Head of Challenger Pricing

Hastings Direct; Bexhill-on-Sea; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Car allowance

Hybrid working

4Cs bonus

Private medical

Life assurance

Pension contributions

Mental wellbeing

Annual leave

Job summary

Hastings Direct seeks a Head of Challenger Pricing (Telematics) to challenge and outperform our motor pricing strategy. You will develop new methodologies, sharpen risk segmentation and leverage telematics and behavioral data to improve risk selection and commercial performance.

You will collaborate with Pricing, Data and Analytics teams to move ideas from experimentation to live pricing, delivering measurable value and scalable impact across Hastings Direct.

Qualifications

• Experience in insurance pricing, predictive modelling or advanced analytics, preferably in motor/telematics.
• Proven ability to test and implement data-led pricing innovations.
• Strong problem-solving and hypothesis-driven testing skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to form clear hypotheses, design robust tests and translate findings into action.
• Comfort working with ambiguity, building from first principles and taking ideas from concept through to implementation.
• Strong commercial judgement and a clear understanding of how pricing decisions influence risk selection, customer value and portfolio performance.

Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain challenger pricing methodologies to outperform incumbents.
• Identify opportunities to outpace current pricing approaches through data and experiments.
• Design and execute controlled pricing experiments and deploy into live pricing.
• Explore new data sources and risk signals for sharper pricing.
• Alternative Data & New Risk Signals: Explore the use of telematics, behavioural and non-traditional data sources - don’t constrain yourself to what we use today or even what we have. Identify new signals that improve pricing precision and customer selection.

Skills

Pricing & analytics

Pricing strategy

Telematics data

Stakeholder influence

Ambiguity handling

Commercial judgement

Tools

Python

R

SQL

Job description

Head of Challenger Pricing (Telematics) - Hybrid

We’re a fast-growing digital insurer serving more than four million customers, with ambitious plans for the UK market and significant investment across our insurance and telematics businesses, underpinned by market-leading pricing and data capability. Joining a small, focused innovation team, you’ll challenge how we price risk by exploring new methodologies, segmentation approaches and data sources that can outperform our existing strategy. With best-in-class data, tools and implementation capability, you’ll have the freedom to test bold ideas and the support to scale successful innovations across the business.

Role Overview

Challenge and outperform our existing motor pricing strategy by developing new pricing methodologies, sharper risk segmentation and innovative uses of data—including telematics and behavioural insight—to improve risk selection and commercial performance. Success will be measured by your ability to turn pricing innovation into measurable value. You’ll identify, test and prove challenger approaches that improve pricing sophistication, create new risk signals and unlock the potential of telematics and alternative data alongside our established rating capabilities. Working through our established pricing organisation, you’ll partner with Pricing, Data and Analytics teams to move successful concepts from experimentation into live pricing. Your challenge is simple: outperform our current approach from the inside and strengthen how Hastings prices risk at scale.

Challenger Pricing Strategy

Develop and maintain a portfolio of challenger methodologies with intent to avoid overlap with our existing incumbent approach.

Continuously identify opportunities to outperform existing pricing approaches.

Experimentation & Test and Learn: Design and execute controlled pricing experiments working with the existing team to execute them into a live environment.

Explore new approaches to risk selection and customer segmentation.

Alternative Data & New Risk Signals: Explore the use of telematics, behavioural and non-traditional data sources - don’t constrain yourself to what we use today or even what we have. Identify new signals that improve pricing precision and customer selection.

Skills and Experience we’re looking for

• Strong experience in insurance pricing, predictive modelling or advanced analytics, ideally within motor or telematics.
• Hands-on technical capability using Python, R, SQL or similar analytical tools to work with large and complex datasets.
• A track record of challenging established thinking and developing innovative, data-led approaches.
• Strong problem-solving skills, with the ability to form clear hypotheses, design robust tests and translate findings into action.
• Comfort working with ambiguity, building from first principles and taking ideas from concept through to implementation.
• Strong commercial judgement and a clear understanding of how pricing decisions influence risk selection, customer value and portfolio performance.

Our recruitment process

Our straightforward interview process is designed to help us get to know each other and give you a clear picture of the role: Initial conversation with our recruiter, Introductory discussion with the hiring leader, Case study interview with the hiring leader, Final conversation with a senior leader.

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fully inclusive – what this means to you is if you’re applying for a job with us, you’ll have fair access to support and adjustments throughout your recruitment journey. We also welcome applications through the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). For more information on the DCS, please visit our inclusive business page on our career’s website.

Hastings Group is an equal opportunities employer which means we treat people fairly. We welcome applications from all suitably skilled persons regardless of their gender, age, race, disability, ethnic background, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or marital/family status. Please also note that we have a thorough referencing process, which includes credit and criminal record checks. 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.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• £6k car allowance
• Flexible working - we champion a flexible hybrid working approach - please speak to your recruiter to discuss in more detail
• Competitive bonus scheme - all colleagues are eligible for our annual 4Cs performance bonus
• Physical wellbeing - as a Band 5 colleague, Hastings pay for you to receive private medical (PMI). This gives you flexibility and convenience to see a specialist or consultant and allows you to decide when and where you will be seen
• Financial wellbeing - as well as providing you with 4x your salary with our life assurance cover, income protection at no extra cost, and matched pension contributions up to 10%, we are proud to provide you with an award‑winning package which includes discounts, cashback, free independent mortgage advice and free access to financial wellbeing support
• Mental wellbeing programme - 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
• 27 days annual leave + bank holidays, with the option to buy or sell one of your weeks, access to our health care cash back plans, dental plans, discounted health assessments, cycle to work and tech schemes, discounted and free onsite facilities, social events throughout the year and much more

About Hastings Direct

Hastings Direct is a fast growing, agile, digitally focused general insurance provider of products and services to over 4 million customers in the UK, employing over 4,600 colleagues. Our vision - to be the best and biggest digital insurance provider in the market. It's our attitude and the way we run our business that makes us different. We focus on getting it right for our colleagues, customers, company and community. It's a dynamic, flexible, fun and constantly changing environment. You'll enjoy the scope to make a real difference for our customers, influence our company, benefit the communities we work in and have fun along the way.

Join Us

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. 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.

Job posting end date

17/09/2026