Commercial Trading Manager- Darwin
London or Leeds - Hybrid / Permanent
Darwin is one of the UK’s fastest‑growing motor insurers — part of Aviva group but built like a fintech scale‑up with minimal hierarchy and high ownership to unleash the true potential of our people. Our mixed model way of working offers the best of both worlds, with an expectation of 50% office time to balance autonomy with team collaboration.
In just five years, we’ve grown to over 300,000 customers by combining our resolute focus on getting it right for our customers with cutting‑edge, cloud‑native technology architecture and a culture that rewards curiosity, data‑driven action and sharp commercial thinking. Over the next 3 years our ambition is to become a top 5 motor insurer by taking advantage of the radically changing industry landscape.
What you'll be doing:
We’re looking for a Commercial Trading Manager who brings strong analytical and commercial capability, regardless of industry background, to shape and deliver our trading strategy. You don’t need to know insurance — we value people who can apply insight, bring strategic thinking and challenge, and drive action in a fastmoving environment.
In this role, you will:
Own and evolve Darwin’s trading MI and performance metrics from multiple data sources, to shape how we understand performance
Build and deliver the commercial plan, ensuring trading KPIs are understood and achieved
Closely track PCW market and broader landscape, identifying trends and presenting actionable insight
Design, run and evaluate retail pricing tests, adapting pricing strategies to optimise premium, volume, risk mix and loss ratio
Build a deep understanding of profitability drivers, including risk pricing and the uncertainty inherent in modelled outcomes
Use data + commercial instinct to make confident recommendations in ambiguous or fast changing economic conditions, influencing CEO/CFO/ExCo decisions
Identify opportunities across pricing, product, customer journey and proposition to improve trading outcomes
Work cross functionally with Pricing, Underwriting, Technology and Operations to deliver initiatives at pace
What you'll need:
The successful candidate will be a self-starter with strong technical capability and commercial instinct. You will be someone who enjoys solving complex problems with data, setting trading priorities and strategy, and thrives in an environment where action and impact matter.
We’re looking for:
Strong quantitative and data analysis skills (e.g., SQL, Python, Excel, Tableau) and working with complex datasets.
Experience in commercial trading, commercial analysis, performance management, forecasting or pricing (from any sector)
Ability to work with linear and nonlinear models, understanding second and third order impacts
Naturally curious mindset with a desire to uncover new insight and apply it quickly
Strong commercial judgement — ability to move from insight to recommendation to action
A bias towards practical, real-world impact rather than theoretical analysis
Ambition and drive to help scale Darwin from 300k customers to 500k and beyond
Insurance experience is not required — we welcome candidates from data rich, complex trading environments such as ecommerce, telco, travel, utilities, fintech or marketplaces.
Our hybrid model offers a 'best of both worlds' approach. When you'll be in the office depends on your role and team, but colleagues spend at least 50% of their time in the office across the month
Benefits
We recognise we wouldn't be where we are today without our colleagues, that's why we offer excellent benefits designed to suit your lifestyle:
9% employer contributed pension
50% off home, motor and pet insurance plus free Green Flag breakdown cover
Additional optional Health and Dental insurance
EV car scheme
Generous holidays
Buy as you earn share scheme
Employee discounts and cashback
Plus, many more
We want everyone to get the most out of their time at DLG. Which is why we've looked beyond the financial rewards and created an offer that takes your whole life into account. Supporting our people to work at their best – whatever that looks like — and offering real choice, flexibility, and a greater work-life balance that means our people have time to focus on the things that matter most to them. Our benefits are about more than just the money you earn. They're about recognising who you are and the life you live.
Be yourself
Direct Line Group is an equal opportunity employer, and we think diversity of background and thinking is a big strength in our people. We're delighted to feature as one of the UK's Top 50 Inclusive Employers and are committed to making our business an inclusive place to work, where everyone can be themselves and succeed in their careers.
We know you're more than a CV, and the things that make you, you, are what bring potential to our business. We recognise and embrace people that work in different ways so if you need any adjustments to our recruitment process, please speak to the recruitment team who will be happy to support you
Top Skills
What We Do
Our mission is to be brilliant for customers every day. With powerful and trusted brands, we offer a range of products, across various channels, providing services to our customers whenever and wherever they need us. We’ve been helping people carry on with their lives since the 80s, giving them the peace of mind they need to focus on the future. After 40 years of innovation, we’re still leading the way today. Our business is full of brilliant individuals working together to reimagine insurance. Together, we’re one of a kind. Our brands We’re home to variety and expertise on a huge scale. Strong values, distinctive qualities, and great people. That’s the secret to building some of the nation’s best-known brands. Direct Line Churchill Privilege Green Flag Darwin DLG Legal Services DLG Auto Services DLG Partnerships
