I’ve worked in finance my whole career, the last decade in insurance
I’ve been with First Central since November 2022, and I absolutely love it. Prior to this role I worked for another large insurer in a very similar role so had lots of experience to lean on. I’ve worked in general insurance for over a decade now mainly focused on car insurance, but I’ve had significant exposure to other personal lines products too e.g. home/travel insurance. I’ve also gained experience in other financial organisations spanning mortgage providers, banks and pension providers. Roles at these companies were focused on communication, risk, administration and financial advice.
I manage our car insurance products across their entire lifecycle
My role is extremely varied which I love. I look at the strategy that underpins our product suite and then put forward a roadmap of activity that best aligns our products with the goals of the company, always mindful that we have many ambitions between which we need to strike a balance. I then work with colleagues to implement the relevant changes across our organisation.
One moment I could be looking at the cover included in our existing products, the next putting together a recommendation for a brand-new product or reviewing competitor insight or our own customer feedback.
The varied nature of my role means I engage with a wide range of colleagues from across the business at various levels of seniority and I can confirm that everyone is nice and approachable.
Everyone is engaged and we’re all sailing in the right direction.
At previous financial organisations, I’ve experienced politics which have often resulted in departments having contrasting goals which were harmful for productivity. There’s no such conflict here. Everyone is engaged, there are no hidden agendas, we’re all signed up to the goals of the company and committed to achieving them.
The culture is also fantastic here, whether it’s the approach to flexible working, focus on diversity or wellbeing. Again, there is a marked improvement working here compared to other organisations I’ve experienced.
We are also well informed here. There’s a breadth of honesty and this is demonstrated from top to bottom. It surprised me at first how open the entire organisation is and how ‘human’ our senior leaders are.
Know who you are and play accordingly.
It sounds obvious, but sometimes it can be easy to perform the actions required for your role in a way that doesn’t best amplify your strengths. Be acutely aware of your own strengths and play to them, putting together a development plan for areas of improvement. I’d recommend developing your strengths too. Just because you’re naturally good at something doesn’t mean you should rest on your laurels. Have a mindset of wanting to move from the top 10% to top 1%.
Always welcome feedback too whether it’s positive or constructive. Don’t take constructive feedback negatively, to be imperfect is to be human. We all have areas we can improve on.
Pitching several product initiatives and receiving approval
I have put together a roadmap of activity and subsequently pitched numerous initiatives at relevant forums across the business and received approval.
Unfortunately, the activities mentioned are all in various stages of development and therefore I can’t make specific reference to what they are. However, they vary in nature and all align with our goals as an organisation. I am someone who loves ownership and accountability, so being able to strategise a development, pitch for approval and then work with teams to implement the change really ticks the box for me.
In a matter of weeks, some of these developments will be live. At the same time others will move to development and I’m also scoping a few more changes with a view to pitching them in due course.
