Operational Excellence Manager in Colchester

The Operational Excellence Manager is responsible for embedding a culture of continuous improvement across HSL operations and governance processes. This role will design and deliver a structured improvement programme that strengthens control frameworks, enhances management reporting, and supports compliance in line with Lloyd’s, PRA, and FCA expectations.

In addition, this role will be responsible for providing structured administrative and coordination support across HSL operations and governance teams. Ensuring operational processes, reporting cycles, controls evidence, and meetings run on time and to standard, underpinning our oversight responsibilities and governance framework. This is a collaborative role that will work across the London Market business unit and other areas of the Hiscox Group, including those business units using syndicate capacity to underwrite (re)insurance products.

Key Responsibilities:

• Continuous Improvement: Define the Operational Excellence roadmap for HSL Operations, ensuring alignment with regulatory standards and our governance framework. Lead on tactical People/Process/System changes for each governance pillar across HSL and identify changes that could benefit from cross BU synergies. Deliver adoption plans for new processes and governance standards, ensuring stakeholder engagement within Underwriting, Claims, Risk, and Finance across HSL business units.
• Governance Activities: Ensure up to date documentation of policies and procedures is maintained by HSL business units for the respective governance areas, facilitating robust document management practices. Plan, schedule, and administer HSL governance and oversight forums (committees, quarterly business reviews, attestation checkpoints). Define, maintain, and continuously improve HSL reporting standards across all Business units that use HSL capacity. Facilitate cross-function horizon scanning coordination. Work with Compliance and L&D to embed new / changes to existing regulatory standards within the respective HSL business units. Manage bi-annual attestation processes for governance areas business/risk owners.
• Risk and Performance Monitoring: Collaborate with control owners to integrate PRA/FCA/Lloyd’s compliance controls into workflows, simplifying evidence capture for internal management reporting. Collate and report on risk control metrics (from Shield) assessed by Risk and Control owners on a quarterly basis against defined KRIs across all HSL Business Units. Collate governance lifecycle performance reports for each governance pillar across all HSL business units - develop operational dashboards tracking SLA adherence.
• 2nd and 3rd line engagement: Engage with internal monitoring teams in conjunction with HSL Operations functional teams throughout planning, fieldwork, and completion of reviews. Coordinate and oversee resolution of remedial activity arising from internal Compliance Monitoring Reviews or Audits where these align to HSL Operations functions, implementing revised operational processes to support ongoing mitigation where appropriate. Support Risk & Compliance in coordinating and responding to external regulator requests.

Our must haves:

• Experience gained working in operational risk within an insurance company, including a proven track record of implementing and managing operational improvement and control frameworks across complex entity structures.
• Strong operations administration in a regulated financial services environment; familiarity with London Market workflows preferred.
• Experience in the Lloyd’s insurance market, market practice, and products.
• Knowledge of PRA, FCA and Lloyd’s regulations, guidance and expectations for product governance, conduct, delegated authorities, operational resilience, and third-party risk management.
• Experience of general insurance company operations including business model, performance drivers, business processes, and risk management practices.
• Ability to design MI frameworks and interpret operational data for decision-making.
• Excellent stakeholder management and change leadership skills.

Key interfaces: Underwriting Operations, Risk & Compliance, Delegated Authority team, Third-Party Risk Management, Finance, Internal Audit, and Lloyd’s market stakeholders.

Other Skills:

• Seamless ability to multi-task, prioritise work effectively, meet deadlines, achieve goals, and work in a dynamic and complex regulatory environment.
• Excellent organiser: agendas, packs, minutes, action logs; disciplined follow-up to drive closure.
• Ability to communicate and influence with the highest levels of management, and other key senior stakeholders within the Group. Clear written and confident verbal communication.
• Analytical mindset able to work independently and pro-actively.
• Ability to diagnose an issue, consider options, approaches and execute solutions impeccably.
• Experienced communicator and influencer who can collaborate with people at all levels.
• Confidently makes choices in the best interests of the organisation and deals constructively with resistance or negative reactions from others.
• Ability to effectively follow strategy and relates decision making to company values.
• Adopts and owns assignments with authority, enthusiasm, and a can-do attitude.
• Actively seeks and promotes improvements.
• Genuine interest in emerging regulatory landscape, and key subject matter areas.

Hybrid Working: As a business, we have adopted hybrid working, where we have a combination of time in the office and at home. In this role you can expect to be in the office approx. 2 to 3 days per week.

About Hiscox: As an international specialist insurer, we are far removed from the world of mass market insurance products. Instead, we are selective and focus on our key areas of expertise and strength - all of which is underpinned by a culture that encourages us to challenge convention and always look for a better way of doing things. We insure the unique and the interesting. And we search for the same when it comes to talented people. Hiscox is full of smart, reliable human beings that look out for customers and each other. We believe in doing the right thing, making good and rebuilding when things go wrong. Everyone is encouraged to think creatively, challenge the status quo, and look for solutions.

Hiscox Values: Our core values of Courage, Integrity, Ownership, being Human and staying Connected underpin a reputation we have earned for integrity and decent behaviour in everything we do, which we firmly believe is good for the morale of staff and for the results of the business. We believe strongly in our values and endeavour to live by them every day.

Diversity and flexible working at Hiscox: At Hiscox we care about our people. We hire the best people for the job, and we are committed to diversity.