The Opportunity

A leading global specialty insurer is seeking a commercially minded and highly credible People Business Partner to act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders and managers across key business functions.

Operating within a fast-paced, regulated specialty insurance environment, the successful candidate will partner closely with Underwriting and other designated leadership teams to drive organisational performance, strengthen leadership capability, manage employee relations matters and shape a high-performing, engaged culture.

This is a high-impact role requiring a curious, resilient and pragmatic People professional with sound judgement, exceptional stakeholder-management skills and the confidence to influence at senior level.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, balancing commercial outcomes with employee experience and effective risk management.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with senior leaders and managers across Underwriting and other designated business areas to deliver people strategies aligned with commercial priorities and organisational objectives.
• Act as a trusted adviser on organisational design, workforce planning, succession planning, leadership capability and talent risk.
• Lead and manage employee relations matters, including investigations, performance management, absence management, conduct issues, grievances, restructures and exits, ensuring balanced commercial and legal outcomes.
• Support the annual reward and year-end compensation process, partnering with Compensation colleagues and business leaders on salary reviews, bonus planning, benchmarking, calibration and communication.
• Coach and influence functional leaders and managers on people management, team effectiveness, organisational culture and leadership behaviours.
• Use workforce, engagement and operational data to identify trends, risks and opportunities, providing insight-led recommendations to leadership teams.
• Partner closely with colleagues across Talent Acquisition, Compensation, Learning and Development, Pay and Benefits, and the wider People function to deliver integrated people solutions.
• Build strong relationships throughout the business, ensuring the People team is regarded as a proactive, commercially credible and value-adding partner.
• Ensure people practices comply with internal governance, employment legislation and regulatory expectations within a regulated financial services environment.
• Contribute to broader People initiatives, including leadership development, employee engagement, process improvement and the continued enhancement of the employee experience.

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Significant People Business Partner experience gained within insurance, banking or broader financial services, together with exposure to regulated processes.
• Experience of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) and its associated processes.
• Proven experience partnering with senior leaders across Underwriting and/or other front-office functions within financial services.
• Strong employee relations capability, with the confidence to manage complex ER matters independently.
• Commercial acumen and the ability to balance people, operational and business priorities pragmatically.
• Experience operating within an FCA- and/or PRA-regulated environment, with a strong understanding of expectations relating to conduct, governance, accountability and people risk.
• Demonstrated experience supporting organisational change, restructures, workforce planning and transformation initiatives.
• Excellent stakeholder-management and influencing skills, with the credibility and confidence to operate at senior leadership level.
• Strong analytical capability, including experience using people metrics, workforce data and commercial insight to inform decision-making.
• A curious, proactive and solutions-focused approach, with the resilience to operate effectively in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• A collaborative mindset and willingness to balance strategic thinking with day-to-day people advisory responsibilities.

Desirable

• Experience within the London Market, specialty insurance or Lloyd’s environment.
• Experience supporting Underwriting leadership teams and their respective divisions.
• Exposure to international or matrixed organisational structures.

The Organisation

The organisation is a successful and growing global specialty insurer with deep expertise across its chosen lines of business. It offers a competitive salary and comprehensive employee benefits package.

The organisation is committed to creating an inclusive working environment and is an equal-opportunity employer.