Product Operations Lead

Salary and Benefits: £75,000 - £90,000 (subject to experience) + Asset Management bonus, excellent pension scheme, private medical insurance, electric vehicle scheme, 38 days holiday incl. Bank Holidays, plus 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more!

Job Type: Permanent

Hiring Manager: Operations Business Manager, Asset Management

Location: This role will be based in our Telford office, with some time spent working from home. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.

We have an incredible opportunity to join us here at Phoenix Group as a Product Operations Lead to join our Operations Team in the Asset Management COO function here at Phoenix Group.

Who are we?

We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked.

We’re the UK’s largest long-term savings and retirement business. We offer a range of products across our market-leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation that is tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet.

Role Context

Phoenix Group has launched several bespoke indices for use across our Policyholder funds in both Equities and Fixed Income. As the organisation scales its investment capabilities and customises investment propositions, we are looking to build a strong oversight model and operational control of these products.

The Product Operations Lead will be closely aligned to our Front Office functions, supporting investment decision making, monitoring, and analytics. With a strong foundation in product, operations and/or business analysis and a comprehensive grasp of benchmarks and indices, the incumbent will involve building and supporting the E2E oversight and control framework for existing and newly introduced climate benchmarks by establishing a robust operational process to ensure thorough oversight of these benchmarks.

Your responsibilities include meticulous analysis to create a process for continuous monitoring of benchmarks through collaboration with key stakeholders, utilising your analytical skills to ensure accuracy and relevance. Simultaneously, you will work with the relevant internal stakeholders to oversee the end-to-end process from conceptualisation to implementation.

You will need to thoroughly understand the proposed needs of the business, actively assessing them and challenging them where necessary to ensure they are in align with the asset management and business control strategy, highlighting throughout the limitations in potential solution options. You will assume ownership of the outcomes and evaluate their connection to the overarching asset management and sustainability strategy to determine the priorities and dependencies.

You will collaborate with teams across Phoenix Asset Management, to ensure the documentation of the process to establish a uniform record of the proposed changes. Ultimately, the process will produce a system whereby there is ongoing effective dissemination of outcomes through reports to relevant stakeholders.

This is an exciting opportunity for an individual with a keen interest in benchmarks and indices, and to be part of the growing capability in the highly specialised area of Asset Management within the Phoenix Group.

Key Responsibilities

Oversight

• Develop the Index Oversight Process & associated Target Operating Model for Phoenix Asset Management; aligning with the Product Owner(s) to ensure robust overview and controls of investment analytics and reporting, data & systems and Index Product Management
• Consult and work with Policyholder Investment Office (Front Office) team in relation to index fund management oversight process and controls.
• Accountable and responsible for the daily operation and continuous development of the Index
• Oversight Process, supporting teams across Asset Management to launch new Climate indices and manage existing benchmarks.
• Work with external stakeholders and, where necessary, challenge systems and processes to achieve delivery.
• Establish a process to continuously monitor and identify breaches, escalating as required.

Analysis

• Develop SME function for Aladdin Investment Analytics and Reporting (index performance, risk, climate analytics, SDR, Index Funds) for all Phoenix AM Stakeholders such as Policyholder, Product Control & reporting, Climate Risk, Level 2 Risk, as well as develop out index operation controls.
• Supporting Index Research & Development and management of Index factsheets and presentations
• Conduct comprehensive analysis of benchmarks and indices relevant to policyholder products; provide, develop and support Index Analytics, Reporting & Market Commentary across the business

General

• Maintain detailed documentation of benchmark and index analysis end-to-end processes.
• Adapt to the requirements of different types of change by planning and organising effectively, and oversee all Change aspects of the Index Product and Operations life cycle
• Keep technical & business knowledge up to date in area of expertise

What we’re looking for

Minimum Requirements:

Experience (Essential)

• Demonstrated experience in Asset Management (preferably with exposure to policyholder products) or Regulated industry background, e.g. Investment Banking (minimum).
• Strong experience in investment risk analytics and performance attribution methodologies
• Proven experience in definition and design of business processes, as well as implementing and designing controls for various processes, ensuring efficiency and compliance
• Proven ability to identify risks and implement mitigating controls over an Index business.
• Proficient in quantitative analysis and data interpretation

Knowledge

• Strong understanding of financial markets, particularly within the asset management space with a focus on benchmarks and indices
• Familiarity with insurance and policyholder investment products
• Working knowledge of the FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) and Investment Labels regulation would be beneficial but not essential

Personal Attributes & Skills

• Ability to identify issues, propose solutions, and implement changes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication for preparing reports, project ideas, outlines and
• collaborating with diverse teams.
• Ability to adapt with communication styles, provide constructive feedback and collaboration for
• successful project outcomes.
• Ensure alignment with communication guidelines and policies.
• Proven ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Interprets and influences both the external and internal environments by creating positive relationships with stakeholders through the appropriate management of their expectations and
• agreed objectives.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

 If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

Find out more about #LifeAtPhoenix

Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates

Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us  #LI-SC1