Commercial Trading Manager- Darwin
London or Leeds - Hybrid / Permanent
Darwin is one of the UK’s fastest‑growing motor insurers—part ofAvivagroupbut built like a fintech scale‑upwithminimal hierarchy and high ownershiptounleash the true potential of our people.Ourmixed modelway of working offers the best of both worlds, with an expectation of 50% office time to balance autonomy withteamcollaboration.
In just five years,we’vegrown to over 300,000 customers by combiningourresolute focus on getting it right for our customerswithcutting‑edge,cloud‑nativetechnologyarchitectureanda culture that rewardscuriosity, data‑drivenactionand sharp commercial thinking.Over the next 3 years our ambition is to become a top 5 motor insurer by taking advantage of the radically changing industry landscape.
Whatyou'llbe doing:
We’relooking for aCommercial Trading Managerwho brings strong analytical and commercial capability, regardless of industry background, to shape and deliver our trading strategy. Youdon’tneed to know insurance — we value people who can apply insight,bring strategic thinking andchallenge,and drive action in a fastmoving environment.
In this role, you will:
1. Own and evolveDarwin’s trading MIand performancemetrics from multiple data sources, to shape how we understand performance
2. Build and deliver the commercial plan, ensuring trading KPIs are understood and achieved
3. Closely track PCWmarketand broader landscape,identifyingtrends and presenting actionable insight
4. Design, run and evaluate retail pricing tests, adapting pricing strategies to optimise premium, volume, riskmixand loss ratio
5. Build a deep understanding of profitability drivers, including risk pricing and the uncertainty inherent in modelled outcomes
6. Use data + commercial instinct to make confident recommendations in ambiguous orfast changingeconomic conditions, influencing CEO/CFO/ExCodecisions
7. Identifyopportunities across pricing, product, customerjourneyand proposition to improve trading outcomes
8. Workcross functionallywith Pricing, Underwriting, Technology and Operations to deliver initiatives at pace
Whatyou'llneed:
The successful candidate will be aself-starterwith strong technical capability and commercial instinct. You will be someone who enjoys solving complex problems with data,setting trading priorities and strategy,and thrives in an environment where action and impact matter.
We’relooking for:
9. Strong quantitative and data analysis skills(e.g., SQL, Python, Excel, Tableau) and working with complex datasets.
10. Experience in commercial trading, commercial analysis, performance management,forecastingor pricing (from any sector)
11. Ability to work with linear and nonlinear models, understanding secondand thirdorder impacts
12. Naturallycurious mindset with a desire to uncover new insight and apply it quickly
13. Strong commercial judgement — ability to move from insight to recommendation to action
14. A bias towards practical,real-worldimpact rather than theoretical analysis
15. Ambition and drive to help scale Darwin from 300k customers to 500k and beyond
Insurance experience isnotrequired— we welcome candidates fromdata rich, complex trading environments such as ecommerce, telco, travel, utilities, fintech or marketplaces.
Our hybrid model offers a 'best of both worlds' approach. Whenyou'llbe in the office depends on your role and team, but colleagues spend at least 50% of their time in the office across the month
Benefits
We recognise wewouldn'tbe where we are today without our colleagues,that'swhy we offer excellent benefits designed to suit your lifestyle:
16. 9% employer contributed pension
17. 50% off home,motorand pet insurance plus free Green Flag breakdown cover
18. Additionaloptional Health and Dental insurance
19. EV car scheme
20. Generous holidays
21. Buy as you earn share scheme
22. Employee discounts and cashback
23. Plus, many more
We want everyone to get the most out of their time at DLG. Which is whywe'velooked beyond the financial rewards and created an offer that takes your whole life into account. Supporting our people to work at their best – whatever that looks like — and offering real choice, flexibility, and a greater work-life balance that means our people have time to focus on the things that matter most to them. Our benefits are about more than just the money you earn.They'reabout recognising who you are and the life you live.
Be 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'redelighted 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 knowyou'remore than a CV, and the things that make you, you, are what bring potential to our business. We recognise and embrace people that work indifferent waysso if you need any adjustments to our recruitment process, please speak to the recruitment team who will be happy to support you