Operations & Client Delivery Senior Manager

APR is looking for an Operations & Client Delivery Senior Manager to help us to scale our business further by increasing our capacity and expertise at senior management level. This is a great opportunity for a technically capable actuary holding strong operational experience, with excellent client-facing and people skills, and holding shared values with APR, to support us in developing further our collective capability and contribute to our ongoing sustainable growth.

Company Background

At APR, we aim to delight our clients by providing high-quality actuarial support.  Our intellectually curious team of 80+ actuarial staff across the UK and Ireland ranges from students to deeply experienced actuaries.  We tailor solutions to the specific needs of each client, whether through our consulting services or via secondment.  We have built an industry-wide reputation for the quality of our staff, investment in their training and development, and providing a value-based service which has allowed us to build long-term trusted relationships with a wide portfolio of clients.   

Summary of Role

We anticipate this individual being involved in a number of our key functions within the Operations & Client Delivery business area including:

• Actuarial People Management
• Actuarial Recruitment
• Project Resourcing including in-house capacity management
• Quality assurance and client service delivery
• Training and Development of actuarial staff
• Strategic business operations and initiatives such as diversity & inclusion, staff engagement, sustainability and CSR policy

Such involvement will be a mix of oversight and management of, and challenge to, existing owners but also more active, hands-on input where beneficial.

Either immediately or within a relatively short timeframe, we’d expect the individual to form part of APR’s Leadership team and be a key contributor to senior decision making.

We envisage the role as a mixture of fee-earning actuarial work servicing our clients and internal delivery, with the former capped at an agreed proportion of time to accommodate the significant internal responsibilities.

The ideal candidate will provide credibility and evidence of their ability to manage a number of the functions listed above.  We also greatly value creativity and welcome ideas for improving functional performance in aspects like internal reporting metrics, improving efficiency, communication and sustainability.

Key aspects of APR’s success are our company culture and core values - We Excel, We Simplify, We Nurture, We Dare and We Care.  We’d expect the successful applicant to share and exhibit our values, complement our culture and have a passion for delivering on our purpose of nurturing our talented staff and delighting our clients.

We believe the role will accommodate hybrid working arrangements.

Key responsibilities

We are keen for the candidate to share their views on how they will approach this role and therefore there is some flexibility in the precise responsibilities.  We envisage the likely responsibilities to include:

• Directly lead or provide oversight of several of the functions detailed above and assist both in the daily management and future development of operational management at APR.
• Identify and implement improvements to the operational management of the Operations & Client Delivery business area.
• Nurture and develop sub-function leads and other staff that work in such functions, encouraging ownership and innovation.
• Collaborate with and provide challenge to other business areas and the Partner Board to avoid silos and help grow and develop APR as a business.
• Work directly on a range of client projects, leveraging your actuarial experience to complement APR’s services.
• Manage your own time effectively between APR operational management and client responsibilities.
• Contribute to enhancing our training and technical development of APR staff.
• Act as formal line manager to a number of APR colleagues and take a wider role in mentoring and coaching of a wider group of more junior actuarial staff.
• Assist in managing relationships with some clients, with the potential to take on ownership of relationship with some clients.

Key skills, attributes and experience

Similarly to the key responsibilities, there is some flexibility around the skills, attributes and experience required.  The following provides a flavour of the aspects which we envisage being useful, rather than a list of “must-haves”:

• Proven ownership of value-add operational management, ideally in an actuarial setting.
• Evidence of having successfully led or taken a senior role in significant change projects.
• Experience of holding line and team management responsibilities.
• A commitment to mentoring and knowledge sharing to develop junior colleagues.
• Strong time-management and prioritisation skills in adapting to a highly fluid work environment.
• A creative approach to problem-solving. Delivery-focused and adept at working with a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to adopt a constructive approach to understanding APR business needs and delivering the best solution that meets those needs.
• An ability to take tough decisions if in company’s best interests.
• Commitment to continuous improvement and self-development, as well as the ability to nurture others with the same commitment.
• Client account management experience.
• Identifies with APR’s purpose and values and sees a strong fit with the company’s culture.
• FIA or equivalent actuarial qualification is preferred, with several years of experience working in the UK insurance markets.