Senior Product Owner
Location - Bexhill, Leicester or London (Hybrid, one day per week on site)
Welcome to Hastings Direct – From our Group HR Director Pam Angel
We’re a digital insurance provider with ambitious plans to become The Best and Biggest in the UK market. We’ve made huge investments in our data and tech capabilities over the past few years, along with nurturing our 4Cs culture. We’re proud of the journey we’re on as a company and know that our continued success will rely on the contribution of our talented colleagues.
We provide insurance for over three million customers, but we know there’s even bigger opportunity out there. The fact you’re now reading this job advert means we’ve tempted you to find out more about #lifeatHD – we really hope you like what you see, and you’ll join us to share in the success of the exciting chapter that lies ahead.
We understand some people may not apply for jobs unless they feel they tick every box. If you are excited about joining us and think you have some of what we are looking for, even if you’re not 100% sure we would love to hear from you.
Job Details:
- This is a pivotal role for overseeing the prioritisation, development, and implementation of user stories and changes using Agile methodologies within our Scrum teams
- It is integral to the Customer Transformation agenda, this position collaborates closely with the Customer Transformation team and CIO project teams to drive a dynamic and ambitious portfolio of transformation initiatives aligned with our digital-first contact centre goals.
- Day to day, you will be working with senior leaders across the organisation to define the long-term product vision and development roadmap aligned to our strategic business goals.
- You will develop and maintain open lines of communication with stakeholders and business owners to ensure business requirements are gathered effectively, planned in good time and fully understood.
- You will also Review, update, and sign off test scripts for both in-track and regression testing, ensuring full coverage of user stories.
- There is also an element of prioritisation, helping prioritise the product backlog (regarding business strategy, customer, colleague, and commercial priorities) and plan the sprints communicating the outcomes and progress to the product owner and business owners where appropriate.
Skills we would love you to have:
- As this is a Senior Product Owner role, we would like to see you have substantial experience in a Product Owner role already.
- This does not have to take the form of insurance experience, if you have experience across the wider financial sector or something like the energy sector, this would also be suitable.
- What is important is having experience within a company that takes a digital first approach. This is the direction Hastings is moving towards.
- We would like you to have experience working in Agile environments and development methodologies like SCRUM / SAFE.
- As part of the Senior remit, we also feel things like Stakeholder engagement / management and good communication & influencing skills should present.
What we offer
Join us and you’ll find a different way of doing things. We call it the 4Cs. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company, and community. As one of our colleagues, you’ll be helping to drive our growth, so in return, we’ll give you all the support, training and development you need. Not to mention plenty of recognition and rewards, and the scope to voice your ideas and put them into practice.
Reward
Salary – Attractive salary based on experience (pay reviews also completed each year)
Flexible Working – We champion a flexible and hybrid working approach so please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail, including days in the office and at home.
Competitive Bonus Scheme - All colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus, which is usually paid in March. The scheme is based on Hastings’ performance against our business goals and your own personal performance.
Physical Wellbeing – We like to help our colleagues take a proactive approach in keeping themselves well, that’s why we fund our colleagues to be able to claim against everyday health care through our healthcare cash plan.
Financial Wellbeing – As well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover and income protection at no extra cost, pension contribution match up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an AWARD WINNING package which includes – discounts and cashback at everyday retailers and on our own products, fee free independent mortgage advice, and free access to financial wellbeing support.
Mental Wellbeing Programme - At Hastings Direct we understand that mental health cannot not be scheduled, that’s why we have a range of support to help you keep yourself well. We have the thrive mental health app, our colleague assistance programme available 24/7, our own in-house mental health first aiders, support groups and a dedicated team to make sure we are covering your needs.
There's more! – 25 days annual leave +bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your contracted weeks, access to private healthcare, dental plans, discounted health assessments, cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more. Most of our benefits and wellbeing resources are available to colleagues from their first day whilst some optional benefits, which involve committing to a 12-month payment schedule, are available as soon as you have completed your probationary period.
Our 4Cs principles are simple: we believe by creating the right culture for our colleagues and giving them the right tools to do their job, we’ll deliver good outcomes for every customer, helping us to grow the company profitably and sustainably and allowing us to invest in the communities we serve
We deliver good outcomes for our customers every time by providing great products at the right price with our simple and straightforward service. We treat customers like we want to be treated - fairly, respectfully and with their best interests at heart
At Hastings Direct, we’re committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, we encourage you to be open with us. Our recruitment team is here to provide the support you need to ensure a fair and accessible experience for all.
Job posting end date:
28/03/2025
What We Do
Hastings Group is a fast growing, agile, digitally focused general insurance provider providing services to the UK car, van, bike and home insurance market. Big enough to compete but small enough to grow, the Group has strong relationships with all major price comparison websites, a cost effective digital marketing model and a focus on customer retention.
Hastings provides refreshingly straightforward products and services to UK car, bike, van and home insurance customers.
A multi-award winning business, Hastings has over 2.7 million customers and over 3,400 colleagues.
The Group operates as an integrated insurance provider with two businesses. The Group’s Retail business, Hastings Insurance Services Limited, is responsible for the end customer pricing, fraud management, product design, distribution and management of the underlying customer relationships. The Group’s Underwriting business, Advantage Insurance Company Limited, engages in risk selection, underlying technical pricing, reserving and claims handling.
Retail is supported by, and benefits from, Underwriting’s prudent approach to risk and reserving and also benefits from the Group’s panel of insurance partners who provide additional underwriting capacity. The Group’s integrated model deliberately separates underlying product manufacturing from its distribution.
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