Purpose of the job

The Senior People & Culture Business Partner – Insurance is a strategic and hands on role accountable for embedding people best practice across the Insurance division. The role partners closely with Insurance leadership to ensure the organisation is structured, skilled, engaged, and future ready.

Working in close collaboration with the Head of P&C Insurance (UK) and the Head of P&C Cape Town, this role ensures alignment of people strategy, policy application, and ways of working with the wider Group, while tailoring solutions to the specific needs of the Insurance business.

The role combines strategic workforce shaping with operational excellence, supporting managers directly across the full employee lifecycle and leading the consistent application of people frameworks across a population of approximately 125 colleagues.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

• Act as a trusted advisor to Insurance leaders, aligning people and culture strategy with business objectives.

• Partner with leadership to shape and deliver a workforce strategy that supports current performance and future growth.

• Champion best practice across the Insurance division, ensuring consistency, fairness, and alignment with Group standards.

• Support the “One Collinson” approach while recognising the unique needs of the Insurance business.

Organisation Design & Workforce Planning

• Lead workforce planning, role design, and organisation structure activities within Insurance.

• Review, evaluate, and refresh job architecture and job descriptions to ensure clarity, consistency, and scalability.

• Support restructuring, change, and consultation processes as required.

• Define skills, capability, and succession requirements aligned to the Insurance strategy.

Talent, Hiring & Onboarding

• Review and improve end‑to‑end hiring processes within Insurance, embedding robust and consistent recruitment standards.

• Define structured recruitment activities, including interview frameworks and assessment criteria.

• Partner with talent acquisition to optimise sourcing channels and candidate pipelines.

• Reassess and enhance the Insurance onboarding experience to build capability, confidence, and engagement from day one.

Performance, Development & Reward

• Strengthen performance management practices, ensuring manager capability, consistency, and clear accountability.

• Coach and support leaders in addressing underperformance, including defining and managing PIPs.

• Identify development needs and support targeted learning and capability‑building initiatives.

• Support promotion frameworks, career pathways, reward, recognition, and salary review processes in line with policy and fairness principles.

Employee Relations & Policy Application

• Provide expert guidance on employee relations matters, including grievance, disciplinary, capability, and absence cases.

• Clarify and apply policies consistently, including distinctions between skill‑based and conduct‑based issues.

• Lead or support collective and individual consultation processes where required.

• Ensure compliance with employment legislation and internal governance standards.

Change & Culture

• Lead and support people elements of change initiatives within the Insurance division.

• Embed consistent people practices while supporting cultural alignment across UK and Cape Town.

• Champion inclusion, engagement, and wellbeing, working with colleagues to improve employee experience and retention.

• Write and deliver clear communication and change plans.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Work closely with the Head of P&C Insurance UK and Head of P&C Cape Town to ensure alignment and knowledge sharing across regions.

• Mentor and support P&C Advisors as appropriate.

• Contribute to wider P&C projects and initiatives across the Group.

Knowledge, skills, and experience required

• Proven experience operating as a Senior HR / People & Culture Business Partner in a complex, regulated, or professional environment.

• Strong capability across strategy and operations, with the credibility to influence senior leaders and support managers hands‑on.

• Experience in workforce planning, organisation design, recruitment frameworks, and performance management.

• Solid employee relations expertise and understanding of employment law.

• Strong change management and consultation experience.

• Commercially astute, with the ability to balance business outcomes and people risk.

• Confident facilitator and communicator, able to present, influence, and deliver workshops.

• Comfortable working in ambiguity and managing multiple priorities simultaneously.

Key Behaviours

Trusted & Credible: Builds strong relationships and influences with integrity.

People‑Centric: Balances empathy with accountability and fairness.

Strategic & Pragmatic: Thinks long‑term while delivering practical outcomes.

Consistent & Fair: Applies policy and best practice equitably across the division.

Resilient & Proactive: Thrives in change and anticipates issues before they escalate.

Role Model: Demonstrates and embeds Collinson values and behavioural expectations.

Regulatory responsibilities

• Adhere to the FCA’s Conduct rules and the Firm’s code of conduct.

• Undertake all regulatory training as prescribed by the company and comply with all policies relevant to your role.

• Immediately report any known conflicts of interest in line with company policy.

• Satisfy on an ongoing basis the company’s fit and proper requirements which as a minimum shall take account of your:

Honesty, integrity and reputation.

Competence and capability; and

Financial soundness.