IT Change Manager

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. 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 of 24,000 employees across more than 56 countries. Our culture attracts people who value work/life balance, career progression, sustainability and volunteering.

The Change Manager is responsible for governing, controlling and continuously improving the end‑to‑end IT Change Management process within a regulated, global insurance environment. The role ensures that all technology changes across Infrastructure & Operations are assessed, authorised, prioritised and implemented in a controlled manner to minimise risk, disruption and client impact. Operating within a global, outsourced delivery model, the Change Manager provides oversight of both internal teams and third‑party vendors, ensuring adherence to change standards, regulatory expectations and best practice frameworks.

• Change Management Governance
  • Own and operate the IT Change Management framework, policies and procedures.
  • Ensure consistent application of standard, normal and emergency change processes.
  • Chair the Change Advisory Boards (CAB) and Emergency CABs (ECAB) as required.
  • Ensure changes are properly assessed for risk, impact, dependencies and regulatory implications before approval.
• Change Control & Risk Management
  • Ensure changes do not introduce unacceptable risk to production services, operational resilience or regulatory compliance.
  • Challenge poor‑quality change submissions and drive improvements in impact assessment, testing and rollback planning.
  • Monitor emergency and failed changes, ensuring root cause analysis and corrective actions are completed.
  • Maintain strong controls over high‑risk, business‑critical and customer‑impacting changes.
• Third‑Party & Internal Change Oversight
  • Govern change activity delivered by outsourced or Group infrastructure and application service providers.
  • Ensure technical resources comply with internal change processes, lead times and documentation standards.
  • Monitor vendor change quality, success rates and compliance with contractual obligations.
  • Work with regional entity change resources to ensure a consistent approach and resolve conflicts.
• Operational Resilience & Compliance
  • Ensure Change Management supports operational resilience principles and aligns with regulatory expectations.
  • Provide evidence, reporting and support for internal audits, regulatory reviews and assurance activities.
  • Identify and mitigate change‑related risks and control gaps.
• Configuration & Release Alignment
  • Work closely with Configuration Management to ensure changes are accurately reflected in configuration records and CMDB.
  • Coordinate with Release Management to ensure changes are deployed in structured, controlled release cycles where appropriate.
  • Maintain visibility of the forward change schedule and manage change conflicts.
• Reporting & Continuous Improvement
  • Produce regular change performance reporting, including success rates, failed changes, emergency changes and trends.
  • Analyse change data to drive continual improvement in process maturity, quality and efficiency.
  • Implement improvements to reduce service disruption and improve predictability of change.
• Stakeholder Engagement
  • Act as the central point of coordination for change across Infrastructure & Operations.
  • Build strong relationships with Service Managers, Architecture, Security, Risk, Compliance and delivery teams.
  • Provide clear communication on change status, governance decisions and emerging risks.
• Projects
  • The Change Manager will need to support projects as Sponsor, Owner, SME or adviser as required.

• Essential
  • Proven experience in an IT Change Management role within a complex, regulated organisation.
  • Strong understanding of ITIL Change Enablement / Change Management processes.
  • Experience operating formal CAB and ECAB governance forums.
  • Demonstrable experience managing change in outsourced and multi‑vendor environments.
  • Strong risk assessment, decision‑making and stakeholder management skills.
  • Experience supporting audits and regulatory reviews related to technology change.
• Desirable
  • Experience within insurance or broader financial services.
  • ITIL v4 certification (or equivalent).
  • Familiarity with operational resilience, outsourcing regulations and technology risk frameworks.
  • Experience working across global, distributed teams and multiple time zones.
  • Experience working with ServiceNow ITSM platform.
  • Demonstrate technical knowledge across a wide range of IT disciplines.

What do we offer in return? A career that you define, with the flexibility to shape your own path. We value diversity and encourage people who share our values of bravery, collaboration and positive impact. Reasonable adjustments: We provide accommodations such as software, IT, office setups, flexible hours and hybrid working where possible. Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations; discuss specifics with your Recruitment Partner.