Finance Acquisition Integration Leader

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

Finance Acquisition Integration Leader

• Lead the finance integration workstream for our acquisition strategy, primarily focused on a large acquisition.
• This covers (i) the onboarding and integration of a material acquisition (the ‘Target’), and (ii) the oversight of an organic build out strategy, and (iii) putting in place project discipline, budgets etc across the integration plan more widely
• The role will require extensive stakeholder management across Group, Division and Target finance, as well as with the overall Integration Management office (and their external delivery partner)
• Work closely with the external advisor, central integration office and other workstream leads for overall successful integration, ensuring clear deliverables from the finance workstream are agreed and timelines built and adhered to
• Deliver the finance workstream of the overall integration of the target to ensure Group reporting timetables and standards are adhered to
• Oversee Divisions in the build out, which will see significant additional hires which will also through a transitionary state – ensuring we can track and monitor new hire activity undertaken, and that these are within the boundaries outlined by the Steering Committee
• Identify opportunities for synergies and put proposals to relevant committees
• Support Group corporate finance, debt, and shares scheme and other finance teams with their transition activities.
• Determine the changes that need to be made in the Target finance team in order to comply with Group standards and plan for these with the Target finance team
• Ensure each team understands their deliverables, has the resource to deliver.  Manage resource dependencies of resource not fully dedicated to the programme (e.g. group finance SME’s) with other competing programmes,
• Resolve and escalate issues as needed.
• Ensure successful handover to BAU at the end of the project
• Run the overall finances for the project across all workstreams on behalf of the IMO

Skills

• Senior qualified finance individual with 15+ years experience in finance leadership and change roles
• Experience of integrating finance teams, including management and monitoring of significant levels of new hiring
• Strong understanding of finance operational processes for revenue recognition in a sale organisation such as a broker, staff costs including complex incentive plans would be a bonus. 
• Ability to travel and work extensively between the US and London
• 18months role – likely to be a fixed term contract
• Reports to the Group Finance Director

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs.  Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Permanent