Overview
The Operational Excellence capability drives productivity and efficiency across the UKI support functions; Finance, HR, Risk, Procurement, CIO and Change, within a regulated financial services environment. The OpEx Support Functions Lead will establish and lead the OpEx agenda for these domains, partnering with senior business leaders to translate strategy into domain‑specific plans and tangible improvements.
As OpEx Support Functions Lead, you’ll identify and prioritise opportunities for process excellence, drive a portfolio of OpEx interventions, and harness data‑driven insights to improve cost and process performance. You’ll work with tooling, data capabilities and the OpEx guild, align with the UKI COO strategy, and ensure governance and compliance while delivering measurable value across product operations and business units.
At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You'll work at least two days a week (40%) away from home, moving to three days a week (60%) in the future.
What you’ll be doing
* Establish and lead Operational Excellence engagement across UKI support functions, crafting domain‑specific plans with senior business leaders.
* Build a backlog of benefit‑driven OpEx opportunities, prioritising interventions with BU and Product Owners to maximise impact.
* Assess process maturity across business areas, defining clear targets within domain plans.
* Work with tooling and data capabilities to enable sustainable, compliant insights; leverage the OpEx guild for approaches, skills and resources.
* Drive squad definition for approved interventions based on skills, availability and product priorities; forecast activity and demand.
* Leverage the AI Hub’s Discovery capability to evolve skills and resources to meet demand where appropriate.
* Conduct one‑to‑ones with practice members (AXA and 3rd party) to discuss performance, development goals and challenges.
* Coordinate OpEx contributions alongside business unit strategic projects, digitisation and AI initiatives.
What you’ll bring
* Extensive experience leading Operational Excellence initiatives in a regulated UK financial services environment.
* Practical experience developing and running data‑driven insights on operational process performance to identify productivity and efficiency improvements (e.g., process communications and/or task mining).
* Hands‑on experience leading OpEx interventions using Lean, Six Sigma, DMAIC, CI and related methodologies.
* Driving early‑stage benefits realisation, including solution path development and total cost of ownership (TCO) definition.
* Advanced knowledge of Business Process Architecture and embedding outputs in BPM environments (e.g., ARIS).
* Value stream management experience across Underwriting, Claims, Policy Admin or Customer Contact and Services.
* Workforce planning, demand management, capacity planning, budgeting and resource forecasting capabilities.
* Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence at executive levels and across functions.
What we offer
* Competitive annual salary dependent on experience
* Annual company & performance‑based bonus
* Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
* Life Assurance (up to 10× annual salary)
* Private medical cover
* 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
* Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 5 days leave
* Wellbeing services & resources
* AXA employee discounts
Application
To apply, click on the ‘apply for this job’ button, then log in or create a profile to submit your CV.
We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long‑term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we’re proud to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. For our support, please send an email to daniel.harrison@axa-uk.co.uk.
As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.
Who we are
AXA UK Support Functions power AXA’s three customer‑facing business units, providing the infrastructure, support and expertise to ensure our customers can always count on us. Whether you’ve got heaps of experience and qualifications behind you, or you’re just starting out, we’ll give you the support and opportunities to help you grow and develop with confidence.
Location: Kendal, England, United Kingdom
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