Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

18 month Fixed Term contract

The Role

To support to the Howden CAP trading division of Howden Specialty.  Howden CAP places insurance for M&A transactions, Tax and Contingent risks, Credit risk and Surety transactions, as well as Real Estate and emerging insurance lines to address risks caused by Climate change.  The division has revenue of c. £150m and operates through multiple companies across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia.

To act as the direct finance partner to Howden CAP teams (including its international network) to help continually improve financial performance and decision-making through reporting, analysis and planning.  Act as the interface between Business Units and Management accounts to resolve queries in relation to management accounts.  Ensure appropriate business reporting functions are set up allowing each Business Unit to measure their Key Financial Performance Indicators and satisfy their statutory and regulatory reporting responsibilities with regards to financial data. Ensure that all responsibilities are completed in accordance with Company policies.
 

What you'll do

• Develop strong working relationships with business leaders and an understanding of the business to provide tailored finance support to each team.

• Provide high quality and timely advice, information, analysis, reporting and interpretation to support effective decision making and performance management.

• Understand the drivers of business performance, identifying trends, areas of opportunity or remedial action and influence the implementation of initiatives to address these.

• Production of finance packs with commentary.

• Challenge the business divisions relating to observed weaknesses and improvement opportunities.

• Lead business units in the setting of annual budgets and mid-year forecasts.

• Prepare financial models for company acquisitions and team lifts.

• Support the improvement of management reporting and analysis.

• Help to maintain and improve financial reporting IT systems.

• Understand the current business processes and assist in the development of systems and procedures to ensure strong financial controls are run across relevant business units within Howden UK.

• Support senior managers to deliver group objectives.

• Maintain effective relationships across the Howden Group’s finance function.

Who we're looking for

• Accuracy and attention to detail

• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written

• Ambitious and self-motivated

• Ability to react positively to change

• Ability to think laterally and solve problems using own initiative and challenge the status quo where necessary.

• Insurance industry experience

• Experience of supporting senior business managers, including reporting and explaining financial results and information

• Provision of support to one or more business units, e.g. commercial analysis, budgets & forecasts etc.

• Project and task management experience

• Implementation and improvement of processes and controls

• Provision of support to one or more business units in a large/complex organization (including commercial analysis, budgets & forecasts etc.)

• OneStream experience

• ACCA/ACA/CIMA qualified with approx. 5 years PQE

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Fixed Term Contract (Fixed Term)