Business Design Lead

Are you looking for your next opportunity? Sompo has a unique opportunity for a Business Design Lead to join our UK Change and Transformation team. The UK Change & Transformation team sits within the wider UK Insurance Operations function and reports into UK COO. The UK Change and Transformation team play a vital role in delivering improvements into those operational teams which support Underwriting, Claims and other support functions, whilst at the same time undertaking transformation activities with which to broaden, and better control the services provided by these teams.

Location: This position will be based out of our London office. We strive for collaboration which is why we offer a work environment where our employees thrive and develop long lasting careers.

What you’ll be doing:

• The Business Design Lead is responsible for shaping business change from initial opportunity through to a clearly defined and deliverable business design.
• The role leads the Business Analysis capability, provides business architecture and design leadership across the change portfolio, and where applicable leads the design of future-state processes and operating models, ensuring initiatives are considered end-to-end rather than simply as individual projects or technology changes.
• Working closely with business leaders, technology teams and Programme/Project management across the C&T team, the Business Design Lead will translate strategic priorities and business problems into coherent designs covering capabilities, processes, operating models, people, data and controls.
• The role will build and lead a high-performing team of Business Analysts, establishing consistent standards and developing the team from traditional requirements gathering towards broader business analysis and design capability.
• The role will also act as a key thought partner to the Head of Change & Transformation, bringing structured analysis, business architecture, and end-to-end process thinking to decisions about where the organisation should focus its transformation effort and investment.

Business Architecture & Design

• Develop and maintain a clear understanding of business capabilities, value streams, operating models and key end-to-end processes.
• Define current and target-state business designs and ensure individual change initiatives contribute coherently towards the desired future state.
• Identify dependencies, duplication and opportunities to simplify or standardise across organisational boundaries.

Opportunity Shaping

• Work with business leaders at the earliest stage of an opportunity to understand the underlying problem, desired outcomes and potential options.
• Lead structured discovery and analysis before significant investment or delivery commitments are made.
• Help translate ideas into well-defined opportunities, including scope, outcomes, impacts, dependencies and high-level solution options.
• Identify emerging transformation opportunities and proactively recommend changes to capabilities, operating models and service delivery.

End to End Business Analysis

• Lead analysis across process, people, organisation, data, technology, controls and customer/broker/user experience, ensuring analysis considers the complete business problem rather than focusing narrowly on systems requirements.
• Define the long-term strategy, structure and capability roadmap for Business Analysis and Business Design and determine the appropriate balance of permanent and contingent capability required to support the transformation portfolio.
• Ensure requirements remain traceable to the original business outcomes throughout delivery supported by right artefacts.
• Lead, coach and develop the Business Analyst community.
• Set expectations for what good business analysis looks like and establish proportionate methods, standards and tools.
• Allocate BA capability effectively across the portfolio and build the team’s skills in areas such as business architecture, process design, data analysis, operating model design and strategic problem solving.

Op Model and Process Design

• Lead the design of future-state processes and operating models, including roles and responsibilities, organisational interactions, service models, controls and hand-offs.
• Challenge unnecessary complexity and identify opportunities for simplification, automation and standardisation.

Delivery Partnership

• Partner closely with Project and Programme Managers, maintaining a clear distinction between designing the right business outcome and managing its delivery.
• Provide continuity of business design and analysis throughout delivery, supporting decision-making where requirements, scope or solution options evolve.

Design Governance

• Provide business design leadership within appropriate governance forums and design authorities, escalating material design risks or misalignment where necessary.
• Ensure significant change aligns with agreed business architecture and target operating models and maintain an enterprise view of design decisions.
• Work closely with Technology Architecture so that business design defines the “what and why”, while technology architecture helps determine the “how”.

Stakeholder Leadership

• Build strong relationships with senior business stakeholders and act as a trusted adviser on business change.
• Facilitate complex discussions across functions and help stakeholders reach decisions where requirements or priorities conflict.

Risk, control and regulatory design

• Ensure regulatory, conduct, operational resilience and risk-management requirements are embedded into business designs from the outset.
• Partner with Risk, Compliance and control functions to ensure target operating models provide clear accountability, effective controls and appropriate management information.
• Identify transformation risks, control weaknesses and unintended business consequences, escalating material concerns to the appropriate governance forum.

Key Accountability / Outcomes:

• Change initiatives start with a clearly understood business problem and desired outcome.
• Solutions are designed end-to-end rather than function-by-function.
• Business and technology design are connected.
• Duplication across initiatives is reduced.
• Project and Programme Managers receive better-defined initiatives into delivery.
• The BA team becomes recognised as a business design and problem-solving capability rather than primarily a requirements-documentation resource.

Skills & Experience

• Experience designing and delivering large-scale transformation within commercial insurance, financial services or similarly complex and regulated environments.
• Proven experience operating in a dedicated business design, operating model transformation, business architecture or strategic transformation capacity in the Insurance industry, with demonstrable accountability for shaping and delivering future-state business solutions beyond traditional analysis and requirements management.
• Proven experience designing future state operating models considering shared services, location strategy, digital / automation capabilities and process excellence.
• Relevant qualification in business architecture, operating model design or transformation management.
• Experience in leading business analysis and/or business architecture function.
• Proven ability to challenge existing operating practices, influence senior business and technology leaders while facilitating strategic design to meet business objectives.
• Significant experience working across multiple business functions, resolving competing priorities, addressing interdependencies and establishing integrated solutions.
• 15+ years of experience of which 5+ years in commercial insurance.

At Sompo, we recognise that the talent, skills, and commitment of our employees drive our success. This is why we offer competitive, high-quality compensation and benefit programs to eligible employees. Our compensation program is built on a foundation that promotes a pay-for-performance culture, resulting in higher incentive awards, on average, when the Company does well and lower incentive awards when the Company underperforms. The total compensation opportunity for all regular, full-time employees is a combination of base salary and incentives that gets adjusted upfront based on overall Company performance with final awards based on individual performance. We continuously evaluate and update our benefit programs to ensure that our plans remain competitive and meet the needs of our employees and their dependents.

Who we are and what we stand for:

At Sompo, our shared purpose is to create meaningful value for clients, communities, and each other. We strive to foster a workplace where everyone feels respected, included, and empowered to excel. As a global organization, we embrace diversity and champion equal opportunity. Guided by our core values—Accountability, Agility, Collaboration, Development, and Integrity—we build trust and support one another to achieve our goals worldwide.

Life at Sompo | Sompo Our values come to life in how we hire and grow talent. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and organizational need, and we strive to ensure equitable access to opportunities so everyone can do their best work. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application process, please contact the recruiter in charge.