Head of Reinsurance Value Stream

Job Type:

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Head of Reinsurance Value Stream (Product Manager)

Reporting to: Re & ILS CTO

Location: London

Type: Permanent

Role Overview

The Head of Reinsurance Value Stream (VS) is a key member of the RE&ILS Technology Leadership Team. A Product Manager, accountable and responsible for defining and driving the strategic vision and delivery of the end-to-end technology and non-tech solutions enabling, optimising and improving our core Reinsurance business processes and value chain.

Reporting directly to the BU CTO, you will lead a team of dedicated Product Owners across key functional Reinsurance domains, including: Claims; Underwriting; Operations; and Pricing. Ensuring the continuous improvement of existing applications and services (RUN/CI) while also championing and delivering new, complex, and large change initiatives (GROW). This role requires close collaboration with the Head of Strategic Change to align the value stream backlogs with the overarching business strategy and portfolio priorities. It will also require close collaboration with engineering heads – to ensure, for technological changes, we have the right talented people in place to do the work. This role is accountable along with Product Owners and squads for the delivery of value to the business on a frequent basis.

As a member of the RE&ILS Tech Leadership team – you will also be expected to have a growth mindset and contribute to the underpinning technology strategy that supports the business strategy – ensuring tech & data is a business enabler and delivers a competitive advantage.

About Hiscox Re & ILS

Hiscox Re & ILS is located in Bermuda and London and underwrites reinsurance risks from around the world on behalf of our own and other people's capital. The team of over 100 smart, enthusiastic individuals are committed to providing top quality service to brokers and clients across a broad range of reinsurance products. Our approach is simple; match the best underwriting risk against globally diversified capital. Our proactive, product-led underwriting approach is complemented by a commitment to world class service and purpose-built analytics and systems. We know our people are our biggest asset so finding and retaining the best talent is critical to achieving our vision.

Key Responsibilities

1. Value Stream Strategy & Vision

• Vision Ownership: Own and articulate the long-term strategic vision and roadmap for the entire Reinsurance Value Stream, ensuring it directly supports the BU's commercial objectives and strategic goals.
• Prioritisation & ROI: Champion data-driven decision-making to prioritise features, projects, and epics across the value stream, ensuring the highest Return on Investment (ROI) and strategic fit.
• Market & Customer Focus: Maintain an expert-level understanding of the Reinsurance market, emerging technology trends, and user needs to proactively identify opportunities for competitive advantage and efficiency gains.

2. Product Leadership & Delivery Execution

• Team Leadership: Direct line manage, coach, and mentor the dedicated Product Owners for each functional area (Claims, Underwriting, Operations, and Pricing), fostering a high-performing product culture with the highest levels of Psychological Safety and Engagement.
• Backlog Integration and Management: Oversee the combined backlogs of all squads within the value stream, ensuring alignment, dependency management, and optimal sequencing of work for both RUN (continuous improvement) and GROW (strategic change) initiatives. Ensure you consider the sequencing implications when there are dependencies on other value streams, business subject matter experts, or Group Functions – making sure we prioritise valuable changes that have a high level of "do ability".
• Performance Measurement: Define, track, and report on key Product Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the achievement of OKRs at the value stream level, demonstrating measurable business value.
• Quality & Health: Work closely with the Head of Governance and Architecture to ensure all product development adheres to architectural standards, risk management requirements, and operational resilience protocols. Ensure existing services, applications and tools are properly managed – ensuring regulatory and operational resilience work is prioritised over new features.

3. Portfolio & Strategic Change Alignment

• Strategic Planning Liaison: Collaborate closely with the Head of Strategic Change to input into the BU's overall change portfolio. Support the Head of Strategic Change by preparing your papers for board and review meetings in a timely fashion and ensure you input required details into WAVE for your initiatives to the highest standards in a timely manner (i.e. Strategic Objective, Business Case, OKRs, Milestones, Key Risks, etc.).
• Initiative Ownership: Represent the value stream's interests in portfolio discussions, ensuring strategic change initiatives are adequately funded, correctly sequenced, and resourced across the relevant squads.
• Interdependency Management: Proactively identify and resolve dependencies and potential blockers between the value stream's squads and other value streams, business experts or Group functions.
• Holistic View: Contribute to the RE&ILS leadership team's holistic view of change by clearly communicating progress and upcoming work for the entire value stream portfolio. Work with the RE&ILS Leadership to get their sponsorship of larger initiatives and ask that they help with the overall prioritisation or selections of competing options.
• Stakeholder Management: Serve as the primary liaison between the business stakeholders (Underwriters, Claims Teams, Actuaries) and the delivery squads, managing expectations and ensuring clear, consistent communication of progress and value delivered. Run regular monthly steer cos with your key sponsors and senior stakeholders – keeping them well informed at a Value Stream level and seeking their guidance and input when matters don't go to plan or direction is unclear. Encourage your key stakeholders to attend sprint reviews and be fully engaged. Ensure your Product Owners run exceptional reviews that also encourage this attendance and engagement. 

Required Experience and Structure

• Reporting: Reports into the CTO, Reinsurance & ILS (part of the Technology Leadership Team).
• Direct Reports: Product Owners for Claims, Underwriting Operations, Workbench, and Pricing.
• Key Partners: RE&ILS Leadership Team, Senior Business Leaders, Head of Strategic Change, Head of Governance and Architecture, Head of Platform Engineering, Head of Data, Head of Engineering, and RE&ILS Tech Leadership Team

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned Product Management leader with extensive experience in the financial services or insurance technology sector, ideally within reinsurance or big ticket insurance. You must possess strong leadership skills, a deep commercial acumen, and the ability to operate effectively at both a strategic vision level and a detailed execution level. Proven experience managing multiple direct reports and complex portfolio dependencies is essential.

Main experience required is:

• The successful candidate will be a seasoned Product Management leader with 4+ years' extensive experience in the financial services, ideally in the insurance sector
• They should have a good and broad understanding of the insurance value chain – from underwriting, operations, pricing and claims management
• You must possess strong leadership skills, a deep commercial acumen, and the ability to operate effectively at both a strategic vision level and a detailed execution level
• Strong leadership, strategic thinking, and the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels are essential
• Proven experience managing multiple direct reports and complex portfolio dependencies is essential
• Fundamental knowledge of what good Product Management and Ownership looks like. Understanding the importance of: stakeholder engagement and business partnership; creating a compelling and clear vision; effectively adapting to unexpected turns and new opportunities; understanding how to prioritise competing options based on a core knowledge of the business strategy and team's ability to execute; getting all those involved engaged and excited about the roadmap ahead (and understanding the value and importance of why they are doing it)
• Proven track record of successfully delivering the agreed business outcomes from complex change programs, achieving these on time and within budget more than not
• Understanding how to track the success and adoption of change, and how to measure: that desired outcomes are achieved; great useability and customer satisfaction; and overall success of the change initiative
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, ability to influence range of senior stakeholders – very comfortable in the presence of very senior leadership team members
• Financial acumen – how to build compelling and good quality business cases and understand ROI
• Experience in creating and tracking clear and concise OKRs

If you are a visionary leader with a passion for driving positive change and transformation, we invite you to apply for the position of Head of Reinsurance Value Stream (Product Manager) at Hiscox Re & ILS. Join our team and be a catalyst for transformation in a dynamic and forward-thinking organization.

Work with amazing people and be part of a unique culture