Sales Director - Professional Services

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of over 21,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

We're moving from strength to strength, expanding our global reach and growing both organically and through strategic, high-quality mergers and acquisitions. By bringing together diverse expertise and perspectives, we're enhancing our unique culture and values, whilst continuing to expand our capability to innovate, and deliver exceptional solutions for our clients.

Title

Executive Director

The Role

Sales/Business Development Director – Professional Services

Reporting to

Managing Director, Global Practice Leader – Professional Services – Financial Lines Group

What you’ll do

Strategy Execution & Supporting Revenue Growth

• Responsible for the delivery of the annual new business budget across all Professional Services Practice Groups
• Support in executing business strategy by ensuring new business operating model drives revenue targets and business growth
• Ensure that sales targets are met/exceeded by ensuring that the New Business team operates efficiently and is focused on winning new business
• Present Sales Forecasts, performance reports, and management information to management as appropriate
• Provide feedback to the Managing Director / Global Practice Lead – Professional Services on lead quality, effectiveness and consumer experience and outcomes
• Provide input into sales staff production and quality forecasting, to assist with strategic planning

Leadership and Management

• Responsible for growing our New Business team by an anticipated 8 new team members by 2029. Responsible for hiring additional resources, and ensuring team structure appropriately supports income generation and the Professional Services Practice Leads
• Responsible for managing, developing and retaining New Business team members, ensuring the team is fully operational, including management of the Professional Services national sales team members located throughout the UK including the Professional Services business development/sales team based in Howden’s Perth office.
• Having regular reviews with the New Business team members to monitor performance whilst documenting the information obtained including personal performance, conduct and development, documentation of procedures.
• Attending regular management and sales meetings
• As a member of the Professional Services senior leadership team, attendance is required at board meetings and strategy days
• Working collaboratively with all Professional Services Practice Leads and the Managing Director to ensure new business pipelines are continually developed to meet and exceed the annual new business budgets.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Provide input to ensure that all relevant procedures are accurate, and in line with the FCA guidelines and reflect the practices carried out within the team
• Regularly check the team procedures and highlight any changes or updates to the Compliance Officer to ensure that procedures are compliant with FCA requirements.
• Support and train team members to ensure that they are up to date in product knowledge and sell compliantly within FCA regulations
• Provide copies and evidence of training delivered to sales staff on a continual basis. Ensure that the training is delivered in a timely fashion and in line with the FCA requirements.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Our business succeeds by allowing our people to make a mark in the areas they care about most: personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity, or creating new insurance products that address society’s greatest challenges.

And we know that separate home and work lives don't really exist. If you're happy and healthy at home, you're more likely to be happy and fulfilled at work – and vice versa. That's why we do our best to support our people in every aspect of their lives.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Howden we value diversity - there is no one Howden ‘personality type’. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
• We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
• We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond

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 age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Our sustainability promise

We’re on a life-long journey to become an ever-more sustainable group. It's a commitment to taking care of our people and the world we live in, to doing good business, and to making a positive impact wherever we can. Our governance processes, company policies, and review systems are all geared towards our goal of making a positive impact in the world. You can read more about our sustainability work here.