Lead Business Partner - Expenses
General
Welcome to Beazley, a specialist insurance company. We are looking for a Lead Business Partner to manage the company's expenses ratio within its Finance function and work closely with a wide range of business stakeholders.
Key Relationships
* Executive Management
* Finance Leadership Team, Platform Management Committees, Finance, Chief Underwriting Office, Underwriting Teams, Group Actuarial
* Strategic Finance, Support Functions, Lloyd’s, and other Business Users
Job Summary
Reporting to the Head of Business Partnering – Performance Management, this role is strategically focused on optimising and managing Beazley’s investment and cost to align with strategic goals, improve efficiency, and drive cost savings. The role involves developing expense management strategies, analysing spending patterns, identifying opportunities for reduction, and working with the Head of Expense Accounting to implement new processes that improve control over resources.
Leadership Responsibilities
Key Activities & Areas of Responsibility
* Lead strategic performance management within finance, representing the finance team across committees, boards and forums.
* Foster a culture that values employee experience, empowerment and wellbeing while amplifying the team’s capabilities.
* Develop and lead a customer‑service focused team that delivers best‑in‑class service.
* Ensure all employees have the knowledge and skills to perform effectively, working with them to provide effective training and coaching.
Lead a team of Business Partner professionals
You will be expected to:
* Build strong relationships with executives and business unit leaders to understand their cost needs and challenges, anticipating the most effective support path to deliver strategic change.
* Enable rapid improvement in service and support via a continuous feedback loop with all stakeholders.
* Effectively communicate performance‑management perspectives using visuals and story‑telling techniques.
* Assist in identifying performance issues and help them course‑correct (gap‑to‑goal adjustments).
* Provide continuous coaching to stakeholders, helping them understand the financial impact.
* Analyze situations to derive insights and apply them consistently in decision‑making processes.
* Challenge stakeholders’ assumptions to reduce bias and introduce a finance perspective.
* Improve stakeholders’ financial data literacy to enhance decision‑makers’ understanding of impact and risk.
* Monitor leading indicators to identify initiative delivery risks and operational performance gaps, and drive or suggest action.
Provide Financial Insight Across the Annual And Medium Term
* Work with strategy teams to lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive expense management strategy aligned with Beazley’s overall objectives.
* Analyze spending patterns, identify trends, forecast future expenses in partnership with the Head of Expense Management.
* Establish metrics and targets for expense control and efficiency.
* Identify and implement cost‑saving measures without compromising quality or service.
* Monitor and analyse spending against budget, identifying areas for improvement.
* Own and deliver the expense planning process in collaboration with the FP&A team for annual and medium‑term plans across product, platform and entity, including Lloyd’s.
* Provide FP&A expertise during planning to ensure stakeholders understand results, impact, risks and constraints.
* Ensure the team provides expert review points across key company‑wide reporting including group reporting, regulatory reporting, expense reporting and productivity metrics.
* Facilitate the creation of digital decision‑support tools and continue to enhance the global offering with new technology.
* Work with change teams to ensure tools provide actionable advice for operational and strategic decisions.
* Represent the “voice of the internal customer” in meetings with performance‑management, technology and change teams.
* Advocate for and assist in developing change‑management strategies to facilitate adoption of new tools and processes.
* Articulate and demonstrate the value of decision‑support tool utilisation, tailoring the message for different audiences.
* Define success criteria for performance‑management tools and establish measurable metrics to actively monitor utilisation and quality.
Core Competencies
* Financial planning and analysis expertise with knowledge of budgeting and forecasting processes.
* Strategic thinking and business acumen: deep understanding of revenue drivers and margin management.
* Communication and storytelling: excellent skills to convey financial insights and recommendations.
* Advanced technology literacy: ability to exploit digital technologies to improve finance outcomes.
* Problem‑solving: challenge assumptions, identify root causes, develop solutions.
* Relationship building and collaboration: build strong relationships and collaborate with FP&A, technology teams.
* Continuous improvement: define success criteria, measure tool utilisation, work agile to iterate solutions.
* Professionalism: demonstrate integrity, trustworthiness, represent the expense team professionally.
* Learning and development: seek opportunities for self‑development and give/receive feedback.
* Adaptability: manage changing priorities in a dynamic environment, remain resilient.
* Responsibility and accountability: assume full responsibility, deliver on commitments.
General
It is important that all interactions, both internally and externally, adhere to Beazley’s core values:
* Being Bold, Striving for Better, and Doing the Right Thing.
* Comply with Beazley procedures, policies and regulations including the code of conduct.
* Undertake training on Beazley policies as delivered by line manager, Culture & People or assurance teams.
* Display business ethics that uphold the interests of all customers.
* Ensure all interactions with customers focus on delivering fair outcomes.
* Comply with any specific responsibilities relevant to the role as outlined by line manager or assurance teams.
* Carry out additional responsibilities as individually notified, such as committee or working‑group membership.
Personal Specification
We are a flexible and innovative employer offering a friendly, collaborative, diverse and inclusive working environment. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and empower people to choose where to work. The role offers competitive salary, discretionary bonus, and a strong benefits package including commuting reimbursement, free in‑office lunch, excellent parental leave and wellbeing contributions.
Education And Qualifications
Essential Criteria
* Experienced qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA).
* Experience of the insurance market, preferably Lloyd’s.
* Experience of FP&A / business partnering roles within complex insurance organisations and knowledge of accounting policies adopted.
Capabilities
* Coaching & leadership skills.
* Stakeholder management and relationship building.
* Customer focus with strong attention to detail.
* Understanding of controls frameworks including documentation.
* Experience of a deadline‑driven environment.
* Analytical / problem‑solving / decision‑making.
* Creativity / innovation.
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