Chief Operating Officer

Role Overview

The Chief Operating Officer for the Digital Business Unit acts as the connective tissue between the Managing Director and every function that makes the unit run — Commercial, Digital Operations & Service, Technology, Data & AI, Customer Experience, Product, Pricing & Actuarial, and Thrive & Ecosystem. Day to day, this means running the unit's performance rhythm, governing the portfolio and investment pipeline, consolidating financial results, and keeping the operating model sharp enough that teams stay funded, aligned, and free of blockers. The role exists because strategy without a coordination layer stalls: the COO turns intent into sequenced execution so the unit can grow profitably, stay within regulatory expectations, and move at the speed a digital business demands.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as a strategic and operational partner to the Managing Director and executive committee, converting unit strategy into coordinated cross-functional execution and defining the KPIs used to steer and improve performance.
• Run the unit's performance framework end to end — strategic and operational metrics, benefits realisation, and quarterly business reviews — giving leadership one consistent, evidence-based view of how the business is tracking.
• Hold accountability for enterprise portfolio governance across the unit, covering initiative prioritisation, resource allocation, investment decisions, and delivery trade-offs.
• Own operating model effectiveness, including governance structures, organisational design, cross-functional alignment, consistent policies and internal controls, and risk and business continuity standards, while championing a strong risk and control culture alongside functional heads.
• Lead the unit's finance agenda: budget planning, cost tracking, and financial reporting across all functions, embedding cost discipline and unit economics thinking into operational and portfolio choices.
• Set delivery governance standards for projects and the portfolio, surface risks and dependencies for MD and executive committee decisions, and hold functional teams to agreed actions and timelines.
• Govern transformation across the unit, tracking adoption of new tools, ways of working, and redesigned processes, and reporting benefits realisation and change roadmap progress to leadership; direct process improvement, automation, and digital transformation programmes that scale the unit's digital, platform, and technology-enabled propositions.
• Diagnose cross-functional bottlenecks that span multiple teams and clear them, coordinate engagement with regulators, commercial partners, and technology vendors on cross-functional deliverables alongside functional heads, and consolidate inputs into a single evidence-based narrative for management and board meetings.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Experience: 10+ years in senior operations, finance business partnering, PMO or portfolio management, or business management roles, including demonstrable work consolidating budgets and financial performance across multiple teams or functions.
• Scaling and transformation: a track record of growing digital, platform, fintech, or technology-enabled financial services businesses, and of leading process improvement, automation, or digital transformation programmes.
• Commercial and financial acumen: P&L management, planning and budgeting, and the ability to make informed, data-driven business decisions.
• Governance and reporting: experience leading portfolio governance across multiple business areas and supporting executive committees and boards with performance reporting and decision support.
• Insurance knowledge: working understanding of insurance products, distribution models, and the regulatory environment governing insurance and financial services.
• Digital and technology fluency: able to engage credibly with engineering, product, and data teams and translate technical concepts into business outcomes.
• Leadership and delivery skills: proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and run multiple workstreams and timelines concurrently, with strong organisational, problem-solving, and change management capabilities in fast-growth, fast-changing environments.
• Communication and relationships: top-notch communication across audiences from operational teams to the board, strong interpersonal skills with staff, stakeholders, partners, and regulators, and the resilience to perform under pressure.
• Education and credentials: Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Commerce, Finance, Technology, or a related field; an MBA or related master's degree is preferred. Professional qualifications in insurance (e.g. ACII, FLMI, AIIK) or project and operations management (e.g. PMP, Lean Six Sigma) are an added advantage.