Programme Manager (Technology, Data & AI) in London

Hiscox is delivering change across the Group. This role helps a defined cluster of transformation workstreams deliver their plans and achieve their intended outcomes.

You will be one of four Programme Managers in the Group Transformation Office, reporting to the Transformation Office Director. Each Programme Manager partners with a different cluster of workstreams. You will build a clear view of delivery across your cluster, test whether plans are realistic and help leaders deal with risks, dependencies and resource pressures early. This is not a reporting-only PMO role. You will provide independent delivery assurance, practical support and focused intervention when a workstream is at risk. You will work closely with workstream leads and sponsors, while keeping clear accountability: business sponsors own outcomes, benefits and adoption; workstream leads own day-to-day delivery; you provide oversight, challenge and help to unblock delivery.

What You'll Be Doing

• Partner with your workstream cluster
  • Build strong working relationships with the sponsors and leads across your assigned cluster.
  • Understand each workstream’s objectives, key outcomes, delivery plan and main challenges.
  • Provide constructive challenge and practical support without taking day-to-day ownership away from the workstream lead.
  • Connect workstreams to the right support across Finance, Technology, People, Risk, Procurement and other teams.
• Assess delivery health
  • Regularly test whether scope, milestones, resources, risks and dependencies are clear and realistic.
  • Give the Transformation Office Director an honest, evidence-based view of delivery confidence.
  • Identify issues early, explain their likely impact and agree clear actions with owners and dates.
  • Follow actions through until the issue is resolved or formally escalated.
• Manage dependencies and capacity
  • Maintain the dependency and capacity view for your cluster.
  • Agree clear owners and dates for hand-offs between workstreams.
  • Work with the other Programme Managers and the TO Planning & Operations Manager to resolve cross-cluster dependencies and shared resource conflicts.
  • Escalate unresolved conflicts to the Transformation Office Director with clear options and a recommendation.
• Lead targeted intervention and recovery
  • Step in when delivery confidence falls or when a workstream needs focused help.
  • Agree a short, clear recovery or acceleration plan with the sponsor, workstream lead and Transformation Office Director.
  • Bring together the right people to remove blockers and restore delivery momentum.
  • Track recovery measures and exit the intervention once delivery is stable.
  • Use a peer Programme Manager for independent assurance when you are directly leading a recovery.
• Support clear decisions
  • Write concise cluster updates that explain progress, risks, dependencies, options and decisions needed.
  • Make sure governance discussions focus on decisions and action, rather than status reporting alone.
  • Provide timely plan updates to the TO Planning & Operations Manager.
  • Provide delivery evidence and forecasts to the Transformation Strategy Manager and Finance Transformation Office for enterprise reporting and value tracking.
• Support readiness and lasting outcomes
  • Check that workstreams have clear plans for business readiness, adoption and transition into business as usual.
  • Surface gaps in readiness and make sure they have owners and actions.
  • Keep attention on intended customer, colleague, control, operational and financial outcomes, not activity alone.
  • Capture recurring delivery issues and lessons, and share them with the Head of Transformation Practice & Capability.

Person Specification

• Strong experience leading, assuring or recovering large and complex programmes.
• Able to judge whether plans are realistic and identify the real causes of delivery risk.
• Confident working with senior sponsors and workstream leads, including giving clear and respectful challenge.
• Strong planning, dependency management and problem-solving skills.
• Able to turn complex information into simple choices, recommendations and actions.
• Good understanding of business cases, financial control, benefits, readiness and adoption.
• Comfortable working across different delivery approaches, including programme, project, product, agile and hybrid delivery.
• Collaborative, practical and calm under pressure, with strong ownership and follow-through.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Clear Role Boundaries

• Workstream leads own day-to-day delivery. Business sponsors own outcomes, benefits and adoption.
• Programme Managers own cluster-level assurance, dependencies, capacity oversight and targeted intervention.
• The TO Planning & Operations Manager maintains the integrated delivery plan and runs TO operations.
• The Transformation Strategy Manager owns the strategic roadmap, enterprise insight, dashboards, executive papers and governance design.
• The Finance Transformation Office owns the value and benefits approach and consolidated tracking.
• The Head of Transformation Practice & Capability owns methods, assurance standards, readiness practices and capability development.
• The Transformation Office Director owns portfolio execution, the integrated plan, priorities and cross-cluster trade-offs.

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 ensure 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.

Scratch beneath the surface and you will find a business that is solid, but slightly contrary. We like to do things differently and constantly seek to evolve. We might have been around for a long time (our roots go back to 1901), but we are young in many ways, ambitious and going places. Some people might say insurance is dull, but life at Hiscox is anything but. If that sounds good to you, get in touch.

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 and creating a truly inclusive culture, which we believe drives success. Working life does not always have to be in the office so we have introduced hybrid working to encourage a healthy work life balance. This hybrid working model is set by the team rather than the business to enable you to manage your own personal work-life balance. We see it as the best of both worlds; structure and sociability on one hand, and independence and flexibility on the other.