Data Project Manager

Overview

About us

Starr is a global insurance and investment organisation providing property and casualty insurance solutions to business and industry. Starr has grown into one of the world’s fastest-expanding insurance organisations, writing business in 128 countries across six continents. Our talented and experienced associates manage risk and ultimately support the profitable growth of organisations in a dynamic, competitive and ever-changing marketplace. Join us and become part of our talented and passionate workforce.

In London, Starr operates at the heart of the global specialty insurance market. Through our Lloyd’s platform and company market presence, we bring together deep underwriting expertise, strong broker relationships and meaningful capacity across a broad range of classes.

We work in close partnership with brokers and clients, combining data, insight and experience to respond quickly, cut through complexity and deliver clear, practical solutions. It’s a fast-moving environment, where responsiveness, clarity and consistency define how we meet the moment.

Role Purpose

The Data Team sits at the centre of a significant period of change. Following Starr’s acquisition of the IQUW syndicate, an integration programme is under way to bring IT, Data and Underwriting infrastructure together across the combined business, running alongside the continued build-out of the DNA Hub Data Lakehouse into business functions. The Data Project Manager role is the delivery backbone of that work: it owns the project management office for a portfolio of circa 20 projects spanning both, sets the delivery standards and governance the Data Team works to, and gives leadership a single, trusted view of portfolio health. The role is accountable for the quality and consistency of delivery across the portfolio as well as individual projects, and works closely with the Head of Data Engineering and Delivery, the Chief Data and Digital Officer, delivery and project managers, and business stakeholders across Underwriting, Claims, Finance and Central MI.

• Exciting Opportunity: Join Starr at a pivotal point – a multi-year Data & Analytics transformation running alongside the integration of the recently acquired IQUW syndicate, using modern cloud technologies to build a market-leading Data Team and a cloud-enabled Data Lakehouse that supports the current and future data needs of the combined business.
• Portfolio Oversight: Run the project management office for a portfolio of circa 20 projects, covering integration workstreams and the continued build-out of the DNA Hub into business functions across the business.
• Centre of Excellence: Provide the strategic oversight, standards and best practice that make delivery consistent and predictable across the whole Data portfolio.
• Governance and Transparency: Own portfolio reporting, governance forums and risk management so that project health, dependencies and benefits are visible and decisions are made on sound information.
• Strategic Alignment: Work with the Head of Data Engineering and Delivery and the Chief Data and Digital Officer to keep the portfolio aligned to strategic objectives and delivering measurable business value.

Key Responsibilities

Direct Project Delivery:

• Own delivery of assigned projects end to end, from initiation and planning through execution to benefits handover and closure.
• Manage scope, schedule, budget and resources on those projects, and hold delivery teams to the commitments made.
• Manage project-level risks, issues, dependencies and change, escalating to the portfolio where the impact reaches beyond the project.

PMO Leadership & Governance:

• Maintain portfolio reporting and governance frameworks that give clear visibility of project health, progress and dependencies across the data portfolio.
• Own the project management standards, templates and best practice the Data Team delivers to, and keep them practical by applying them on your own projects.
• Lead resource planning and allocation so that utilisation is optimised and critical projects have the right skills and capacity.
• Run risk and issue management across the portfolio, coordinating cross-project dependencies and managing portfolio-level risks that could affect multiple workstreams.

Portfolio Prioritisation & Stakeholder Management:

• Work with senior stakeholders to prioritise projects on business value, strategic alignment and resource availability.
• Provide regular portfolio health reporting to the leadership team, covering progress against milestones, budget status, resource utilisation and benefits realisation.
• Support business case development and benefits tracking, so projects deliver the returns expected of them.
• Facilitate portfolio review meetings and steering committees, presenting status and recommendations that enable informed decisions on project continuation, change or closure.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with business stakeholders across Underwriting, Claims, Finance and Central MI, translating complex technical status into clear business language.

Delivery Excellence:

• Coach and mentor project managers and delivery teams in PMO standards and best practice.
• Support project teams in applying Scaled Agile methods, and ensure Azure DevOps is used consistently for project tracking, reporting and collaboration.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that raise delivery capability and efficiency across the Data Team.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list, and you may be required to undertake other reasonable duties compatible with your experience and competencies. This description may be varied from time to time to reflect changing business requirements.

Conduct Rules

All employees are subject to the following regulatory conduct rules:

• You must act with integrity.
• You must act with due care, skill and diligence.
• You must be open and cooperative with the FCA, the PRA and other regulators.
• You must pay due regard to the interests of customers and treat them fairly.
• You must observe proper standards of market conduct
• You must act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers

Qualifications, skills and experience

Essential

• Proven track record of running a PMO or managing a complex portfolio of concurrent projects, with demonstrable expertise in portfolio reporting, governance, resource planning and capacity management.
• Personal track record of delivering technical projects end to end – planning, delivery and handover – to agreed time, budget and quality, rather than only governing the delivery of others.
• Strong background in delivering technical projects, with exposure to data, analytics or digital transformation initiatives.
• Hands-on experience of Azure DevOps for planning, tracking, reporting and collaboration.
• Practical experience of implementing and working within (Scaled) Agile frameworks in a multi-team delivery environment.
• Experience of operating credibly at executive and steering committee level, standing behind recommendations under challenge.
• Experience of managing risks, issues and dependencies across multiple concurrent projects, with evidence of unblocking delivery problems before they land.

Desirable

• Professional certification such as PMP, PRINCE2 or SAFe, or an interest in working towards one.
• Exposure to the insurance sector – Lloyd’s syndicate, underwriting or broking.
• Interest in developing knowledge of data and analytics transformation programmes and cloud data platforms.
• Opportunity to develop skills in AI-assisted portfolio reporting and delivery automation as part of the wider Data Team’s tooling.

Core behavioural expectations

• Analysis and decision making
• Strategic perspective
• Relationships
• Performance focus
• Communication and influence
• Resilience and adaptability

Additional Information

• A full job description can be seen here

Starr is an equal opportunity employer, which means we will consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We recruit and develop our people based on merit and we're committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We offer first class training and development opportunities to all employees. Our aim is to grow our own talent and bring out the best in people.

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