Operations Director

At Direct Line Group, insurance is just the start. Combining decades of industry experience with talented people in every field from data, technology, customer care and auto repair, to HR, finance, and procurement, we’re a customer-obsessed market powerhouse. And we all work together to be brilliant for customers, every single day.

Our vision is to create a world where insurance is personal, inclusive and a force for good. Our purpose is to help people carry on with their lives, giving them peace of mind now and in the future. We have ambitions for growth and driving change at pace – aspiring to be the UK’s largest insurer.

We’ve now welcomed our new CEO, Adam Winslow, and are at the start of an exciting period of change for DLG. With ambitious plans for large-scale transformation, we’re going to see a refreshed strategy to drive value for our customers, colleagues, and shareholders.

To support our incoming Chief Operating Officer (COO), Hugh Hessing, we’re recruiting for an Operations Director who will have overall accountability for the development and delivery of the sales & service (S&S) and retention operations across our Personal Lines products. This means overseeing all our call centre operations – both onshore and offshore (which are managed via 3rd party partners) to ensure good customer outcomes to inevitably support the Profit & Loss (P&L) position.

As a key member of the COO Leadership team and DLG Enterprise Network (ExCo-1 population), the role contributes to the wider leadership, direction and development of the overall organisation and will work collaboratively with other product and functional teams to ensure success across Direct Line Group.

Purpose of Role:

As our Operations Director, you’ll be pivotal in ensuring a strong regulatory focus and duty of care to our customers across our S&S and retention operations while balancing the commercial and strategic development of a true omni-channel customer journey and experience; as such the role holder will be a Certified Person under the FCA regime.

What you’ll be doing:

1. Reviewing our operational systems and processes to identify opportunities for efficiency and automation while ensuring a best in class ‘human to human’ customer approach.
2. Building and maintaining effective relationships with key stakeholders across the product areas, actuarial, pricing and underwriting, and claims to help influence and shape existing, and future product, growth and pricing strategies across personal insurance lines.
3. Providing significant input into the business planning for cost control, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
4. Developing a commercial, customer-focused ‘one-team’ culture across the S&S operations functions with a clear vision and strategy for the overall function.
5. Coaching and developing team to support leadership capability, succession planning and to drive high performance.
6. Managing external providers to deliver customer outcomes, especially large offshore components demonstrating efficient, commercial led delivery.
7. Responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules and requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and any other legal/regulatory/risk management frameworks - including but not limited to FCA Consumer Duty.
8. Support the underwriting process through the consistent application of all relevant policies and procedures.
9. Identify, own, and manage the risks involved in running our business, in line with the Direct Line Group risk framework.
10. Drive employee engagement through the development and delivery of a strategy-aligned people plan.

What we’re looking for:

1. Experience in senior operational leadership roles within insurance - working across a diverse and complex range of products – specifically personal lines.
2. Strong commercial acumen with a proven record of financial and commercial management – dealing with trading outcomes and P&L management.
3. Experience of operating and influencing at the most senior level of a large organisation, showing up as a commercial and operational leader and the ability to communicate effectively with ELN / ExCo.
4. Experience of successfully leading and implementing transformational change within large scale customer operations within complex and highly regulated organisations undergoing significant transformation (e.g. offshoring or design of omnichannel approach).
5. Passion for people development and driving high performance through engagement, leadership, and clear accountabilities.
6. Established knowledge of the regulatory regime applicable to businesses in the financial services industry with senior level experience within an FCA-regulated financial services organisation.
7. Experience working with data – able to use a range of data sources and insights to improve outcomes and support new propositions.

Hybrid Working:

Our hybrid model way of working offers a 'best of both worlds' approach combining the best parts of home and office-working, offering flexibility for everyone. When you'll be in the office depends on your role, but ELN colleagues are in 3 days a week, and we'll consider the flexible working options that work best for you.

Benefits:

We wouldn’t be where we are today without our people and the wide variety of perspectives and life experiences they bring. That’s why we offer excellent benefits to suit your lifestyle and a flexible working model combining the best parts of home and office-working, varying with the nature of your role:

1. Generous 9% employer pension. Regardless of whether you contribute into your pension or not, DLG pay 9% into your pension (but you can take this as cash if you want!)
2. Competitive annual and longer term incentive plan eligibility.
3. Generous holidays - 30 days annual leave (excluding the bank holidays). Plus, the option of buying or selling up to 5 days each year!
4. 50% off home, motor and pet insurance.
5. Free travel insurance and Green Flag breakdown cover.
6. Electric Vehicle car scheme which allows all colleagues to lease a brand new electric or plug-in hybrid car in a tax efficient way.
7. Free private medical cover for you!
8. Buy-as-you-earn share scheme.
9. Employee discounts and cashback.

Being yourself:

Direct Line Group is an equal opportunity employer, and we think diversity of background and thinking is a big strength in our people. We're delighted to feature as one of the UK's Top 50 Inclusive Employers and are committed to making our business an inclusive place to work, where everyone can be themselves and succeed in their careers.

We know you're more than a CV, and the things that make you, you, are what bring potential to our business. We recognise and embrace people that work in different ways so if you need any adjustments to our recruitment process, please speak to the recruitment team who will be happy to support you.

Difference makes us who we are. We believe everyone should feel comfortable to bring their whole selves to work – that’s why we champion diverse voices, build workplaces that work for people, and invest in the things that matter. From senior leadership to inclusivity networks, adaptive working to inclusion training, we’ve made it our mission to give you everything you need to be authentically you. Discover more at directlinegroupcareers.com!

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