Head of Specialty Claims

Job Description

Are you looking for your next opportunity?

Sompo has a unique opportunity for a Head of Specialty – Claims in our Claims team.

This role leads the claims portfolio, including related sub-classes and complex claims, to deliver strong business outcomes across loss ratio, capital, and brand while consistently providing excellent service to brokers and customers. It manages the portfolio in line with claims strategy to support underwriting plans and strategic objectives, provides expert claims insight and recommendations to enhance portfolio and product performance, drives continuous improvement to control indemnity, reduce expense, and improve customer experience, collaborates with Underwriting Product Heads to strengthen risk selection and pricing through claims intelligence, and reflects Sompo Values in the delivery and performance of the role and team.

Regulatory Obligations: This role is designated as a Certified Person role under the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR). The successful candidate will be required to comply with all applicable regulatory requirements, including the FCA/PRA Conduct Rules, and must maintain "Fit and Proper" status at all times. As part of the screening process therefore, the successful candidate will be subject to Regulatory Reference checks to cover the last six years.

Location: This position will be based out of our London office. We strive for collaboration which is why we offer a work environment where our employees thrive and develop long lasting careers.

Our business, your impact, our opportunity:

What you’ll be doing:

Key Result Areas - Strategy and Planning

Lead and influence the technical execution of the portfolio by Line of Business, generating consistent performance, delivering service excellence, and transforming our capability. In alignment with:

• Underwriting business plans.
• Claims strategy & Objectives.
• Claims KPIs.
• 3rd Party, Legal, and Expert Strategy & Policies.
• Claims Control Framework.
• Reserving Framework.
• Outsourcing Strategy.
• Manage, mitigate, and enhance expert referrals to mitigate risk, exposure, and expense to the portfolio, whilst addressing and remediating 3rd party performance issues.
• Own and deliver market intelligence and claims experience trends to identify opportunities to develop or enhance new products, services, and processes.
• Provide data led insights, trends, and output from data analysis and embed this practice within your teams to highlight actions that enable continuous improvement, to the UK Chief Claims Officer.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to support and lead the design and delivery of changes to business practices, in collaboration with operations.
• Lead the development and production of thought leadership material for internal and external publication, enhancing the profile and reputation of the Claims Function.
• Identify and promote the key aspects of high-performing claims culture and working environment, strengthening Sompo Claims’ reputation, internally and externally as an employer of choice and desirable place to work.
• Be the focal point for all technical and claim portfolio matters for both internal & external stakeholders, engaging with claims management, underwriters, and brokers on challenges and opportunities to inform and develop our service delivery to customers and clients.
•  Identify and deliver against the claims operational priorities, claims management requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives from current to target state, ensuring strategic alignment with priorities of the Group and key stakeholders, including data, IT and risk management.

Key Performance Indicators

• Strategic plan and priorities are clearly defined, articulated and cascaded into tactical delivery plans.
• Business, financial and portfolio performance targets are delivered against agreed plans.
• Data-led insights and market intelligence drive measurable performance improvement and informed decision-making.
• Regulatory reporting, control framework requirements and risk mitigation standards are met.
• Stakeholder alignment, engagement and confidence are demonstrated across Claims and the wider business.
• Sustained talent retention, attraction and mobilisation support team capability and delivery at pace.
• Top-quartile portfolio performance is demonstrated through transactional KPIs, reserving accuracy and end-to-end claims lifecycle outcomes.

Policy, Process and Procedures

• Deliver accurate and timely reporting to the UK Chief Claims Officer and through the Governance structure to Board level.
• Support and interact with the appropriate level of committees and forums, as well as documentation/training material for the specific work being undertaken, in line with professional standards and/or Sompo specific standards and regulatory requirements.
• Manage and oversee all performance management activities related to Claims, embedding a high degree of performance in response to KPIs, Controls, and processes, and regulatory / legislative standards.
• Improve the capability of the claims function by creating and supporting learning opportunities around, service delivery, technical claims and portfolio management, and data analytics.
• Lead and support the technical response to changing regulatory standards, including fair value, and consumer duty, whilst complying with state/territory issues and regulations, industry activity and trends, and any actions that flow from regulatory or internal change.

