Job Reference: 5609

Expense Manager (Modernisation - 2 YEAR FIXED TERM CONTRACT)

Division: Finance – Global Business Management

Reports To: As per Beazley’s organisation chart

Key Relationships: Executive Management, Finance Leadership Team, Finance Global Business Management, Finance Business Partners, Support Function Heads, Underwriting Function Heads, Underwriting Business Managers, Corporate Development and other Business Users.

Job Summary:

Beazley & Finance are on a modernisation journey aimed at improving our systems and processes, allowing us to effectively structure ourselves to meet the requirements of a growing business. Whilst we have mentioned Finance – this journey is two-fold in ensuring Finance overall delivers the best solution or outcome through modernisation, but also that we ensure the Expense team requirements are appropriately considered and delivered at the same time.

Those complimenting objectives will require significant input and expertise from an expense team perspective – which we currently don’t have the capacity to provide. This role is centred around an individual being able to embed themselves within the modernisation programme and work collaboratively with a peer, to own the delivery and challenge required for modernisation from an Expense team perspective.

To conduct oneself in line with core & partnership competencies noted below.

Key Activities & Areas of Responsibility:

Leading Change & Modernisation for the Expense team
Take a “Hands on” & Collaborative approach alongside a peer to ensure ownership for assigned projects, processes, workstreams or deliverables.
Ensure projects, processes, workstreams or deliverables produce required outcomes, business change and benefits.
Ensure projects, processes, workstreams or deliverable milestones and timetables are appropriately managed and achieved.
Ensure that you gain the respective knowledge of processes & tasks necessary to perform effectively and fulfil the role, ensuring that improvements are delivered.
Ensure projects, processes, workstreams or deliverables are developed with consideration of the risk & control framework being adopted across Finance.
Work closely & collaboratively with the Expense team management (and team) to ensure alignment of outputs and synergies where possible.
Ensure dependencies, deliverables and the impact of the teams process & outputs are fully understood across finance & wider business through effective business partnering
Specific Business Partner Activities

These will include, but are not restricted to, the following:

Build and manage successful relationships with Expense team, Finance team, Change team and modernisation delivery partners (e.g. PWC).
Appropriately challenge stakeholders to ensure decisions adequately consider Expense team requirements and are auditable where compromise is needed.
Engage Expense team leadership to ensure “buy-in” and agreement of projects, processes, workstreams or deliverables.
Partner with Expense team or wider Finance to understand current processes or systems to ensure current weaknesses or issues are incorporated into modernisation thinking.

Strategic Objectives

Observe current Expense team capability and offering. Then help to develop a strategy to implement on how we improve on this capability and offering through modernisation – giving Beazley a robust and value adding expense capability to meet the future requirements of the organisation (i.e. develop the expense function of tomorrow).
Support the delivery of strategic projects from an expense perspective through modernisation (both Actuals & Planning) to ensure they align to group requirements and are compatible with BAU processes.
Support the delivery of local expense projects through modernisation (both Actuals & Planning) to ensure they align to group requirements and are compatible with BAU processes.

Core competencies

Core competencies in addition to those noted as specific requirements for the role and which are considered to be pertinent to the Expense team are as follows:

Analytical Thinking: Logical analytical approach to rapidly changing data and situations. Considers wider implications across functions and varying scenarios to Beazley.
Professionalism: Consistently demonstrates integrity, is highly credible, respectful and trustworthy and represents the expense team in a professional manner. Builds and maintains successful working relationships and is seen to go the extra mile
Learning and development: Identifies strengths and weaknesses and seeks to improve performance. Recognises and takes responsibility for mistakes and learns from them. Continually seeks self-development opportunities. Regularly engages in self-assessment and gives/receives feedback to enhance personal awareness
Adaptability: Effectively manages changing priorities in a dynamic environment. Seeks training opportunities to understand new working methods. Proves resilient in uncertain and difficult situations and adapts approach/plans/style as required.
Responsibility and Accountability: Assumes full responsibility for the consequences of own behaviour and decisions. Delivers on commitments to clients demonstrating reliability and dependability. Admits mistakes and takes responsibility for correcting them.
Communicating Effectively: Timely communication of new information to relevant parties. Adapts communication style / form as appropriate to the audience and illustrates an understanding of their experience and needs. Conveys complex information clearly and concisely. Persuades through uncovering shared benefits and outcomes, looking for mutually satisfactory solutions.
Demonstrating Teamwork: Seeks collaboration as appropriate and shares knowledge/best practise and helps others when asked. Acknowledges when other members of the team are under comparatively increased pressure and volunteers to support them while maintaining responsibility for own tasks. Teaches new team members & coaches others; identifies opportunities for collaboration (NB: definition of team is extended beyond the expense team as appropriate).
Innovative approach: Independently finds solutions to advanced problems and identifies potential barriers to solutions and provides alternatives. Challenges assumptions and “the way we have always done it”. Embraces change & communicates the benefits of change to others.

Integrity and Control

Use business knowledge to identify potential errors with financial impact and take steps to prevent and/or correct such errors, highlighting where necessary to management.
Act as a conduit between the Finance department and other departments in order to maintain financial data integrity.
Produce and maintain procedures documentation for own tasks.

General

It is important that within all your interactions both internally and externally you adhere Beazley’s core values - Being Bold, Striving for Better, and Doing the Right Thing. We also expect Beazley employees to:

Comply with Beazley procedures, policies and regulations including the code of conduct
Undertake training on Beazley policies and procedures as delivered by your line manager, the Culture & People or Assurance Teams (Compliance, Risk, Internal Audit) either directly, via e-learning or the learning management system
Display business ethics that uphold the interests of all our customers
Ensure all interactions with customers are focused on delivering a fair outcome, including having the right products for their needs
Comply with any specific responsibilities necessary for your role as outlined by your line manager, the Culture & People or Assurance Teams (Compliance, Risk, Internal Audit) and ensure you keep up to date with developments in these areas. This may include, amongst others, Beazley’s underwriting control standards, Beazley’s claims control standards, other Beazley standards and customer relationship management
Carry out additional responsibilities as individually notified, either through your objectives or through the learning management system. These may include membership of any Beazley committees or working groups

Personal Specification

We are a flexible and innovative employer offering a friendly, collaborative, diverse and inclusive working environment. We actively encourage and expect applications from all backgrounds. We empower people to choose where to work given the work they need to do. Collaboration in office spaces is important but we do not mandate a set number of days in the office or from home – you decide what works best for you and the role you are in. Beazley will offer the person a competitive salary and discretionary bonus with a strong benefits package including commuting reimbursement, free in-office lunch, excellent parental leave and financial physical and mental wellbeing contributions among others.

Relevant qualifications and capabilities are listed as follows:

Education and Qualifications

Experienced qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA)
Experience of the insurance market, preferably Lloyd’s
Experience of modernisation or process improvement within complex organisations

Capabilities

Customer focus, Stakeholder management & relationship building
Understanding of controls frameworks including documentation
Adaptability & experience of a deadline driven environment
Strong attention to detail & strong written and verbal communication skills
Problem solving, decision making, analytical and conceptual thinking
Familiarity with Agile / Change methodologies

Modernisation jobs

Expense Manager (Modernisation)