Product Operations Director
Description
Join AXA as our Product Operations Director
Transform the Future of Insurance with Innovation and Excellence
Are you a strategic leader passionate about shaping product and design landscapes? Do you thrive in orchestrating complex operations that drive business impact? AXA is seeking an inspiringDirector of Product & Design Operationsto lead our evolution into a product led organisation. This is your chance to play a pivotal role in transforming how we deliver value to our customers through operational mastery, innovative practices, and cross-functional collaboration.
As the driving force behind AXA's product and design operational excellence, you will ensure seamless execution of strategies, streamline delivery, and scale practices aligned with our bold business goals. Your leadership will foster clarity, autonomy, and impact across our ecosystem, empowering teams to innovate with confidence.
At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You'll work at least two days a week (40%) away from home, moving to three days a week (60%) in the future. Away from home means either attendance at one of our office locations, visiting clients or attending industry events.
• Craft and evolve AXA's product operating model, including Tribes, Squads, and governance structures, to maximize efficiency.
• Align strategy with delivery and operational execution across the entire product organization.
• Lead enterprise planning cycles-such as Annual Business Reviews, Quarterly Business Reviews, and Big Room Planning-to synchronize business strategy with product delivery.
• Embed scalable planning hierarchies for consistent prioritization and execution throughout all levels.
• Implement and oversee OKRs across teams to keep focus sharply on customer and business outcomes.
• Monitor progress, identify risks, and enable agile course correction to ensure strategic objectives are met.
• Design balanced frameworks that integrate agility with regulatory, risk, and financial controls.
• Promote early risk, finance, and compliance considerations ("shift left") within the product lifecycle.
• Develop dashboards and reporting tools to track delivery, performance, and value creation.
• Provide data-driven insights to inform leadership decisions and investment priorities.
• Act as the central coordinator connecting product teams, technology, operations, finance, and business units.
• Foster communities of practice to uplift skills, share best practices, and accelerate maturity.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives-streamlining processes, enhancing tooling, and reducing friction for better outcomes.
Due to the number of applications we expect to receive for this role, we reserve the right to close this advert earlier than the listed closing date to ensure we're able to effectively manage interest. Therefore, if you're interested in joining us at AXA, please don't hesitate to apply.
We know that some candidates may be discouraged from applying if they don't meet every requirement. If you're excited by this job and the prospect of working at AXA but you're not sure you tick every box, we'd still encourage you to apply.
What you'll bring:
• Extensive experience leading Product Operations or similar roles in scaled Agile organisations.
• Strategic mindset with the ability to translate vision tracking into scalable operational systems.
• Proven experience in enterprise environments with multiple business units and product portfolios.
• Strong background in delivery management, programme operations and cross-functional enablement.
• Expertise in roadmap planning, delivery tracking tooling (Jira, Confluence, Aha!, etc.).
• Experience driving change management, adoption and operational maturity in product-led organisations.
• Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and facilitation skills.
• Experience supporting or running cross-functional guilds and communities of practice, participation in building culture is a plus
As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.
What we offer:
At AXA UK, we're appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that. You can expect to receive:
• Competitive annual salary
• Annual company & performance-based bonus
• Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
• Life Assurance (up to 10 x annual salary)
• 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 5 days leave
• AXA employee discounts
• Gym benefits
To apply, click on the 'apply for this job' button, you'll then need to log in or create a profile to submit your CV. We're proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don't discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long-term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we're proud to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. For our support, please send an email to Stacey.hunt@axa-uk.co.uk.
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Who we are:
AXA UK Support Functions power AXA's three customer-facing business units, providing the infrastructure, support and expertise to ensure our customers can always count on us. Whether you've got heaps of experience and qualifications behind you, or you're just starting out, we'll give you the support and opportunities to help you grow and develop with confidence.