Key Performance Indicators

• High quality documentation/training material produced, with appropriate rationale.
• Positive feedback from Claims leadership and internal stakeholders.
• Enhanced results from internal and external claims audit procedures and achieving benchmarks, enabled by the effectiveness of reporting.
• Risk mitigation & avoidance.
• Claims and regulatory standards met.
• Compliance with the Control Framework.
• Sompo’s internal reporting standards met.
• No major unexpected risk/exposure.
• Timeliness and accuracy.
• Identification and resolution of problems.
• Evidence of innovation.
• Appropriate technology successfully deployed.

Environmental Awareness / Customer Focus

• Enhance and positively represent the brand and reputation of Sompo and Claims to increase and improve the awareness and profile of Sompo against our peers and with our clients / customers.

• Lead and influence the customer and client experience of Sompo and the related portfolio, doing so via implementing and adhering to service standards, collective and personal objectives, and behaviours.

• Foster strong relationships with underwriters, brokers, 3rd parties, and our customers via multi-channel engagement and focused forums.

• Make a significant contribution to the development and execution of a proactive broker engagement strategy, ensuring Sompo Claims delivers against broker service expectations while strengthening strategic partnerships and market collaboration.

• Develop and embed a client centric claims service model, aligned with the Sompo Client team, that differentiates service delivery through clear defined segmentation, performance metrics and client value drivers.

• Create and lead a service orientated claims delivery approach that enhances outcomes for internal stakeholders, brokers and clients, while reinforcing operational excellence and a consistent market-facing claims proposition.

• Champion collaboration and engagement with internal stakeholders to enable the resolution of issues and the implementation of initiatives.

• Represent Sompo claims at market conferences including panel discussions to help promote and deliver on the market-leading promise of the claims function.

Key Performance Indicators

• Positive feedback from clients and stakeholders
• Open, pro-active, and regular communication.
• Achievement of objectives.
• Enhanced and accurate intelligence and data
• Creation of opportunities to share ideas, concepts and development work, that is holistic and performed in consideration of key claims and stakeholder requirements
• Sought after participant in business decisions
• Lead relationship with key stakeholders
• Measurable improvement Gracechurch and broker surveys outcomes, demonstrating enhance market perception, service credibility and strategic broker engagement.
• Consistently strong feedback from internal and external stakeholders, evidencing effective leadership, trusted partnership and delivery of strategic claims priorities.
• Effective management and reduction of complaints through proactive service oversight, root-cause analysis and continuous improvement of the claims experience.

Technical Performance

• Own and be accountable for the performance of the portfolio and the technical team’s performance that are administering that portfolio.
• Own and be accountable for peer review, audit outcomes, and the action planning in response to internal and external recommendations.
• Own and be accountable for the portfolio team’s compliance with our claims and reserving philosophy, conduct rules, regulatory and legislative standards, and Controls.
• Provide strategic leadership, ownership and accountability for the Financial Claims teams’ disciplined, timely and accurate execution of Sompo Controls, ensuring effective governance, control adherence and risk oversight across the portfolio.
• Understand and be able to effectively articulate the legal and regulatory processes in key territories and the impact decisions emanating from these bodies have on claims and subsequently the underwriting business plan and products currently on offer at Sompo. 
• Maintain and develop lead knowledge of the Claims portfolio and the assessment of its performance, recommending and actioning improvements to improve quality, service delivery, and efficiency (via practices and processes) .
• Develop and execute on the individual product lines claims strategy that underpin the portfolio you are responsible for, to ensure local portfolio improvements deliver upon the claim’s strategy.
• Generate indemnity and expense savings to maximise profit plans and strategies in alignment with the claims and strategy.
• Control and mitigate the approach taken to appoint counsel and experts, in alignment with strategy, to control 3rd party spend.
• Manage and oversee the performance of 3rd parties, and establish action plans to remediate the usage of 3rd parties and their performance, and create partnerships and cost-effective solutions that enhance claim outcomes for clients, customers, and Sompo
• Work with the teams to find efficiency gains in the claims process and maximize productivity through streamlining of processes.
• Elevate talent to develop and share knowledge with the intention of enhancing both technical (e.g. data analysis and critical judgement) and non-technical (relationship management) skills.

