London | Permanent - Full Time

About us

HDI is a Corporate & Specialty Insurer part of the Talanx Group. With over 120 years of experience, HDI operates across five continents, around 40 countries and employs over 5,000 people worldwide.

The role

• To partner senior business stakeholders and the UK and Ireland executive team, providing insight for better decision making, leading on any financial elements requested by the Executive Committee
• Support the business, communicate the result effectively and be the local point of contact in relation to planning, forecasting and strategy setting – for both the technical insurance P&L and expenses
• Be part of the financial performance leadership team and represent finance at business leadership meetings helping drive the Commercial business forward
• Identify areas of improvement both in the business and finance, driving change where required
• To support the Financial Performance Director in developing the strategic objectives for the function

Key accountabilities

Business Partnering

• Partner with the Underwriting Director for Commercial providing financial insights in to the Commercial books of business.
• Lead, assess and challenge business cases for new products, ad hoc projects and other new opportunities
• Look externally to spot and assess trends outside of the branch and subsidiary that can help drive the business forward and ultimately lead to better decisions
• Commercially aware finance person who will have to present the result internally and when required join external meetings
• Own the production and consolidation of a UK and Ireland result for presentation to the Executive Committee

Planning and Reporting

• Support the business in:
  • Understanding the monthly/quarterly result – both insurance P&L and expenses
  • Challenging assumptions during the reserving cycle
  • Assessing the drivers of performance and suggest actions where required
  • Writing commentary on the UK result on a regular basis for submission to Group and local UK reporting pack
• Improve the availability of financial data and MI, analysing trends to support better and faster business decisions
• Educating the business to build financial acumen across the business teams to enable stakeholders to interpret the results themselves which will lead to better UW decisions in the future
• Facilitating the annual 5 year planning process and challenging the inputs received from the business for both the insurance P&L and expense budgets
• Be the local point of contact for the UK and Ireland Commercial business (c.£600m) for forecasting and planning ensuring alignment with Home Office time tables and deliverables

Change

• Work with the business to ensure efficient structures are in place and cost the impact of potential changes
• Oversee and deliver functional projects and contribute to any Branch/group wide projects
• Design, implement and maintain process controls to ensure the quality of the output of the function. Ensure documentation of the processes and output is accurate, up-to-date and accessible
• Identify and enhance the quality and value of processes across the function

Leadership

• Be an active stakeholder in human resources in order to support the delivery of the HR strategy.
• Evaluate and monitor the team structure and roles to ensure that they are fit for purpose to achieve the organisational strategy this includes collaborating with HR on the annual succession and risk retention exercises in order to minimise people risks and impacts.
• Lead the team through any organisational change with support from HR.
• Identify and monitor skills gaps and training requirements to set up a larger team
• In time oversee the development of the people within the team by ensuring they have opportunities, training and experience to expand their knowledge and improve their skills.
• Ensure the performance of the team remains at an excellent standard ensuring that:
  • Performance objectives are cascaded appropriately
  • Performance review forms are submitted to the required standard
  • Underperformance is actively managed

Skills & experience

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CA) with 5 years PQE
• Previously experience within the Insurance industry
• Advanced excel and powerpoint
• Problem solving and influencing

Other

As an equal opportunities employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees, recognising that a diverse and inclusive workplace is a creative and prosperous one. 

If you require support with your application, please contact UK&IRE_Recruitment@hdi.global

Apply by 12/02/2025

Reference: HDI00419