Head of Expenses

Head of Expenses | City of London | Insurance | Contract | Day rate: 750 – 900 (inside IR35)

I am currently working alongside a well-known insurer, where they are looking to expand the FP&A team with a Head of Expenses manager.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead & Develop Your Team: Oversee and cultivate a high-performing Expenses team (approx. 5), ensuring robust budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes. You'll champion their professional growth and operational excellence.
• Drive Cost Strategy & Influence: Proactively partner with the UK's senior leadership, including the CEO, CFO, and COO, to strategically influence the UK operating expense base. This includes identifying and supporting significant cost-saving opportunities.
• Deliver Strategic Financial Insights: Provide timely, relevant, and comprehensive analysis of spending patterns to the Executive Committee and subsidiary boards. You'll design and produce insightful expense data, highlighting deviations from budget, forecasts, and prior periods, along with associated risks and proposed solutions.
• Master IFRS17 Expense Reporting: Collaborate closely with the Expense Reporting team to deeply understand and effectively communicate the UK business’ IFRS17 expense results quarterly, crafting clear narratives that tell the 'UK expense story'.
• Build Cross-Functional Partnerships: Foster strong relationships with key stakeholders across UK, European, and Global Finance teams (e.g., FP&A, Financial Management – Change, Business Partners). You'll educate them on operating expenses and IFRS17 impacts, fostering a strong financial understanding and commercial mindset.
• Ensure Process Excellence & Data Integrity: Design, maintain, and continuously improve robust processes, systems, and controls for budgeting, forecasting, and management information. You'll guarantee all expense data is accurate, insightful, and supports rapid, strategically aligned decision-making for internal and external reporting requirements.
• Inform Actuarial Decisions: Provide critical inputs for periodic cost allocation methodology reviews, ensuring key stakeholders understand their impact on best estimate liabilities, solvency capital, and overall earnings.

What You'll Bring

• A recognised accountancy qualification or equivalent extensive relevant experience.
• Sound knowledge of cost management practices within the UK Financial Services industry.
• A proven track record of strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, comfortable engaging up to C-Suite and Board levels.
• Demonstrated ability to build, lead, and develop high-performing finance teams.
• In-depth understanding of IFRS17 accounting and reporting as it applies to expenses.
• Exceptional analytical abilities to provide strategic financial insights and clearly articulate the story behind the numbers.
• Experience with expense management systems (e.g., SAP) and robust financial reporting tools.
• Excellent communication and report writing skills, with the ability to explain complex financial concepts clearly to diverse audiences.