Key Performance Indicators

• Open, pro-active, and regular communication.
• Quality, accurate information made available to Claims & Underwriters and external and internal customers.
• Scoring above benchmark on data KPIs, targets, and benchmarks.
• Benchmarking against plan objectives.
• Achievement of cost synergies.
• Delivery of business and financial targets.
• Appropriate and accurate analysis and reporting is supplied in timely manner.
• Demonstrate controls effectiveness, evidenced through robust governance discipline, proactive risk oversight, timely issue remediation on sustained adherence to the Claims Control Framework.

People Management

• Manage, resource, motivate, develop, and focus the team(s) to ensure the required standards of performance and support the continuing personal and professional development of all team members.

• Manage appointment, dismissal, performance management and reward of the team(s) to effectively manage resources within the function.

• Establish clear accountabilities and authority levels for direct reports and build a strong culture of accountability and performance to ensure delivery of goals.

• Support and influence a positive and collaborative culture that is underpinned by our values and displayed internally and externally via positive behaviours.

• Provide mentoring and career development to colleagues to strengthen their capabilities, build functional expertise and foster a collaborative, values-driven team culture of high standards, strong productivity, and innovation.

Key Performance Indicators

• Develop skilled, capable and competent team members.
• Clear statement of roles and responsibilities within the business.
• Management of 3rd party resources and their performance against SLAs and customer (claims team) experience.
• All direct reports have appropriate SMART objectives set.
• All direct reports have a quality personal development plan.
• The team is adequately staffed and developed to support succession plan.
• Timely completion of performance & development plans mid-year and end of year review as a minimum standard.
• Positive 360-degree feedback demonstrating credible, values-led leadership, effective enterprice-wide stakeholder influence and consistent delivery of strategic people and business outcomes.
• Regular one-to-one meetings with team members.
• Actively mentors team members to assist their personal development.

Specific accountabilities assigned to the role of Head of Portfolio:

• Lead the portfolio of claims, related sub classes, and complex claims, to generate strong business outcomes to loss ratio, capital, and our brand, whilst delivering great service outcomes to our brokers and customers, on a consistent basis across the claims function.
• Own and deliver market intelligence and claims experience trends to identify opportunities to develop or enhance new products, services, and processes.
• Create and recommend solutions to challenges and issues experienced across claims and within your portfolio, inside and outside governance.
• Generate and assist in the production of thought leadership material for internal and external publishing, to enhance the profile of claims.
• Manage and oversee all performance management activities related to Claims, embedding a high degree of performance in response to KPIs, Controls, and processes, and regulatory / legislative standards.
• Develop and execute on the individual product lines claims strategy that underpin the portfolio you are responsible for, to ensure local portfolio improvements deliver upon the claim’s strategy.
• Generate indemnity and expense savings to maximise profit plans and strategies in alignment with the claims and strategy
• Control and mitigate the approach taken to appoint counsel and experts, in alignment with strategy, to control 3rd party spend
• Support mentoring and development initiatives to strengthen team capabilities, build functional expertise and foster a collaborative, values-driven team culture.
• Elevate claims talent to develop and share knowledge with the intention of enhancing both technical and non-technical skills within the team.
• Role model strategic, value-led leadership by actively embedding the Sompo Claims culture and consistently demonstrating professional judgement, integrity and compassion in line with the Sompo Claims philosophy.

