Senior People Business Partner

QBE European Operations plc.; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days holiday

Pension – employer contributions

Private medical insurance

Family friendly policies

Cycle-to-Work

Job summary

QBE European Operations plc. in London is seeking a Senior People Business Partner to shape the workforce and people strategy for the Insurance function.

You will partner with executive leaders to align strategy with capability, talent, and risk considerations, while guiding change and transformation initiatives across multiple geographies. The role emphasises leading workforce planning, organisational design, and talent management, with a focus on AI, technology, and evolving business models.

Qualifications

• Significant experience as a senior HR leader partnering with executive teams within complex organisations.
• Proven ability to develop and deliver people strategies aligning business priorities and employee experience.
• Strong influencing and stakeholder management with ability to challenge and advise trusted decisions.
• Experience leading organisational change, workforce planning, talent and succession initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Partner with Executive leaders to shape people and workforce strategy and operating models.
• Lead multi-year workforce planning aligned to evolving business strategy and technology changes.
• Drive talent, succession, and capability initiatives across the Insurance portfolio.
• Champion people analytics to inform strategy and measurable business outcomes.
• Lead, coach and develop the Insurance PBP team, setting standards of practice.
• Collaborate with Centres of Excellence to deliver practical, business-focused solutions across geographies.

Skills

Senior HR leader

Executive stakeholder engagement

Workforce planning

Change management

Tools

HRIS

People analytics

Job description

Primary Details

Time Type: Full timeWorker Type: Employee

Senior People Business Partner

Role Highlights

• London based role with hybrid working
• A strategic partnering opportunity to shape the people agenda across QBE's Insurance function, working with senior leaders to drive organisational performance, capability and future-focused workforce outcomes.
• Happy to talk flexible working

The opportunity

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Senior People Business Partner for the Insurance function. You will operate as a business leader with deep People expertise, partnering with executive and senior leaders to shape business, workforce and organisational choices.

In this role, you will bring forward-looking insight on workforce strategy, organisation effectiveness, executive talent, leadership capability, transformation and people risk, ensuring these considerations are embedded while decisions are being formed.

You will lead and develop the Insurance PBP team and connect specialist expertise and sequencing interventions around the outcomes that matter most to the business. A key part of the role will be helping leaders respond to AI, technology and business-model change by redesigning work, capability, roles and workforce plans for the future.

Having the right to work in the UK is required for this role. QBE may consider visa sponsorship at its discretion.

About QBE

At QBE, we get to the heart of what matters for our customers.And we do it all with a human touch.

We’rean international insurer with more than 13,000 people working across 26 countries – which meanswe’rebig enough for your ambitions, yet small enough for you to make a real impact.It’san exciting time.We’rebuilding momentum towards our vision to become the most consistent and innovative risk partner.

What if you could have a positive impact – at work and in the world?Aspart of the QBE team,you’llget to spend every day working with people who are passionate,talentedand kind.

Your new role

• Partner with Executive leaders at the point business choices are being shaped, bringing workforce, organisation, talent and people-risk insight to influence strategy, investment priorities and operating-model decisions.
• Develop a forward-looking, multi-year view of the workforce, anticipating changes in business strategy, technology, skills, capacity, location, sourcing and operating models.
• Lead strategic workforce and job-design conversations arising from AI, automation and technology investment, helping leaders assess how work, roles, capability, capacity and ways of working need to change.
• Ensure workforce implications are considered alongside business transformation and technology decisions, preserving appropriate human judgement, accountability and employee impact considerations.
• Act as the strategic orchestrator across the People function, ensuring business priorities are translated into a coordinated People agenda by aligning and mobilising the right expertise at the right time.
• Champion initiatives that enhance employee engagement, capability and experience, supporting QBE's ambition to be an employer of choice.
• Use people data, insights and workforce analytics to inform decision-making and drive measurable business outcomes.
• Lead and support organisational change, ensuring effective change management across business transformation and strategic initiatives.
• Facilitate talent and succession discussions, identifying critical capability needs, developing diverse talent pipelines and supporting future workforce requirements.
• Provide trusted advice and challenge on a broad range of people matters including organisational design, employee relations, performance, leadership capability, senior recruitment and onboarding.
• Lead, coach and develop the Insurance PBP team, setting clear expectations for strategic, insight-led partnering and creating consistent standards of practice across the portfolio.
• Contribute to the collective leadership of the wider PBP community, sharing accountability for capability, succession, engagement and the overall effectiveness of Business Partnering.
• Build strong, credible relationships with senior stakeholders and People colleagues, using commercial acumen, critical thinking and influence to ensure people considerations are embedded in business decisions.
• Contribute to the wider People agenda by identifying opportunities for continuous improvement, innovation and best practice across the organisation.

About You

• Significant experience operating as a senior HR leader, partnering with Executive and senior stakeholders within a complex, matrixed organisation.
• Proven ability to develop and deliver people strategies that balance business priorities, organisational performance and employee experience.
• Strong influencing, relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to provide constructive challenge and trusted advice.
• Experienced in leading organisational change, workforce planning, talent, succession and organisational effectiveness initiatives.
• Highly collaborative, with a track record of bringing together diverse teams and Centres of Excellence to deliver practical, business-focused solutions across multiple geographies.
• Commercially minded and data-driven, with the ability to use people insights, analytics and sound judgement to inform decision-making and deliver measurable outcomes.

Desirable

• Experience supporting Insurance, Finance or other corporate functions within a global organisation.
• Experience working within periods of organisational transformation and change.

Benefits

We offer a range of benefits to help provide holistic support for your work life, whatever your circumstances.As well as the benefits below we also offer an extensive choice of other options to suit you!

• 30 days holiday a yearwith theoptionto buy up to 2additionaldays.
• Flexible working-balancing work and life is important so our flexible working opportunities are open to all, this can include part-time, job share and compressed hours.
• Pension –you are automatically enrolled into the QBE pension plan, which entitles you to receive employer contributions of 10% of your basic salary.
• Private medical insurance– we fund fully comprehensive private medical cover for you and all the family.
• Family friendly policies– we offer 26 weeks leave at full pay regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation or how you become a parent.
• Short term remote work abroad-you can request up to 20 days per year to work remotely from certain locations abroad.
• Sustainable investing- we believe sustainable integration is important for long term financial, environmental, and social outcomes. Our pension strategy supports our net-zero goal to achieve year-on-year reductions incarbonfootprint, by investing more ingreen businesses than the broader market, so your savings are looking after the planet's future, as well as your own.
• Cycle-to-Work– benefit from regular exercise whilst making your commute greener and cheaper, select and bike and/or accessories up to the value of £5,000.

Awards & Recognition

We value our employee’s experience with us and are proud to have been recognised for the following awards:

• Insurance Post British Insurance Awards 2025:Winner: Commercial Lines Insurer of the Year,Winner: Reinsurer of the Year - QBE Re, Winner: ESG, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative of the Year
• Insurance Post British Insurance Awards 2023:QBE rated as a 5-Star Employee

Your career.

At the heart of it.

Skills

Analytical Thinking, Change Management, Coaching for success, Critical Thinking, Influencing, Intentional collaboration, Labor and Employment Law, Managing performance, Navigating ambiguity, Negotiation, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Human Resources Leadership, Succession Planning, Talent Management, Team Management

Equal Employment Opportunity:

QBE is an equal opportunity employer and is required to comply with equal employment opportunity legislation in each jurisdiction it operates.