Head of Change and Continuous Improvement

Howden; United States; Hybrid; USD 220,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance brokerage in the United States is seeking a Head of Change and Continuous Improvement. This director-level role involves leading transformation efforts, enhancing operational excellence, and establishing governance frameworks. The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in change management, strong leadership skills, and a solid educational background in related fields. Competitive compensation includes a salary range of $220,000 - $300,000 plus benefits.

Benefits

Discretionary bonus

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

Flexible PTO

Parental leave

Life and disability insurance

Qualifications

• Proven experience in change management and strategic leadership.
• Strong understanding of organizational psychology and systems thinking.
• Ability to lead high-performing teams and drive operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic roadmap for service capabilities.
• Establish change governance forums and integrate risk management.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives and optimize SOPs.

Skills

Change management

Leadership

Stakeholder engagement

Process optimization

Analytical skills

Education

Degree in Business or related field

PMI PMP Change Management certification

Lean Six Sigma certification

Tools

Power BI

Tableau

Smartsheet

ServiceNow dashboards

Job description

Head of Change and Continuous Improvement

Overview

Role: Head of Change and Continuous Improvement. Open to remote with ideal hybrid locations in Tampa, Miami, Charlotte, and Nashville. Base pay range: $220,000 - $300,000 per year.

What is the role?

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Head of Change and Continuous Improvement to build and lead a high-performing enterprise function that drives both transformation and operational excellence. You will be responsible for developing and embedding scalable capabilities—while embedding resilience, performance, and adoption across the business. A key focus will be the creation of a robust, future-ready change and improvement enablement ecosystem, grounded in strong governance, risk awareness, behavioral engagement, continuous feedback and data-driven insight.

You will bring clarity, structure, and empathy to enterprise transformation—making the intangible elements of change, such as culture, mindset, and adaptability, visible, measurable, and actionable. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior leader who views transformation not just as a delivery function, but as a strategic and cultural shift—one that must be owned, enabled, and experienced at every level of the organization.

What will you be doing?

• Strategic Service Capability Leadership
  • Lead the strategic roadmap for service enabling capabilities.
  • Ensure alignment of investment with strategic ambition and business outcomes.
  • Build and scale Centers of Excellence to embed capability uplift.
  • Ensure shared service capabilities are modular, reusable, and aligned with long-term strategy.
  • Develop a change management framework grounded in behavioral science and best practice.
  • Create playbooks, methodologies, and self-service toolkits for functional leaders and delivery teams.
  • Collaborate with change champions and embedded practitioners across business units.
  • Lead enterprise-wide initiatives that build capability and confidence in modernization.
  • Align delivery across project, product and operational teams efficiently.
• Change Governance and Risk Integration
  • Align business architecture with governance frameworks.
  • Establish and chair change governance forums.
  • Integrate risk and issue management into every stage of the transformation lifecycle.
  • Define and maintain enterprise-wide change risk dashboards.
• Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence
  • Lead the design, documentation, and optimization of SOPs.
  • Drive a culture of excellence through robust QA frameworks, continuous feedback loops, and proactive identification of improvement opportunities.
  • Establish and oversee a business help desk function to provide end-to-end user and client support.
  • Champion client experience design, monitoring and improving NPS, retention, and client profitability.
  • Ensure team structures and alignments optimize delivery of continuous improvement initiatives.
• Learning and Development
  • Design and implement training programs that strengthen capabilities across client delivery and operations.
  • Build learning pathways that reinforce consistent application of SOPs and process standards.
  • Partner with business leaders to embed operational excellence into onboarding and ongoing training.
  • Maintain knowledge-sharing tools to capture and disseminate best practices.
  • Promote a culture of continuous learning focused on process discipline and client-first behaviors.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration
  • Serve as a trusted adviser to CS and enterprise leaders.
  • Build high-trust, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders.
  • Provide transparent updates, shared metrics, and accessible storytelling.
  • Demonstrate deep expertise in change management, organizational enablement and continuous improvement.
  • Apply organizational design experience to delivery and benefit realization for the firm.
  • Think strategically with operational discipline and commercial insight.
  • Develop governance models that balance agility with risk and control.
  • Show strong analytical acumen and collaborative, culturally aware leadership.
  • Influence at the C-suite level and translate business cases into organizational benefit.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Adoption and usage rates of new systems, processes, and operating models.
  • Stakeholder readiness and sentiment scores.
  • Compliance with change governance frameworks and audit outcomes.
  • Process efficiency gains and quality assurance outcomes.
  • Client experience and retention improvements.

Qualifications

• Degree in Business, Transformation, Organizational Psychology, Systems Thinking, or related field.
• PMI PMP Change Management certification preferred.
• Familiarity with tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Smartsheet, or ServiceNow dashboards is an advantage.
• Lean Six Sigma certification is beneficial.

Why Howden

We’re building a global insurance broker with entrepreneurial spirit and strong growth. We value ownership, empowerment, and collaboration across a diverse, inclusive team. Our culture emphasizes personal development, volunteering, and delivering client-focused outcomes.

Diversity and Inclusion

• Our successes come from brave individuals trying new things.
• We support each other in everyday moments and bigger challenges.
• We aim to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

We treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and partners with equality, fairness, and respect regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.

Compensation and Benefits

The base salary range is $220,000 - $300,000 depending on experience and location. Eligible for discretionary bonus based on performance. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, flexible PTO, parental leave, life and disability insurance.

Company Details

• Seniority level: Director
• Employment type: Full-time
• Job function: General Business
• Industries: Insurance

We’re proud to be employee-owned and to offer a supportive environment for growth and impact.