Director of Investment Operations and Reporting

Join to apply for the Director of Investment Operations and Reporting role at Just Group plc

Location: London – hybrid 50%

Full time – 35 hours

Who are Just?

We help people achieve a better later life. That’s our purpose and it’s the reason we exist. We are a fast-growing FTSE 250 company helping customers enjoy the retirement they deserve. We do this through a variety of market leading, award-winning products and services, delivered by a diverse team of over 1,400 purpose-led colleagues who genuinely put the customer at the heart of everything we do.

This is a brilliant time to join our business. We are on an exciting growth journey to become the UK’s most loved retirement expert.

About the role

We are looking for a Director of Investment Operations and Reporting to lead the investment operations and reporting teams, assuming accountability for its outcomes (including planning, prioritization and execution), providing leadership, interfacing/ partnering with other business areas, driving delivery of significant change & improvements and contributing to the overall growth of the organisation. You will be responsible for driving BAU, change and improvements across Middle Office, Back office, short term liquidity risk management and collateral management. As well as overseeing the Treasury Management System (“TMS”) - Quantum.

Responsibilities

• Middle office
  • Lead the validation of trade instructions’ execution with third parties and internal investment team
  • Build and leverage third party relationships, including oversight of third parties – custody, asset managers and banks
  • Oversee the validation and settlement of investment fee with third parties.
  • Manage the accuracy of information flowing to the Datawarehouse/ inputs to actuarial/finance processes

• Liquidity management
  • Lead the risk, framework and policy for short term liquidity
  • Devise tools for managing liquidity including the active deployment of excess liquidity into appropriate return yielding investments
  • Oversee the production of MI at MAP, NMAP, legal entity and Group level regarding cash and liquidity, including cash flow forecasts and PRA Reports as required
  • Ensure that liquidity risk is managed in accordance with the Group Short-term Liquidity Policy and Liquidity Stress Testing is conducted on a regular basis
  • Ensure that all liquidity requirements are escalated and actioned on a timely basis.
  • Manage and report on derivative and reinsurance collateral, including execution of instructions for collateral moves, requesting counterparties to post collateral on timely basis
  • Generate accounting records, reports and disclosures on collateral, including reporting on collateral adequacy.

• Investment accounting
  • Lead the generation of accounting records and analyses of movements for portfolio of invested assets.
  • Develop and operate external debt operational accounting & reporting processes
  • Report on IFRS, Solvency II and other regulatory & statistical reporting
  • Manage independent price verification of publicly traded invested assets.

• Transaction support
  • Supervise the provision of regular transaction support e.g. onboarding of new asset manager, asset class or in specie asset transfer or charge process

• Complex asset valuation
  • Supervise and drive the asset and derivative modelling requirements of the TMS, including recommendation of key judgments and assumptions.

• TMS implementation and optimisation
  • Drive the implementation of changes, embedding of controls and training of teams
  • Drive operating model considerations

• Supervision of relevant outsource supplier relationships
  • Relevant suppliers include financial institutions, assets managers, custodians, asset servicers and pricing services
  • Ensure compliance with Group Outsourcing Policy

• Team management
  • Be a proactive member of the Just Group plc leadership team working collaboratively across the business.
  • Build a high performing team improving skills, capabilities and fully leveraging the treasury system functionalities
  • Ensure that Risk Sword / OneSumX is properly maintained and actioned for risks, controls and incidents
  • Runs or attends key governance committees including ALCO, Matching Adjustment Committee, Credit Committee and Complex Assets Valuation Committee

• Skills and Experience
  • Experience leading middle and back office investment activities in a complex financial services environment (ideally, life insurance)
  • Strong understanding of life insurance organisation’s balance sheet management and drivers of performance
  • Short/ Medium term liquidity risk management exposure
  • Treasury or investment qualification is desirable
  • Ability to identify and solve complex operational and functional problems
  • Ability to influence and persuade colleagues up to senior levels, applying strong negotiation skills.

• Company Benefits
  • A Competitive Salary, Pension Scheme and Life Assurance
  • 25 Days Annual Leave plus an Additional Day on us for your Birthday
  • Private Medical Cover and Income Protection
  • A generous and highly achievable bonus scheme – paid annually based on individual and company performance against targets
  • Opportunity to progress within your career both in-role and within the company
  • Free access to Headspace App, 24/7 Employee Assistance Helpline and trained physical & mental health first aiders (On-Site)
  • Employee Funded Benefits via Online Benefits Portal
  • Additional purchase options available for you and your loved ones

• Why Just?

At Just you’ll have the opportunity to develop your career, whilst making a difference to the lives of those around you. You’ll be part of a company with a strong and distinctive culture - we’re ambitious, curious and collaborative – and every decision we make centres around being Just and delivering the best outcomes for our customers.

We’re committed to building a more sustainable business, and we’re working hard to make progress against our Net Zero targets. We're reducing our reliance on fossil fuels in our offices, switching to more sustainable sources of energy and we're investing more of our money in green and social assets.

Valuing diversity of thought and fostering a sense of belonging is critical to our business success, driving innovation and balanced decision making. Our work on DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) aims to deliver a brilliant employee experience underpinned by a sense of belonging, where our people feel proud to work at Just. We remain committed to our publicly disclosed HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter and Race at Work Charter targets and support a wide range of employee network and events, championing issues including intergenerational working, social mobility and neurodiversity.

Be Bold. Be Brilliant. Be Just.