Head of Legal

Why

Standing still is not an option in the current world of Insurance. TMHCC are one of the world’s leading Specialty Insurers. With deep expertise in our chosen lines of business, our unparalleled track record and a solid balance sheet, TMHCC evaluates and manages risk like no one else in the industry. Looking beyond profit, empowering our people and delivering on our commitments are at the core of our customer values, and so is a desire to grow and provide creative and innovative solutions to our clients.

Job Purpose

The Head of Legal, International is the senior legal leader for the TMHCC International business, responsible for establishing a high-quality, commercially pragmatic and well-governed legal capability across the organisation. The role provides trusted advice to the Board, Executive leadership and business teams on legal and regulatory matters, while creating greater consistency, visibility and control across jurisdictions. Working in a hybrid federated model, the role will coordinate existing embedded legal activity, strengthen legal risk management, and reduce unnecessary external spend through smarter sourcing, clearer coordinated processes and enhanced internal capability.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the International legal function across the UK and Europe, acting as a focal point and trusted senior adviser on legal matters across the business.
• Provide pragmatic, commercial legal advice to the Board, Executive leadership and senior stakeholders on complex issues affecting underwriting, distribution, claims, operations, partnerships and strategic change.
• Establish and embed a hybrid federated legal operating model that provides central oversight, while enabling existing legal support to remain close to the business and local market needs.
• Create consistent legal frameworks, standards and playbooks across jurisdictions to improve decision quality, reduce duplication and increase visibility of legal risk.
• Drive proactive legal and regulatory horizon scanning, translating emerging developments into clear actions for business leaders and risk owners.
• Oversee legal support for underwriting and product activity, including policy wordings, distribution arrangements, delegated authority, MGA/coverholder structures and other specialty insurance trading models.
• Partner closely with all functions of the TMHCC International segment and counterparts in North America, where required to identify, assess and mitigate legal and regulatory risk, ensuring issues are escalated early and managed in line with risk appetite.
• Lead the strategy for external legal counsel, including panel design, matter allocation, performance oversight, budgeting and spend control, with a focus on quality, efficiency and value.
• Build and chair a legal community of practice to support knowledge sharing, consistent interpretation and stronger collaboration across existing legal resources in different teams and geographies.
• Support governance, significant disputes and regulatory engagement as required, and help shape the future scope of the legal function as additional responsibilities are brought into the model over time.

Skills and Experience Specification

Essential

• Qualified lawyer with substantial post-qualification experience, ideally gained in the insurance sector and/or a leading law firm with significant insurance practice exposure.
• Deep understanding of the legal and regulatory environment for specialty insurance, including cross-border trading, underwriting, distribution, delegated authority and claims-related legal issues.
• Demonstrable people leadership experience, ideally across the UK & Europe with experience in establishing and elevating a legal function.
• Strong commercial judgement with the ability to balance legal risk, regulatory expectations and business objectives in a fast-paced environment.
• Credibility and presence to operate effectively with Executive stakeholders, senior business leaders and regulators, and to act as the definitive focal point for legal matters.
• Proven experience managing complex legal matters across multiple jurisdictions and coordinating internal and external legal resources effectively.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues in clear, practical business terms.

Desirable

• Experience in the London Market and/or Lloyd’s environment.
• Experience building or reshaping an in-house legal function, operating model or legal governance framework.
• Experience of leading external counsel panel strategy and delivering measurable legal spend savings.
• Familiarity with legal issues arising in specialty classes, delegated authority, sanctions, outsourcing, wordings and regulatory change.

What We Offer

The Tokio Marine HCC Group of Companies offers a competitive salary and employee benefit package. We are a successful, dynamic organisation experiencing rapid growth and are seeking energetic and confident individuals to join our team of professionals. The Tokio Marine HCC Group of companies is an equal opportunity employer.