Head of Travel Insurance in Croydon

We are looking for a dynamic, commercial and highly customer-focused Head of Travel Insurance. The role represents an incredible opportunity for the right individual to lead and develop the sales and distribution strategy at one of the UK’s largest Travel insurers.

Responsibilities include:

• Identifying and converting new profitable revenue opportunities.
• Developing working practices and processes to maximise profitability, efficiency, quality and productivity across our full suite of existing Travel partners.
• Leading the development and delivery of the UK sales and distribution strategy within the Travel line of business.
• Managing relationships with all existing Travel partners across all distribution channels.

What you will do:

• Achieve agreed annual revenue, new business and profit targets for the UK Travel Line of Business.
• Develop and implement the sales strategy for the UK Travel Line of Business for both new business and existing accounts.
• Lead and develop the UK Travel Line of Business sales team, including setting targets, objectives and development plans.
• Ensure existing business relationships with clients are managed in a highly proactive and commercial way with the objective of delivering growth in both revenue and profit.
• Maintain close collaboration with the global sales teams to identify and help develop any new opportunities that have a UK footprint.
• Be the subject matter expert on B-Partner agreements, ensuring that processes are enforced across departments to maximise profitability and minimise leakage.
• Liaise and communicate with all areas of the business, either locally or across borders, to ensure that good relationships are maintained and that key information is exchanged regularly.
• Maintain awareness of key industry developments and trends, taking these into consideration when managing accounts and developing new business.
• Represent the Business Unit at relevant group meetings and seminars as deemed appropriate.
• Liaise regularly with Allianz Partners’ outsource agencies and meet with them as and when required.
• Provide accurate reporting required both internally and by clients, including ensuring that Salesforce is up to date at all times.
• Ensure that client invoicing is up to date and liaise with finance to ensure this is proactively managed.
• Gather detailed feedback on any unsuccessful bids and share with wider teams to understand how we can improve our propositions and activities going forward.

Additional responsibilities:

• Quality Management System – work as a member of a team within the quality system and follow all documented quality procedures and instructions.
• Training – advise your Line Manager of any areas of work for which you require additional training.
• Key Performance Areas – work towards achieving 100% on all Company, departmental, team and individual key performance targets.
• Appraisals – participate and contribute towards individual annual appraisals, team meetings and regular one‑to‑one assessment sessions.
• General – manage or assist with relevant ad‑hoc projects as required by your Line Manager, complete appropriate administration and carry out other duties as requested within the scope of your role.
• Regulatory – work within and be compliant at all times with all relevant regulations and legislation applicable to the role, including but not limited to those set by the Central Bank.
• Health & Safety – ensure your work area is kept safe and tidy, abide by Health & Safety regulations and notify the Company Health & Safety officer or the CEO of any Health & Safety issues which may cause harm to fellow employees.
• AI Readiness – work effectively in an environment shaped by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data, analytics and cloud‑based tools, using insights responsibly with our standards of data governance, security and ethical use.

What you will bring:

• Proven sales and distribution experience to a senior executive level.
• Proven experience of leading a sales team and driving it to higher levels of performance.
• Degree level qualification, ideally including Business, Marketing, Communications or Finance.
• Experience of working in a complex organisation or as part of a matrix structure.
• Senior leadership experience within a regulated general insurance environment.
• Experience of working in the B2B and/or B2B2C channels within the insurance or assistance industry.
• Experience of managing complex change programmes within a regulated general insurance environment.
• Experience of the Travel / Travel Insurance market.

Skills and Knowledge:

• Strong B2B/B2B2C sales experience within the insurance or assistance industry.
• Strong working knowledge across multiple parts of the insurance value chain (including product, underwriting, pricing, sales and operations).
• Extremely well versed in commercial negotiation.
• Highly commercial and at ease with complex financial analysis.
• Evidence of the ability to work on numerous projects simultaneously and to meet strict deadlines.
• Confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills, comfortable in engaging and delivering professional presentations to multiple stakeholders, including to executive level.
• Ability to work effectively within a team and build credibility and trust with other departments.
• Exceptional decision‑making skills and ability to lead through ambiguity and change.
• Highly organised with good administration skills and ability to be analytical to support decision making.

Aptitude:

• Committed to high standards of performance.
• Personal organisation and time management.
• Leadership skills.
• Effective relationship building and diplomatic.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Creative.
• Flexible and able to adapt to sudden changes.
• Resilient and able to deal with peaks of activity.
• Competitive with a collaborative spirit.

We therefore welcome applications regardless of ethnicity or cultural background, age, gender, nationality, religion, social class, disability or sexual orientation, or any other characteristics protected under applicable local laws and regulations.