Director, Operations

Overview

Prudential’s purpose is to be partners for every life and protectors for every future. Our purpose encourages everything we do by creating a culture in which diversity is celebrated and inclusion assured, for our people, customers, and partners. We provide a platform for our people to do their best work and make an impact to the business, and we support our people’s career ambitions. We pledge to make Prudential a place where you can Connect, Grow, and Succeed.

This role plays a key leadership function in shaping and delivering strategic sustainability priorities across the Group. It is responsible for transformation projects looking to embed sustainability into the business and it involves strong engagement with Boards, senior executives, and markets, helping to steer execution, provide strategic judgement, and ensure that sustainability initiatives are aligned with business imperatives. The role also oversees key elements of business operations, cross-function collaboration, and knowledge-sharing across markets, while leading the program management of cross-market sustainability priorities.

1. Leadership & judgement of strategic Sustainability priorities
   • Drive strategic sustainability focus, providing oversight and judgement in prioritising and executing Group-wide sustainability initiatives.
   • Act as gatekeeper to triage incoming requests, assessing their importance and context to assign them to the appropriate team member.
   • Serve as the central point of contact for sustainability delivery across the business, offering business insights to support strategic transformation efforts, particularly across the insurance value chain and to the team and other functions.
   • Facilitate clear communication within the team to ensure effective collaboration and timely execution of tasks.
2. Execution and transformation for tangible outcomes
   • Oversee and manage the execution of the Sustainability Centre Of Excellence Operating model.
   • Oversee the maturity evolution of the local business units, harnessing the Sustainability Centre of Excellence.
   • Direct and administer sustainability transformation projects by establishing clear objectives, governance, monitoring quality and progress, and ensuring delivery within established timelines and budget parameters and using data and business insights to inform decisions.
   • Achieve measurable results consistent with public targets and annual team goals while actively addressing potential delays or performance issues. Deliver regular communications to stakeholders to support an integrated approach to sustainability initiatives.
   • Engage with senior stakeholders across multiple markets and functions to align workstreams and resolve delivery challenges.
3. Integrating Sustainability into business priorities
   • Act as a trusted thought partner and influencer across senior stakeholders, with strong negotiation and communication skills.
   • Coordinate and oversee the engagement with key Group stakeholders such as Group Executive Committee members, functional and business unit leads to ensure continuation of alignment, collaboration, progress mapping and increased embedding of Sustainability across the business.
   • Oversee the engagement with local business units (LBUs), providing guidance in relation to sustainability tailored to local context and alignment with Group strategy.
   • Ensure Sustainability is embedded into annual business processes such as strategic planning, budgeting, monitoring and transformation efforts.
   • Coordinate and prepare Management and Board training sessions, ensuring alignment to strategic sustainability priorities and follow-through on outcomes.
4. Strategic narratives for positioning and embedding
   • Maintain a depository of impactful strategic narratives and messaging for internal and external stakeholders, positioning and embedding sustainability throughout the organization.
   • Ensure the sustainability strategy is effectively communicated and implemented across markets and group function teams.
   • Lead on all briefings that require sustainability inputs, i.e. investor meetings, events briefings, articles, interviews, etc.
   • Preparing governance updates, in collaboration with the Sustainability COE members, regarding the integration and advancement of sustainability initiatives across the group, ensuring alignment with strategic sustainability objectives and clear communication of key achievements.
   • Supervise, coordinate, and ensure the completeness and quality control of training, engagement and/or performance review materials for senior leadership, tailoring content to align with strategic sustainability priorities.

• 10+ years of professional experience (in Financial Service industry preferred), with at least 5 years in leadership roles involving cross-market and/or cross-market initiatives and team management.
• Solid understanding with insurance business models.
• Strong interest and familiarity with sustainability-related initiatives. Practical experience in rolling out ESG or sustainability strategies is considered an asset.
• Demonstrated experience in leading transformation projects with strong program leadership capabilities and hands-on experience in project delivery, performance management, or strategy execution roles.
• Demonstrated leadership and ability to influence diverse stakeholders, including senior internal and external groups across regions and cultures.
• Experience in budget control, forecasting and management.
• Excellent communications and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working with C-suite, Boards, and Management Committees.
• Possess high integrity, good analytical mind, and decision-making capabilities.

Prudential is an equal opportunity employer. We provide equality of opportunity of benefits for all who apply and who perform work for our organisation irrespective of sex, race, age, ethnic origin, educational, social and cultural background, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, disability or part-time / fixed-term work, or any other status protected by applicable law. We encourage the same standards from our recruitment and third-party suppliers taking into account the context of grade, job and location. We also allow for reasonable adjustments to support people with individual physical or mental health requirements.