Head of Networks and Engineering

About AXA: AXA is a global leader in insurance and financial services, dedicated to helping customers protect what matters most to them. As the sixth-largest insurance company in the world, we provide a wide range of services, including health, car, home, and business insurance. We support millions of customers worldwide, helping them navigate life's uncertainties with confidence.

Job overview: We're seeking a strategic leader to architect and manage AXA's supplier and repair networks — the backbone of how we deliver claims and drive value. You'll shape partnerships that are direct, branded, and built to win. Your mission: shrink what we spend on indemnity, grow what we earn, accelerate how fast we resolve claims, and make customers genuinely happy. You'll work with technical experts in the field and at the desk, turning network strategy into operational excellence. This role demands someone who can juggle complexity — balancing supplier relationships, regulatory demands, cost pressures, and growth ambitions — while staying focused on outcomes that matter and delivering a better customer experience.

Key responsibilities:

• Set strategic direction for Networks and Engineering, crafting yearly plans in collaboration with Claims leadership, business partners, and category heads — influence and manage commercial relationships across the AXA enterprise.
• Build and optimise networks that are direct, partnership-based, or branded, with in-house technical professionals managing performance in the field and at the desk.
• Govern supplier performance by ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory standards, staying ahead of innovation and best practice, and providing issue resolution when business users face cost, customer, or compliance challenges.
• Unlock value by working with Supplier Relationship Management, Claims Operations, and Procurement teams to identify business requirements and optimise the value chain.
• Manage stakeholder expectations by understanding what key stakeholders and suppliers need, proactively meeting business standards, and keeping everyone aligned.
• Own network performance through a robust framework of KPIs and KRIs, conducting regular reviews to ensure sufficient capacity and resources to support business growth.
• Navigate risk and change by managing compliance, overseeing project and contract performance, handling supplier performance issues, and liaising with internal and external governance teams.
• Reduce indemnity spend, increase income, and shorten lifecycles across all products and distribution channels — turning network strategy into tangible financial and operational wins.

At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You'll work at least two days a week (40%) away from home, moving to three days a week (60%) in the future. Away from home means either attendance at one of our office locations, visiting clients or attending industry events.

Your skills & experience:

• Extensive experience in senior Bodyshop and Engineering insurance leadership, making strategic decisions that drive financial performance and business outcomes.
• Proven track record building and leading insourced Repair Networks — from concept through scale, including managing outsource‑to‑insource transitions.
• Creator of income generation models that unlock new revenue streams and maximise value across the customer journey, not just cost management.
• Experience establishing Bodyshop Legal Entities, navigating regulatory complexity and building profitable operations from the ground up.
• Strategic and commercial acumen that balances long‑term vision with quarterly results, seeing the bigger picture.
• Expert supplier relationship management — building strong partnerships, negotiating tough contracts, and holding partners accountable while keeping them engaged.
• Operational excellence across complex networks, delivering measurable improvements in cost, quality, and customer satisfaction with multiple stakeholders.
• Change leadership in regulated environments with proven ability to lead transformation, manage resistance, and embed new ways of working at scale.

As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom. This position has been defined as an Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) role under the IDD regime which means that in addition to pre-employment screening checks, the successful candidate will be subject to background screening every 4 years with an annual declaration in interim years. We are an Equal Opportunities Employer and do not discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long-term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we are pleased to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge.