From day one, our mission has been to create an independent business with a unique culture – one that is controlled by the people who work for it. Finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people has always been key to our success.

People come to Howden for lots of different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. That’s what sets us apart, and why we nurture and retain the best talent in the market. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering - you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Overview of Howden Ventures

Howden Ventures has begun life at Howden as an investment strategy supported by GBP10m in Howden funds. Howden Ventures seeks to make minority seed-stage investments in technology enabled and/or climate related start-ups.

Underpinning the investment strategy are unique synergies among Howden, DUAL and our Partner Insurers, allowing access to the most suitable specialists according to the requirements of the idea under development.

In addition to the baseline economics, which include investment returns, Howden Ventures is seeking to:

• Deliver multiple new insurance products to market through partnerships with both external and internal entrepreneurs; and
• Build a scalable and defensible innovation platform within the growing Howden Group that allows us to continue to foster the Howden’s existing culture of innovation.

The Role

The Head of Partnerships will be responsible for designing and implementing the strategy around how Howden Ventures manages, develops and enables our partnerships to support:

• external entrepreneurs via our investment strategy; and
• internal (Howden Group) entrepreneurs.

This role requires a forward-thinking individual who can work with a network of partnerships to harness the experience, skills and passion needed to support entrepreneurship. Anyone applying for this role should expect to be working in a fluid and often unstructured environment pursuing very ambitious strategic goals, working with a team of high-performing multi-skilled generalists capable of handling multiple ideas, concepts and projects at the same time.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting to the Head of Howden Ventures, the successful individual will need to:

• Manage and deepen the existing relationship with our “Partner Insurers”, including:
• Meeting the reporting requirements of our partnership agreement which includes a summary of all scouting activities, investments and other opportunities sourced by the Howden Ventures team;
• Deepening the relationship with our Partner Insurers to strategically align interest with activities in Howden Ventures
• · Develop a comprehensive roadmap for connecting Howden’s early careers employees with entrepreneurship aligned with the company's goals and vision. This will include the design and build of suitable internal and external partnerships to support:
• Help employee idea generation, capture and triage; and
• Support successful ideas around problem definition, creativity, market sizing and ecosystem analysis, P&L creation (budgeting) and other elements of idea development
• Develop further partnerships to support the Howden Ventures strategy

Rather than building a team, the Head will join the existing Howden Ventures team and work to build outsourced partnerships that support the core strategy.

Direct reports: none

Candidate Criteria

• Proven track record of leading successful innovation projects and initiatives
• Knowledge of the insurance market (specialty market preferred)
• Strong leadership and team management skills
• Excellent problem-solving abilities and creative thinking
• Ability to influence and collaborate with cross-functional teams
• Knowledge of emerging technologies and industry trends
• Experience in working in a corporate innovation lab or startup environment is a plus

Key Traits

• Passion for driving change and innovation
• Collaborative and inclusive leadership style
• Strong communication and storytelling skills
• Results-oriented and deadline-driven

Our Culture: People First

We’ve travelled far since opening our first office in 1994. Back then we were local experts – based in London, with direct access to the world’s biggest insurance market. We’re still locals, and we still deliver the right advice and the right insurance to our clients. But now, we’re local all over the world. With 15,000 global colleagues and a partner network spanning more than 100 territories, we are the largest independent insurance broker in the world. But our values haven’t changed since day one, when we set out to create a company grounded in:

• An employee-ownership model
• Aligned external investors
• The trust and integrity born of friendship
• Expertise
• Independence

Our focus on being a people-first business has always been at the very heart of Howden. Our vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture; one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. Our employee ownership model sets us apart in the market. It’s created a culture of collaboration and innovation, where we’re driven to think bigger and empowered to challenge convention.

Our flat structure and entrepreneurial spirit help us attract the best people and empower them to be the best version of themselves. And when we bring in and nurture great talent, more follows. That makes us better – and that’s better for everyone.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Howden we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness and respect, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or family circumstances.