Finance, Reinsurance, Claims, Pricing and Actuarial.

• Perform any required analysis to support and promote the funding of all discretionary initiatives on behalf of the Underwriting teams.

• Oversee and assist in the monitoring and achievement of any Underwriting project benefits, confirming their alignment with the initial business case objectives.

• Facilitate the prioritisation of all operational and IT changes within the Underwriting business area, by co-ordinating the Underwriting teams across large-scale transformation projects, handling small change service requests, and contributing to the ongoing development of data warehouses.

• Develop, implement, and manage OKRs and KPIs for the Underwriting teams to align with Ascots strategic objectives.

• Assist the Director of Operational Strategy with any ad-hoc requests when needed.

Person Specification:

• Serve as the liaison between Underwriting and IT, effectively translating technical solutions into non-technical language and vice versa.

• Able to facilitate, collaborate, influence and drive resolution across different stakeholders within the Ascot Group.

• Proactive and organised with good attention to detail.

• Lead by example at all times.

• Highly professional, energetic, diplomatic, calm, pragmatic and solution-driven.

• Exceptional problem-solving skills.

• Self-sufficient and a self-starter who can think and act proactively.

• A willingness to be flexible and respond appropriately to changing and / or conflicting demands.

Technical Knowledge:

• Understanding of Underwriting concepts and accounting principles. Including knowledge of the various types of MOA’s, Contracts Types and Business Classes.

• Well versed in Business Process Improvement (BPI) methodologies, with experience of enhancing operational processes.

• Experience with process mapping tools and techniques, with a background of producing As-Is and To-Be process documentation.

• Skilled in evaluating and writing new proposals for the purpose of obtaining new project funding.

• Adept in formulating and executing SQL queries for data manipulation and analysis.

• Knowledge of Risk Management strategies to identify, assess and prioritise risks.

• Familiarity with the full Project Lifecycle, including experience in different methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, Hybrid)

• Strong Microsoft skills in particular Excel, Visio, Powerpoint, Word and Outlook.

• Ability to review Project plans, Resource allocation and Benefit Realisation models.

Business Knowledge:

• Lloyd’s Market, General Insurance or Broking Experience (Must Have)

• Core concepts of Insurance – Underwriting, Reinsurance, Finance, Compliance, Claims (Must Have)

• Background in Underwriting or Underwriting Operations from either BAU or Project based activities (Must Have)

Please be aware that Ascot Group’s job opportunities will be posted on our official careers page. All official communication comes from @ascotgroup.com email addresses, if you receive a job offer or recruitment communication from Ascot Group that you suspect might be fraudulent, do not hesitate to contact us directly to verify its legitimacy. We will never ask for payment or sensitive personal information during any stage of the recruitment process. Your privacy and trust are of utmost importance to us, and we strive to ensure that you have a positive experience with Ascot Group.

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