Director, Strategy

This role will report into the UK CEO and be a member of the UK Executive Team. This role is responsible for helping to shape the UK Business Strategy to continue our growth journey, working closely with UK leadership and cross-functionally to drive market and competitor intelligence, lead horizon 3 strategic evaluations, and optimise strategy execution. This role will initially have one direct report to support day-to-day activities. 

What you will be doing:

• Bringing together both internal Customer insight and external Market and Competitors insight to help Executive team identify strategic opportunities for the UK business
• Monitor and evaluate the competitive market landscape, movements and risks to assess SB’s relative position to major industry players and innovative start-upsIdentify strategic opportunities (and/or risks) for SB considering SB’s competitive landscape and moves its competitors make or plan
• Ensure internal and external data insights are combined to inform business decisions and behaviours to achieve SB’s vision and business objectives
• Levering insights from close partnership with our Shared Services teams, identify which new opportunities (new products / new markets) provide the greatest opportunity for SB to significantly grow its adjacency business
• Help shape our UK market strategy and own the OKR planning process to support delivery
• Developing horizon 3 thinking and opportunity identification to build innovation pipeline, including how we monetise our data as a competitive advantage
• Working with Exec leadership across the Group and using injections from external sources, run innovation sessions to build a potential innovation pipeline.
• Specifically: working with our Data & Analytics team, Risk and Compliance and Chief Commercial Officer, fully evaluate data as a competitive advantage and capability for SB, assessing how this might form part of SB’s commercial model evolution
• Mentor and develop SBers to build a strong, cross-functional team capable of executing the innovation agenda
• Spend 10% of time connecting with, understanding and keeping up to speed on developments across US and Shared Services to inform strategy direction to adopt a group perspective

Requirements

• Strategic Thinker: Demonstrated ability to think strategically, analyse complex problems, develop and implement creative solutions and drive results 
• Data-Driven Problem-solver: Comfortable working with data and using it to inform decision-making; highly analytical with the ability to diagnose and solve complex problems
• Collaborative team player and relationship builder: Collaborator with enterprise-wide mindset and the ability to build strong relationships across the organisation and across the Insurance, InsurTech and FinTech industry. Strong influencing skills to help bring SBers on a journey with them

This role is regulated by the FCA and it will have specific responsibilities under those regulations. We'll explain these to you as part of the hiring process.

If you're applying for a role in which you'll performing Senior Management Functions under the Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SM&CR), you'll also be subject to enhanced check and referencing in accordance with the FCA's guidelines.

About Simply Business

We insure small businesses and enable big dreams – not just for our customers, but for our people and communities too. With over 1,000,000 active insurance policies, we protect builders, bakers, landlords and more than 1,200 other trades.

We’re a technology company as well as one that sells insurance. That means we build, we fail, we learn and we improve. We’re a B Corp too, which recognises our strong track record of having a positive impact on people, society and the environment.

Why not check out our advert on YouTube: Simply Business TV advert 2024: 'Simply the Best'

What are the benefits of working at Simply Business?

We offer a great work-life balance where every team member has a manageable workload and the flexibility to work hybrid. 

On top of the 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays), we offer leave that suits your needs. Plus the option to buy five more days of holiday with your flexible benefits. 

Our flexible parental leave allows you to approach an important time how you want – with six months full pay to the primary caregiver and four weeks full pay if you’re the secondary caregiver.

Our life event leave is an extra days leave every two years for those big moments in your life like moving house or your birthday. And as a thank you to our long-serving employees we offer a two week paid sabbatical after five years of service, then four weeks off after ten years of service.

And our core benefits can put your mind at ease with private medical insurance through BUPA, that covers any pre-existing condition. And a health cash plan that covers your everyday medical expenses.

We also make sure you’re compensated fairly with a competitive salary based on your experience and the market we’re in. Plus the potential to earn an annual bonus based on performance.

There’s access to the tools to support your personal development with programmes on our dedicated learning platform. As well as support for your mental health with access to counselling. 

We’ll match what you put into your pension up to five per cent. And pass on a tax-free sum that’s four times your basic salary with our life assurance policy, with the option to increase it to ten times through our flexible benefit scheme

Our salary sacrifice car scheme gives you the option to buy a brand new, fully insured, and maintained car for a convenient fixed monthly amount taken from your gross salary (after 6 months service).

And our flexible benefits scheme gives you an allocated amount to use each year on benefits like critical illness cover, dental insurance, travel insurance, or a gym membership.

Ready to join us and drive our success as a high-performing team? Apply today.