Strategy Manager

job description:
**About Hiscox**

As an international specialist insurer we are far removed from the world of mass market insurance products. Instead we are selective and focus on our key areas of expertise and strength - all of which is underpinned by a culture that encourages us to challenge convention and always look for a better way of doing things.

We insure the unique and the interesting. And we search for the same when it comes to talented people. Hiscox is full of smart, reliable human beings that look out for customers and each other. We believe in doing the right thing, making good and rebuilding when things go wrong. Everyone is encouraged to think creatively, challenge the status quo and look for solutions.

Scratch beneath the surface and you will find a business that is solid, but slightly contrary. We like to do things differently and constantly seek to evolve. We might have been around for a long time (our roots go back to 1901), but we are young in many ways, ambitious and going places.

Some people might say insurance is dull, but life at Hiscox is anything but. If that sounds good to you, get in touch.
**The Role**

The Strategy Manager role is a role in the European Change Team who is responsible for actively supporting the European Management Team strategic agenda by supporting the definition and reviewing Hiscox Europe strategy and goals to identify its potential strengths and opportunities for improvement. The role is responsible to define and recommend detailed plans and set goals based on specific assessments conducted. It is also responsible to help to implement these strategies through clear definition of accountability and ownership and cooperation with all relevant teams to monitor the implementation of the local and functional plans defined.

The main focus of this role are listed as follow:

- defining, analysing and tracking key financial, business and operational indicators to respond to European Management Team specific questions/needs;
- supporting the conversion of the vision enablers and strategic priorities into plans that can be evaluated in quantitative and qualitative manners;
- supporting the EMT and remaining EU senior leadership in following the established plans and mitigating associated risks;
- keeping up to key market trends and make sure they are brought for discussion and consideration at the relevant time.

Considering our current stage in Europe, where we are aiming to leverage from major investments to consolidate the technology stack and continue to support the double-digit growth journey, there is an opportunity to provide closer support to the EMT in achieving their 2030 vision and beyond.

**What does a Strategy Manager do?**

A Strategy Manager is a business partner to the EMT and Hiscox EU senior leadership and is engaged in converting the strategic ambitions of each Country in actionable plans, understanding and promoting the role of Europe in boosting those local plans, and is then able to support their implementation.

Main activities for this role should be:

- Respond to the EMT priorities through the run of appropriate assessments (internal or external) and provide clear recommendations
- Drive the creation of local and functional strategic plans while assigning ownership, defining how to monitor and monitoring their implementation
- Report on any deviations from the implementation of strategic plans or other strategic recommendations and define mitigation actions
- Be a business partner to the EMT and Hiscox EU senior leadership
- Drive strategic projects sponsored by the EMT
- Gather best practices from throughout Hiscox Group and link them to Hiscox EU strategic plans
- LI-POST

person specification:
**Technical must-haves**
- Master’s degree, ideally in Management / Economics / Finance
- At least 7 years in strategic consulting or strategic advisory, having worked on the Financial Services sector and ideally in insurance business
- Ability to convert vision into actionable plans
- Able to conduct Strategic Planning activities and link it to Business/Financial Planning
- Team management skills and experience
- Fluent in English, verbally and written; fluency in German, French and/or Spanish is considered a significant plus
**Personality trades**
- Strong senior stakeholder engagement with the ability to converge different needs / priorities into plans with clear accountability
- Ability to exert influence across a range of geographically distributed stakeholders
- Strong communication skills with the ability to inspire and get consensus
- Ability to work well under pressure and achieve results within the scheduled time-frame
- Ability to drive results through others
- Ability to work in a fast-moving environment with rapidly evolving targets; multitasking effectively, (re)prioritize and switch focus with efficiency
- Strong leadership and analytical skills
- Ability to navigate ambiguous situations, identify and solve blockers with mín