Head of Process Excellence

Hiscox•Lisbon, NY

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

This is a rare opportunity to shape and lead enterprise process excellence at Hiscox. As the organisation accelerates its operational maturity agenda, this role will be central to simplifying how work gets done, improving scalability and control, and creating better experiences for customers and employees alike. A new Enterprise Process Excellence function is being established at Group level to provide the vision, standards and momentum needed to turn process excellence into a sustained competitive advantage. The Head of Enterprise Process Excellence will set the strategic direction for process improvement across Hiscox and build the foundations that enable it to succeed at scale. This includes defining the methodology, standards, tooling, governance, operating model and capability required to drive measurable business outcomes. The role combines strategy and delivery: influencing senior stakeholders, identifying high-value opportunities, and, where needed, directly leading improvement programmes in areas where process excellence capability is still being built. It is a hands-on leadership role for someone who enjoys creating momentum, raising capability and embedding a culture of continuous improvement across a complex organisation. Reporting to the Head of Transformation Practice and Capability, this role will work in close partnership with Business Unit and Group Function leaders to identify opportunities, unlock value and accelerate enterprise-wide change. Supported by a capable team, the successful candidate will play a visible leadership role in shaping how Hiscox improves, adapts and grows.

Requirements

A degree in a relevant discipline and/or recognised process excellence credentials such as Lean Six Sigma Black Belt or Master Black Belt
Significant experience leading process improvement, operational excellence or transformation work in complex environments
A strong record of delivering impactful improvement programmes that create measurable operational and commercial value
Insurance sector experience is essential, with a strong understanding of insurance operations, process complexity and the regulatory environment
Experience establishing or scaling process excellence capabilities, including methods, tools, governance and vendor management
Excellent analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills, with the ability to translate insight into action
Strong communication and influencing skills, with the credibility to work across functions and engage senior stakeholders
Confidence using and shaping the adoption of process excellence and automation tools, including process mapping and mining, workflow, robotics, intelligent automation and AI-enabled solutions

Nice To Haves

Experience operating in an international matrix environment, ideally within financial services, would be highly valuable.
Beyond technical expertise, this role calls for someone with strong delivery focus, sound commercial judgement and a pragmatic approach to solving business problems.
The right person will bring an external perspective, use data to inform decisions and confidently challenge existing ways of working in order to help Hiscox achieve better outcomes.

Responsibilities

Shape and deliver a Group-wide enterprise process excellence strategy and roadmap aligned to business priorities
Ensure process excellence initiatives support wider business goals, customer needs and operational performance ambitions
Identify and prioritise opportunities to simplify, standardise, automate and improve critical end-to-end processes
Build the enterprise foundations for success, including methodology, governance, tooling, standards and capability development
Provide oversight, visibility and performance tracking across process excellence activity in Business Units and Group Functions
Personally lead selected improvement programmes where additional capability or leadership is needed
Lead the evaluation and adoption of enabling tools and technologies in partnership with Group IT and other stakeholders
Define and monitor meaningful KPIs to measure progress, demonstrate impact and communicate value
Coach, support and influence process excellence teams, leaders and champions across the organisation
Design and deliver engaging learning and coaching approaches that strengthen process excellence capability across Hiscox
Champion a culture of continuous improvement, innovation and disciplined execution across the business