Regional Head, IT & Operations, Asia

Job description

Howden Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Regional Head, IT & Operations, Asia

Howden Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Direct message the job poster from Howden

At Howden, we employ talented individuals and empower them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers.

The entrepreneurial atmosphere is one of the biggest reasons people love to work for us.

We are a leading independent, global insurance brokers with a flat hierarchy where good ideas are heard and career paths are shaped by individual initiative.

This atmosphere attracts the brightest talent in the market.

If that includes you, get in touch.

Job Role: Regional Head, IT & Operations, Asia

A LEADING GLOBAL INDEPENDENT BROKER

Howden is a specialist commercial insurance broker with a regional footprint covering Singapore (regional headquarters), Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

It is part of the London-headquartered Howden Broking Group, a leading independent global broker with offices in over 55 countries.

Role Overview:

The Regional Head, IT & Operations, Asia is a strategic and operational leader responsible for enabling excellence across the division through efficient, scalable, and customer-focused operations.

The role acts as a bridge between divisional teams and corporate functions, ensuring alignment with Group strategy and fostering collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

It focuses on unlocking operational leverage, streamlining processes, and delivering services that support sustainable growth.

It will own end-to-end capability delivery across the division, whether directly managed, enabled through group capability, or outsourced.

YOUR ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

This is not an exhaustive list but outlines the core areas of responsibility:

Operational Leadership

• Lead the operational agenda across the division, ensuring Consistent delivery of high-quality services and outcomes.
  
  
• Drive operational efficiency through end-to-end process optimization, automation, and performance management.
  
  

Technology, Data & Process Enablement

• Serve as a catalyst for operational transformation by integrating advanced technologies, fostering a culture of innovation, and ensuring all processes are strategically aligned to deliver sustainable value and exceptional stakeholder experiences.
  
  
• Collaborate with Technology and Data teams to embed digital capabilities, align to group enterprise architecture standards and contribute to group blueprint, improve data quality, and enable insight-led decision-making.
  
  
• Champion process excellence and lead change initiatives that enhance customer and colleague experience.
  
  
• Champion the adoption of emerging AI technologies to drive operational efficiency and future-proof business processes.
  
  Have a clear understanding of the risks and the ability to navigate to deliver business benefit.
  
  

Business Services & Shared Services Integration

• Oversee the delivery of business services, ensuring they are aligned with divisional needs and delivered in a cost-effective and scalable manner.
  
  
• Leverage Group Shared Services to maximize efficiency, reduce duplication, and ensure consistent service delivery across geographies and functions.
  
  
• Actively contribute to the design and evolution of shared service models, ensuring divisional requirements are represented and met.
  
  

Corporate Services

• Drive the delivery of real estate, travel, and corporate services through a regional client services hub, ensuring full alignment with group strategy, cost-effectiveness, and scalability.
  
  
• Champion a strong effective procurement strategy aligned with group.
  
  

Collaboration to Deliver Success

• Foster strong cross-functional relationships across Group and Division, ensuring strategic alignment and shared accountability for outcomes.
  
  
• Promote a collaborative culture that encourages transparency, knowledge sharing, and joint problem-solving across teams and functions.
  
  

Building a High-Performing Team

• Develop and lead a high-performing divisional operations team, capable of working effectively with global shared service capabilities.
  
  

Promote a culture of empowerment, accountability, and continuous learning

• Ensure the team is equipped to support transformation, scale operations, and deliver value across the business.
  
  

Operational Leverage & Transformation

• Identify and implement opportunities for operational leverage, including outsourcing, automation, and shared platforms.
  
  
• Lead transformation programmes that drive efficiency, agility, and innovation.
  
  
• Drive change management ensuring change initiatives are delivered effectively across cross-functional projects, whilst embedding new processes and fostering a culture that embraces innovation and continuous improvement.
  
  

Policy, Process and Procedures

• Ensure all policy, procedures and audit requirements are strictly adhered to so that these are kept up to date, are in line with best practice, support internal operational mechanisms and relevant compliance and regulatory requirements.
  
  

Environment, Customer Focus and Relationships

• Build and maintain close links with peers, key internal and external stakeholders, working with the business and other functions to share information, identify risks and opportunities and deliver business growth.
  
  
• Remain aware of external, industry and regulatory developments to ensure practices and outputs are of a sufficiently high standard and contribute to the identification of opportunities and business growth.
  
  

People Management/Personal Development

• Build, manage, and maintain a high performing team of individuals who can work effectively together, with a global shared services mindset.
  
  
• Provide visionary leadership by fostering a culture of employee engagement and role modelling, encouraging and rewarding essential behaviors and maintaining a high level of personal and professional confidence.
  
  
• Manage the team to ensure the required standards of performance are met; and that the professional and personal development of all team members increases their capability and effectiveness.
  
  
• Promote individual accountability through an ongoing performance management approach that aligns personal performance goals with the functional and wider business goals.
  
  
• Ensure there are effective succession plans in place and actively develops team members to provide future successors.
  
  
• Identify and hires talent as needed.
  
  
• Actively undertake personal development to ensure up to date knowledge and understanding of best practice.
  
  

OUR IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL BE:

• Degree-level qualification (or equivalent experience) in a relevant discipline such as Business, Operations, Finance, or Technology.
  
  
• Proven experience in insurance broking or a related financial services environment
• Experience of high growth companies and listed international groups.
  
  
• Proven experience in managing strategic organizational change; experience Mergers & Acquisitions would be particularly helpful.
  
  
• Ability to influence and collaborate with a range of senior internal and external stakeholders.
  
  
• Strategy / business development.
  
  
• Proven leadership skills with demonstrable evidence of creating and leading in a high-performance working culture.
  
  
• Extensive awareness of the regulatory environment and requirements along with how these impact on the Operating Entity’s activities.
  
  
• Strong commercial acumen with strong understanding of business strategy and the ability to translate it into operational execution.
  
  
• Strong understanding of Operating Entity / Group objectives and how own role/team contributes to these.
  
  
• A good understanding of data and emerging technologies and how they apply.
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence, build trust, and foster collaboration across diverse teams and stakeholders.
  
  
• Experience in leading complex change programmes and embedding new ways of working.
  
  
• Ability to operate effectively in a global environment, working with shared service models and international teams.
  
  
• Comfortable using data and insights to inform decisions, measure success, and drive continuous improvement.
  
  
• Able to navigate complexity, manage ambiguity, and adapt to evolving business needs.
  
  

YOUR BENEFITS AND SALARY:

• Commensurate with qualification and experience
• Working in a collaborative environment with excellent learning opportunities

DATA PROTECTION NOTICE FOR JOB APPLICANTS

This Data Protection Notice (“Notice”) sets out the basis upon which Howden Insurance Brokers (S.) Pte.

Limited (“we”, “us” or “our”) may collect, use, disclose or otherwise process personal data of job applicants in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”).

This Policy applies to personal data in our possession or under our control, including personal data in the possession of organizations which we have engaged to collect, use, disclose or process personal data for our purposes.

IsExpired: false

Required Skill Profession

Management & Operations