Knowledge

• Expert knowledge of claims litigation and resolution techniques.
• Extensive experience and knowledge of technical claims management supporting multiple lines of business / claims across geographies and industries.
• Extensive experience of portfolio management within a multi-jurisdiction claims function, with differing regulatory and legislative standards.
• Strong commercial knowledge of industry trends to be able to provide expert advice and opinion where required.
• Strong understanding of technical claims handling and the processes, across multiple lines of business and geographies.
• Strong risk and performance management capabilities, via resources, data, and 3rd party management.

Skills

• Excellent decision making and commercial awareness to ensure coverage analysis does not become too entrenched and strategic opportunities identified
• Attention to detail with a track record of delivering service excellence via detailed and technical claims management and processes.
• Strong relationships across the industry and market to influence and access expertise and solutions that will advance business and customer outcomes. Supported by:

o   Strong investigative skills

• Strong influencing and negotiation skills
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong organisational & prioritisation skills.
• Able to work independently
• Able to manage conflicting priorities to achieve deadlines.
• Ability to plan effectively and efficiently.
• Ability to collaborate effectively within a team environment.
• Proficient in MS Office applications; Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

Experience

• Responsibility for managing a claims portfolio and resources within multiple jurisdictions.
• Strong track record of initiating and contributing to change within the claims function. 
• Preferred area of studies in a field where legal advice and negotiation skills are fundamental to the successful resolution of complex and disputed claims matters including in depth legal analysis
• Recognised qualification(s) and/or good practical knowledge of the insurance regulatory framework across multiple jurisdictions and lines of business.
• Experience of people management, that fosters a positive, collaborative, and innovate culture that owns actions and creates value for the business and customers.
• Experience of managing outsourcing that has provided significant improvement in service quality and improved claims performance.

Desirable personal attributes aligned to what success looks like in the role:

• Intellectually curious – demonstrate willingness and curiosity to learn through own research
• Independent challenger - ability to innovate and challenge, utilising consultative questioning, current norms to drive change within the claims function, and work with people of varying backgrounds and organisational levels
• Knowledgeable practitioner – deals confidently with uncertainty, leans into difficult conversations while lowering the pressure of resistance
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to think, influence and act strategically·         Effective communicator – structures insights into clear messages and effectively engages others within claims function, as well as internal stakeholders, professional and regulatory bodies
• Change agent – leverages a skilful understanding of persuasion and influence, knowing which techniques to deploy while remaining a trusted advisor to Senior Management across the Business

At Sompo, we recognize that the talent, skills, and commitment of our employees drive our success. This is why we offer competitive, high-quality compensation and benefit programs to eligible employees.

Our compensation program is built on a foundation that promotes a pay-for-performance culture, resulting in higher incentive awards, on average, when the Company does well and lower incentive awards when the Company underperforms.  The total compensation opportunity for all regular, full-time employees is a combination of base salary and incentives that gets adjusted upfront based on overall Company performance with final awards based on individual performance.

We continuously evaluate and update our benefit programs to ensure that our plans remain competitive and meet the needs of our employees and their dependents. 

Below is a summary of some of the benefits we offer, which may vary depending on the country:

• Health & Wellness Benefits
• Retirement & Savings Plans
• Global Parental Leave & Adoption Assistance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Tuition Reimbursement & Professional Qualification benefits

Who we are and what we stand for:

At Sompo, our shared purpose is to create meaningful value for clients, communities, and each other. We strive to foster a workplace where everyone feels respected, included, and empowered to excel. As a global organization, we embrace diversity and champion equal opportunity. Guided by our core values—Accountability, Agility, Collaboration, Development, and Integrity—we build trust and support one another to achieve our goals worldwide.

Life at Sompo | Sompo

Our values come to life in how we hire and grow talent. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and organizational need, and we strive to ensure equitable access to opportunities so everyone can do their best work. If you need an accommodation for any part of the application process, please contact the recruiter in charge.