Divisional Director

This inclusive employer is a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community.

Who are we?

Howden is a collective - a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mind-set, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 15,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

Our people are our biggest asset as well as our largest shareholder group and are everything that makes us unique; our inclusive culture, the quality service we offer our clients, and our continued growth, all come from our people-first approach. There's no such thing as individual success. We all need to play our part, contributing our skills and experience to make a true difference. That's Howden.

Why work at Howden?

We have always been employee-owned and driven by entrepreneurial spirit. Right from the beginning, we've focused on employing talented individuals and empowering them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers at the same time. Simply put, we hire talented specialists and give them what they need to make a difference for clients. Always have, always will.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It's what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down disappointed head-hunters for years. Whatever your priorities - work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering - you'll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

With this in mind we are actively looking for an inspirational and entrepreneurial individual to join our leadership team. As a Divisional Director you will be responsible for your own profit & loss, with the freedom to make data-led decisions, to grow our business further. But it isn't all just growing and retaining business, you will also be accountable for the first-rate service that we deliver to our existing clients, through coaching and developing a management team, aiming to retain policies and drive loyalty. As such you will have excellent experience and understanding of Personal Lines and/or Commercial Lines insurance products and services, as well direct experience motivating management teams by creating a fun and rewarding working environment, allowing our people first culture to truly reflect in the way we deal with clients.

About you:

• You will lead with a people first mindset - our culture is important to us, and we believe in supporting and empowering our teams to deliver a world class service; to always exceed our client expectations.

• You will be commercially minded, with the ability to analyse data and make evidence-based decisions whilst maintaining attention to detail.

• You will be a great communicator who will share knowledge, experience and best practices and be expert in engaging and developing a management team.

• You understand the importance of inspiring others to work collaboratively and build a strong culture of excellence, to deliver results and business objectives

• You have previous experience managing a remote team of professionals, ensuring the team have the right people in the right places to optimise business performance.

• Enthusiasm and resilience will be needed to enable our management teams and branch network to care for our existing client base as well as finding new business opportunities. With the support of the wider business, you will be accountable for the decision making across your cohort, acting quickly, making decisions based on what is right for our clients, teams, and the business.

• You ensure best practice processes are followed, to help the branch network be effective, efficient, optimised and compliant through all internal and external forms of engagement

• You will have the ambition to go beyond expectations for Howden, putting our branch network, teams, and our clients at the forefront.

• You will always exhibit the right behaviours whether everything is going well, or there are challenges - coaching and mentoring others within our management structure to achieve business objectives and encourage a positive objective focused culture.

Rewards:
We believe that great work and dedication should be rewarded, that's why we offer a comprehensive benefits package that puts your health and wellbeing first. Below are just a few of those on offer:

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays), increasing through length of service

• Relocation support available if required

• A set of core benefits, designed with your health and financial protection in mind:

  • Private Medical Insurance (PMI).

  • Contributory pension scheme - 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution, rising to 5% & 5% in April 2025

  • Life Assurance up to 4x salary, protecting your loved ones in case the worst should happen

  • Income protection, guaranteeing an income for up to 5 years in the event of an illness or injury

  • 2 paid volunteering days per year

• Access to a host of flexible lifestyle and financial benefits:

  • Opportunity to purchase shares and become part of our employee-ownership model

  • Discounts on gym membership across the UK

  • Enhanced Family Policies including maternity and paternity

  • Access to flexible benefits to include will writing service, menopause support, bereavement support

  • A range of insurance products available commission free, including home, motor, travel and specialist vehicles

  • Salary sacrifice schemes - Travel Insurance, Cycle to Work, Car leasing, Technology purchase

  • Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support employees outside of work

  • Excellent training and development schemes with accelerated career progression

  • Access to hundreds of high-street retailer discounts

Who we're looking for

At Howden we value diversity - there is no one Howden ‘personality type'. Instead, we're looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Our business succeeds by allowing our people to make a mark in the areas they care about most: personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity, or creating new insurance products that address society's greatest challenges.

And we know that separate home and work lives don't really exist. If you're happy and healthy at home, you're more likely to be happy and fulfilled at work - and vice versa. That's why we do our best to support our people in every aspect of their lives.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Howden, we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness, and respect - regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.

Our sustainability promise

We're on a life-long journey to become an ever-more sustainable group. It's a commitment to taking care of our people and the world we live in, to doing good business, and to making a positive impact wherever we can. Our governance processes, company policies, and review systems are all geared towards our goal of making a positive impact in the world. You can read more about our sustainability work here.