Head of Operational Excellence

Are you ready to lead continuous improvement initiatives and drive operational excellence across 12 locations in Europe and LATAM ? Protection is looking for its future Head of Operational Excellence What You’ll Be Doing The Head of Operations Excellence is a critical senior leadership role responsible for enabling, governing, and delivering the operational strategy of the Protection Business Unit across multiple countries. He/she reports to the Head of Protection Operations. The role provides strategic oversight of the operational ecosystem, ensuring that core systems, processes, controls, and organisational capabilities are operating effectively, consistently, and in alignment with business objectives across all markets. Directly leading a portfolio of specialist operational excellence teams (circa 80 employees across teams in more than 10 countries), the position is accountable for ensuring that current operational platforms and processes are optimised, compliant, scalable, and fit for purpose while simultaneously driving the design, evaluation, and implementation of future growth opportunities. The Head of Operations Excellence plays a central role in identifying emerging business requirements, assessing future operating model needs, and delivering transformational initiatives that support sustainable growth, operational efficiency, customer outcomes, and regulatory compliance. The role ensures that operational capabilities evolve in line with organisational ambitions, providing the governance, leadership, and execution necessary to successfully implement new products, business partnerships, market expansions, technologies, and operational enhancements across the business. The role demands strategic vision, innovative leadership, and the ability to influence and mobilize teams at all levels to embed a culture of continuous improvement, agility, and customer-centricity across the operations landscape of 20 countries and 12 locations. Enhanced Key Accountabilities Operational Strategy & Business Growth Enablement
• Define and execute the Operations Excellence strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational growth objectives and long-term business plans.
• Partner with Executive Leadership to identify, evaluate, and operationalise new business opportunities, market expansions, distribution channels, and strategic partnerships.
• Ensure operational readiness for future growth initiatives through scalable processes, systems, governance frameworks, and resource planning.
• Lead the design and implementation of future operating models that support evolving customer, regulatory, and commercial requirements. Enterprise Operational Governance
• Establish and maintain governance frameworks ensuring consistent operational standards, controls, and performance across all countries and key operational functions.
• Provide strategic oversight of operational risk, compliance adherence, quality assurance, and business resilience frameworks.
• Ensure that core operational systems operate effectively, efficiently, and consistently across all markets.
• Monitor operational health, identifying emerging risks, process failures, bottlenecks, and opportunities for optimisation. Systems, Process and Business Integration
• Act as the senior operational owner for the interaction between business processes, operational teams, and core technology platforms.
• Ensure system functionality, product configuration, process design, and operational controls remain aligned with business requirements.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration to resolve operational challenges and maximise the value delivered by existing technology investments.
• Lead the assessment, prioritisation, and implementation of operational system enhancements to improve capability, efficiency, and customer outcomes. Transformation & Change Leadership
• Lead enterprise-wide transformation program (Samsara) streams that modernise operational capabilities and support long-term organisational growth & efficiency objectives. This includes actively participating in the definition and design of the future operating model, ensuring alignment with strategic growth initiatives and the Protection Transformation program, which encompasses system changes and process redesigns aimed at enhancing operational agility and customer outcomes.
• Champion continuous improvement methodologies, including Lean, Six Sigma, automation, and digital transformation initiatives.
• Ensure successful delivery of complex change initiatives that impact operations across multiple countries, teams, and stakeholder groups.
• Drive organisational agility, ensuring the business can adapt effectively to changing market conditions and customer expectations. Leadership Of Operational Excellence Functions Provide strategic leadership and oversight of teams responsible for:
• New Business Launch, Business Partner Integration & ongoing operational management
• Product Configuration across our platform
• Third Party Administrator (TPA) Governance and Performance
• Process Excellence and Business Optimisation
• Fraud & Complaints Management
• Controls & Performance Management These functions collectively ensure the effective operation of today's business while designing and implementing the capabilities required for future growth. In particular, for TPA management, we expect the Head of Operations Excellence to build and sustain a collaborative partnership that ensures seamless operational deployment, maintains high standards of service, and guarantees accurate, reliable data exchange. This partnership should also underpin the broader commercial strategies and growth initiatives. Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Leadership
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, providing strategic insight on operational capability, scalability, and execution risk.
• Build strong cross functional relationships (IT, Product, Finance, Risk, Compliance, Customer Experience, and Commercial functions and with the Protection transformation department).
• Foster a close working relationship with country operational teams to ensure strategic initiatives are effectively implemented at local levels, promoting consistency, operational excellence, and shared best practices. Country teams are accountable for delivery of Partner & Customer services, enabled by the Operations Excellence teams.
• Influence decision-making at Executive level through data-driven recommendations and operational expertise.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and excellence across geographically dispersed teams. Performance, Data & Continuous Improvement
• Develop operational performance frameworks, KPIs & dashboards that provide visibility of service, quality, efficiency, fraud, risk, and customer outcomes.
• Utilise data, analytics, and management information to identify opportunities for improvement and inform strategic decisions.
• Establish a culture of evidence-based decision-making and continuous operational optimisation across the operation.
• Deliver measurable improvements in productivity, service quality, customer satisfaction, and operational cost efficiency. People Leadership
• Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing leadership team capable of delivering transformational change across multiple jurisdictions.
• Build organisational capability to support future growth and evolving business needs.
• Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
• Ensure succession planning, talent development, and leadership capability remain a strategic priority across all teams. What You’ll Bring Knowledge, Skills & Experience Essential
• Significant senior leadership experience (+8 years) within insurance, financial services, operations, transformation, or operational excellence environments.
• Proven experience leading large-scale operational transformation and change programmes.
• Demonstrated success in building scalable operating models that support business growth.
• Strong understanding of operational governance, controls, risk management, and performance frameworks.
• Experience leading multi-disciplinary teams across multiple geographies and jurisdictions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills at Executive level.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking capability with the ability to translate strategy into execution.
• Experience implementing process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence frameworks.
• Proven track record delivering measurable operational improvements and business outcomes. Desirable
• Experience within life insurance, protection, pensions, wealth management, or broader financial services sectors.
• Project Management, Lean Six Sigma, Change Management, or Operational Excellence qualifications.
• Experience implementing digital transformation and automation programmes.
• Knowledge of regulatory environments across multiple international markets. Success Measures The successful delivery of this role will be measured through:
• Achievement of strategic growth and operational transformation objectives.
• Successful implementation of future operating model initiatives.
• Improved operational efficiency, productivity, and service quality.
• Delivery of measurable continuous improvement outcomes.
• Regulatory compliance and operational risk management.
• Employee engagement, leadership effectiveness, and talent development.
• Strong stakeholder satisfaction across business functions and geographies.
• Elevated customer & partner satisfaction The Head of Operations Excellence is a pivotal leadership role responsible for ensuring that the organisation's operational capabilities are not only performing effectively today but are continually evolving to support future growth, innovation, customer excellence, and long-term business succes Who We Are We’re AXA Partners, experts at designing and delivering assistance solutions and specialised insurance, credit, and lifestyle protection – with and for our partners worldwide. What sets us apart? The expertise and passion of our 8,500+ people, and a strong network of over 55,000 professionals all over the world. Powered by them and our sector-leading technology, we continuously evolve, adapt and thrive – offering solutions and services that make sure we’re always at people’s side, no matter what. Helping others is our passion. Combining the best digital technology with our warm, human touch, we’re always looking at new ways to offer seamless and reassuring experiences when it really matters. Join a company that helps protect the forests At AXA Partners, we plant a tree for every new recruit (with a permanent contract)