EMPOWERING PEOPLE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
At Howden, we employ talented individuals and empower them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers.
The entrepreneurial atmosphere is one of the biggest reason people love to work for us. We are a leading independent, global insurance brokers but have a noticeably flat hierarchy. It doesn’t matter how junior or senior, anyone with a good idea will be heard. This means our employees can shape their own career paths and determine their own success.
This atmosphere attracts the brightest talent in the market. If that includes you, get in touch.
A LEADING GLOBAL INDEPENDENT BROKER
Howden is a specialist commercial insurance broker. Its regional footprint covers Singapore (regional headquarters), Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines. It is part of the London-headquartered Howden Broking Group, a leading independent, global broker with offices in over 40 countries worldwide.
YOUR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
IT systems, projects and operations
- Oversight of and responsibility for the development, implementation and maintenance of each operating entities IT systems to ensure these meet user needs and are fit for purpose – achieved through working with heads of IT Application and IT Infrastructure in group and in each country.
- Acts as the regional IT manager and therefore must have experience in the deployment and ongoing maintenance of CRM, broking and finance applications and must have the ability to get involved in understanding such IT systems to help sign off on new features or issue resolution solutions. Need to have strong IT background with hands on experience.
- Works with and manage IT vendors and internal IT suppliers and manage the day-to-day activities of delivering IT change into the business.
Operations strategy and execution
- Leads the development of all operational matters, planning, directing and monitoring the strategy of the operations function to ensure that the region achieves its short and long-term objectives.
- Works with the executive team and contributes expertise on operational matters, ensuring key information is taken into account during decision making and planning across all functions such as HR and finance.
- Works with the business to identify their needs for operational systems / processes, reporting and identifies the best means of delivering these, balancing system requirements, compliance and operational best practice.
- Acts as conduit and liaison point with the group for all operations, risk, compliance and IT matters.
- Must be prepared to get involved in any activity / project that may come along as Howden is a fast-paced environment.
Automations and shared services optimization
- Optimizes profitable performance and deliver operational excellence in working with third party providers (where applicable to the operating model of the operating entity), assessing the businesses operational needs and requirements and ensuring effective execution.
- Looks for opportunities to improve operational excellence by either looking for opportunities to deploy automations to remove repetitive tasks or to work with offshored shared service centers and ensure the effective execution of the Howden Shared Service Centre (HSSC), in not only being cost effective, but in driving efficiencies to our processes and quality output.
Risk and Compliance oversight.
- Ensures that there are effective risk management registers in place and that they are managed and actively used to manage risks across the region.
- Ensures that group directives are followed across the region in a timely manner.
- Ensures there is an effective business continuity plan in place working with internal / external service providers as appropriate for each entity in the region and that these are tested on a regular basis.
Procurement, Contract and office management
- Be responsible for the procurement and contract management function through a team member who will manage this on a day-to-day basis.
- Manage, along with regional finance and in-country CEO’s, office space renewals or relocations as required.
- Office management team for Singapore report into this role, therefore, must have an appreciation for day-to-day activities in running an office of 300 people.
Stakeholder management
- Excellent stakeholder management expected as this role will be in day-to-day contact with senior group management, the regional country CEO’s as well as heads of functions across each country in the region.
- Day to day involvement with teams from across the business where there will be involvement in detailed in depth conversations around issues. Requirement to bring leadership to these conversations and to motivate teams to find pragmatic solutions to the issues in hand.
Mergers and Acquisition
- Involved pre-acquisition in due diligence work on the target company to ensure that the integration work is understood and subsequently planning the integration of the new company into the business and/or country.
- Works with the country teams to oversee the on-boarding / integration of new teams / businesses following an acquisition to ensure service level requirements are upheld and expected benefits are met.
OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL BE:
- Bachelor’s degree in business administration, IT Management or Operations Management, or a related field. An MBA or equivalent advanced degree is preferred.
- Minimum of 10 years of experience in IT/operational leadership roles, with at least 5 years in a senior management position.
- Proven track record of managing large-scale operations and leading cross-functional teams.
- Proven track record in delivering IT platforms and have a strong IT management background. This is a must.
- Direct experience of risk management and compliance functions.
- Strong financial acumen and experience with budget management and financial reporting.
- Excellent strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
- Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and work effectively under pressure.
- Experience in operational integration of M&A deals.
YOUR BENEFITS AND SALARY:
- Commensurate with qualification and experience
- Working in a collaborative environment with excellent learning opportunities
