Senior Performance Management Lead in London

Who are we? Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 23,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Role Purpose: To lead the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the organisation-wide performance management framework, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and a positive employee experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Performance Management Strategy: Own and evolve the organisation’s performance management approach, ensuring it drives engagement and business outcomes.
• Project Management: Plan and deliver the annual performance cycle, including goal-setting, mid-year and year-end reviews, and calibration processes.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain an organisation-wide community of performance management representatives across divisions; act as the central point of expertise.
• Technology Enablement: Oversee system configuration and usage (ideally Workday or similar), ensuring processes are intuitive and compliant.
• Change Management: Lead communication and adoption strategies for new processes and tools, minimising disruption and maximising buy-in.
• Capability Building: Design and deliver training for HR Business Partners and line managers on performance management best practice and system usage.
• Continuous Improvement: Use data and feedback to refine processes and enhance effectiveness year-on-year.
• Performance business partnering: Partner with key Howden divisions to support all aspects of the Performance management process throughout the year.

Skills & Experience

• Proven experience managing organisation-wide performance management processes.
• Strong project management skills with ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience in building communities of practice or cross-functional networks.
• Knowledge of Workday (or transferable expertise from similar HRIS platforms).
• Change management expertise, including communication planning and adoption strategies.
• Ability to design and deliver training sessions for HR and managers.

Attributes

• Strategic thinker with attention to detail.
• Collaborative and influential across all levels.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
• Data-driven mindset with a focus on continuous improvement.

Success Measures & KPIs

• Performance Cycle Delivery: All key milestones (goal-setting, mid-year, year-end reviews) completed on time and within scope.
• Process Adoption: ≥90% completion rate for performance reviews across the target population.
• Demonstrable improvement in consistency and fairness of ratings across divisions; zero critical errors in system configuration or data integrity.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Active performance management community established, with quarterly engagement sessions and ≥80% satisfaction score from HR Business Partners.
• Capability Building: At least two training sessions delivered per cycle for HR Business Partners and managers, with post-training evaluation scores averaging ≥4 out of 5.
• Continuous Improvement: Documented process improvements implemented each cycle, with year-on-year reduction in queries or escalations related to performance management.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new.
• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges.
• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

Reasonable adjustments

We’re committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours or hybrid working. If you’re excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.