Insurance Lead

Job summary

The Insurance Lead works as part of the Risk and Assurance team, with the Head of Risk & Assurance, supporting senior leaders within the directorate and across UKRI to ensure that UKRI operates best practice throughout its insurance arrangements.

The Insurance Lead is responsible for comprehensive review of all UKRI Insurance arrangements ensuring the development and implementation of appropriate long-term arrangements.

The postholder will be a part of the team working within the directorate to form a joined-up Risk & Assurance function, working closely with all teams within the directorate. This role will support delivery of changes and new ways of working, leading by example through changes to ways of working that will reduce siloed working and increase collaboration in how we manage risk and assurance across the organisation, with our senior forums, Executive Committee and Board.

Success Factors

• Increased engagement with senior leaders, councils and committees on insurance requirements.
• Appropriate assurance on the identification of insured and self-insured risk.
• Proactive identification, escalation, and resolution of concerns before they become issues.
• Insurance arrangements that benchmark favourably against best practice and are applied in practice to meet Managing Public Money requirements.
• Acceptable level of assurance on insurance arrangements to external stakeholders e.g., internal, and external auditors; UKRI Audit and Risk Assurance Committee.
• Improved efficiency and effectiveness of insurance processes and elimination of duplication.
• Increased use of team in an advisory capacity.
• Fewer surprises (using risk and assurance management to proactively identify risks at an early stage and before they become issues).

Management and Leadership Role

The Insurance Lead reports to the Head of Risk & Assurance.

The role requires line management or supervision of support team members.

This role will support the Head of Risk & Assurance to provide professional leadership and support across the Risk & Assurance Network across UKRI.

The Insurance Lead is a visible member of the team and of the UKRI Chief Finance Officer Group and is required to build strong and effective relationships across a diverse group of stakeholders internally and externally as appropriate.

The role will support the Head of Risk & Assurance to ensure that Risk & Assurance activity helps to influence and drive decision making in the organisation at all relevant levels in pursuit of organisational objectives.

Job description

Assurance Management

• Evaluate current arrangements and advise on the optimum future arrangements taking a risk-based approach.
• Lead on the review of all UKRI insurance ensuring value for money.
• Lead on the retendering of contracts for insurance brokerage and provision, acting as an intelligence customer internally and externally
• Support contract management for insurance services and manage relationships with brokers and providers
• Maintain the UKRI insurance policy and recommend future management arrangements.
• Review requests for ad hoc Insurance and advise on optimal approaches.
• Supervise and evaluate claims handling and record keeping, and recommend improvements.
• Analyse claims and advise on lessons learned
• Lead the insurance working group
• Be an active member in the team culture of continuous improvement in all areas and champion professional standards and good management practice across all the diverse areas of UKRI business.
• Provide balanced professional support and challenge to all business areas at a variety of levels as appropriate
• Administration of key documents and a good understanding of data and information management within assurance activities
• As a team member, lead by example, helping the overall team to develop skills and make a positive contribution to the work of the directorate
• Engage with all relevant risk and assurance activities as needed to deliver a professional service to the organisation and a joined up and cohesive team approach
• Requirement to travel sometimes to visit relevant locations or attend training or events
• Provide high quality written and verbal advice suitable for executive and senior level decision makers

Key Skills

• Experienced broker or insurance professional
• Excellent people skills, able to influence and build and maintain strong working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders at all levels, both internally and externally.
• Enthusiastic, motivated, adaptable, and proactive with the ability to work flexibly in a changing environment and respond to shifting priorities.
• Ability to innovate and challenge established thinking in self and others, and to offer insights and ideas with practical application coupled with the ability to drive change.
• Insightful business awareness with the ability to understand and analyse changing business context and landscape to assess and manage risk, capitalise on emerging opportunities, make sound evidence-based judgements, promote the interests of UKRI and research and innovation.
• Ability to instil confidence within stakeholders at the most senior levels, acting as a trusted advisor.
• Excellent communication skills including good experience of writing reports to a high standard
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent attention to detail and good system based and general administration skills

Additional Information

• Understanding of Government procurement framework for Insurance and Insurance Brokers.
• Experience of undertaking Insurance review for a large complex organisation.

Knowledge

Strong understanding of a wide range of insurance areas as well as government standards and public sector rules including but not limited to:

• Managing Public Money.
• HM Treasury and Cabinet Office standards and rules, particularly in relation to: Corporate Governance; Risk management; Spending Controls; Regularity and Propriety (conflicts of interest, gifts and hospitality, ethics).
• FRC Corporate Governance Code and its public sector equivalent.
• Government Functional Standards.

Person specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential

• Appropriate Insurance Qualification (S).
• Strong insurance management experience, including supporting and implementing effective insurance management frameworks in an organization (S/I).
• Experience collaborating with business areas and being a trusted advisor providing expert professional advice to senior management (S/I).
• Ability to innovate and challenge established thinking in self and others, and to offer insights and ideas with practical application coupled with the ability to drive change (S/I).
• Experience of attending Committees and Boards (S/I).
• Proven reporting experience (S/I).
• Experience of working with insurance brokers and/or providers (S/I).

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,589, UK Research and Innovation contributes £16,973 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

1st interview incl presentation

Interviews will either take place in person face to face, or remotely via Teams.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitmement@ukri.org