Overview
Build a brilliant future with Hiscox
Position: Head of Software Engineering, London Market
Job Type
Permanent
Reporting to: Chief Technology Officer
Location: London
The London Market division of Hiscox focuses on big ticket speciality risks such as Marine and Energy, Major Property, Casualty, Crisis Management and Portfolio Solutions, and is regarded a leader in these fields. These present complex challenges with innovative technology solutions underpinning them. The team is value orientated, high performing with strong business sponsorship, also cultivating deep partnerships with Microsoft and Google to deliver unique and award-winning solutions.
As Head of Software Engineering, you will lead the evolution and strategic direction of the software chapter of London Market Technology. Reporting directly to the London Market CTO, you will champion best practices and emerging trends, nurture the culture and performance of the team, and collaborate closely with product, technology and business stakeholders across London Market and the wider Hiscox group. You will own the hiring strategy, organisational design, and budget for the function, ensuring we have the right talent and tooling to scale. You will manage a growing team of 30+ engineers spanning offices in London, York and Lisbon.
You will be leading the development and enhancement of critical business applications and vendor integrations and ensuring their ongoing operational resilience and scalability. You will be proactive, challenge the teams to continuously learn and improve and ensure high quality solutions and reliable delivery and support. Communication across business layers is essential and experience in managing and driving a high-performing team is essential in this role.
You will be familiar with modern development languages and tools, AI capabilities and cloud-based technology. Comprehension of agile principles and a pragmatic approach to delivery whilst maintaining standards will be required as we operate in a modern product owner, value stream and chapter-based model. You will also be skilled in identifying and acquiring technologies and managing the vendor relationships.
Key Responsibilities
* Provide technical leadership, guidance, and direction to the team, whilst taking overall accountability for their delivery
* Contribute to the overall London Market technology strategy as a member of the leadership team
* Collaborate with and support Product Managers with their value stream goals, including roadmap input, resource allocation and budget review
* Line management of senior engineers and ownership of overall chapter performance and compensation cycles
* Retention and development of talent, enabling career progression opportunities, identification of skill gaps and creating a succession pipeline
* Representation of London Market technology in required group forums, steercos and boards
* Establish standards and best practices across the chapter that are aligned with group and industry trends
* Identification and exploration of innovative solutions and/or technologies
* Promote re-use and simplification opportunities and alignment with divisional business and technology strategy
* Management of deployment of change into production in a risk aware, controlled, managed fashion
* Ensure that software and systems artefacts delivered are consistent with Hiscox design patterns, standards, and quality
* Management of key Vendor and Partner relationships, including use of Partners for staff augmentation where appropriate
* Appropriate ownership and escalation of relevant risks
Desirable Experience And Skills
* Experience working in agile environments with rapid change cycles and a product centric mindset
* Proven success leading high-performing teams and managing senior engineers, and a track record of shaping organisational culture
* Experience executing large scale business transformations and a strong portfolio of delivered solutions that directly impact P&L and operational efficiency
* Strong software development skills and background, including cloud architecture, full-stack development and DevSecOps
* Excellent communication skills and ability to adapt between low level engineering language to business exec level articulation
* Experience managing legacy on premise applications and leading their modernisation
* Knowledge of Insurance or the Llyod’s Market is advantageous but not mandatory
Behaviours
* Confident, and articulate decision maker and communicator across technical, operational and business teams
* Open and collaborative style, continuously learning and sharing across division boundaries and breaking down silos
* Eager to learn about our business and focused on delivering business value and ROI
* Empowers and supports teams to make risk aware decisions in a psychologically safe environment
* Drives consistent, repeatable and high-quality solutions
* Strategic thinker with a pragmatic and constructive approach to problem-solving
* Comfortable working in a fast-paced, evolving environment.
* Able to inspire and support teams, encouraging innovation and continuous improvement
* High emotional intelligence and strong interpersonal skills
Work with amazing people and be part of a unique culture
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