Operational Resilience Manager

Job description details

Job ref: 2025-13468

Closing date: 30/01/2026

Location:
Bolton

Career area:
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Salary:
From £46,000 dependent on experience


AXA UK is seeking a dedicated Operational Resilience Manager to ensure the continued robustness and preparedness of our Retail and Commercial insurance operations. You’ll be responsible for maintaining and updating operational resilience maps and playbooks, coordinating crisis management and stress testing exercises, and engaging with key stakeholders across the organisation. While you will not own these items outright, your role is crucial in ensuring they remain current, aligned with operational risks, and reflective of our evolving processes. Your expertise will help embed resilience into daily operations, promoting best practices and a proactive approach to risk management.

This is an exciting opportunity for a strategic thinker with strong stakeholder engagement skills and a passion for operational excellence. You’ll play a key part in fostering a resilient organisation capable of responding effectively to disruptions, safeguarding our customers’ interests, and supporting continuous business growth. If you thrive in a collaborative environment and are committed to embedding resilience into everyday practices, we invite you to join AXA UK and make a tangible difference in our operational security and customer service excellence.

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.

What you’ll be doing:

  • Lead the creation, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of IBS Playbooks, ensuring full rollout by H1 2026 and continuous updates to keep them current and effective for incident response and recovery.
  • Assist Important Business Service (IBS) owners and delegates in maintaining accurate, up-to-date operational resilience maps and playbooks, ensuring alignment with operational processes and risks.
  • Collaborate with relevant teams to review and refresh ITols, confirming refresh cycles and coordinating updates to maintain tool relevance and effectiveness.
  • Oversee day-to-day resilience activities within Retail and Commercial insurance functions, ensuring compliance with local and global resilience frameworks.
  • Lead and coordinate crisis management exercises, stress testing, and scenario planning across Retail and Commercial teams, working with wider AXA functions to validate strategies and identify improvement opportunities.
  • Manage relationships with key stakeholders across UK&I, Retail & Commercial, including operational teams, senior management, and IBS owners in ExCom, ensuring alignment with AXA resilience policies.
  • Support governance adherence by overseeing the annual Self-Assessment process, providing regular updates on resilience status, gaps, and initiatives within established governance structures.
  • Promote resilience awareness through training programs and initiatives, fostering a resilient culture across Retail & Commercial teams.

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.

What you’ll bring:

  • Demonstrate strong stakeholder and relationship management skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior managers and diverse groups effectively.
  • Possess excellent facilitation, presentation, communication, coaching, negotiation, and influencing capabilities to drive key initiatives.
  • Build consensus among stakeholders through empathetic communication and active listening, fostering collaborative decision-making.
  • Bring strong experience in governance, risk, and compliance within insurance or financial services, including FCA, GDPR, and MIB regulations.
  • Develop and implement strategic plans aligned with the organisation’s goals, driving delivery through effective project, people management, and communication techniques.
  • Exhibit strong decision-making skills, advocating for cross-functional collaboration and making informed choices with full understanding of their impacts.
  • Possess the ability to dissect complex operating areas, designing technical solutions that meet business needs and industry standards.
  • Maintain a control-oriented mindset, with proven competence in navigating and adhering to industry regulations, supported by data analysis skills to inform strategic decisions.

As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.

This position has been defined as an Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) role under the IDD regime which means that in addition to pre-employment screening checks, the successful candidate will be subject to background screening every 4 years with an annual declaration in interim years.

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 from £46,000 dependent on experience
  • Annual company & performance-based bonus
  • Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
  • Life Assurance (up to 10 x annual salary)
  • Private medical cover
  • 28 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
  • Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 5 days leave
  • Wellbeing services & resources
  • AXA employee discounts

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 martin.eels@axa-uk.co.uk.

#LI-Hybrid

Who we are:

AXA Retail helps people live the life they love, knowing we’ve got their back, at home and on the road. Our people are vital to us becoming more digital, faster and easier to access. We’re a dynamic team of experts completely committed to making sure our customers ‘get back to the good stuff’ when the unexpected happens.

What we offer

We acknowledge and appreciate the exceptional efforts of our people in protecting what matters most to our customers. In exchange we offer a series of core and supporting benefits designed to empower our people to thrive both professionally and personally.

Competitive Salary

Annual Bonus

25 - 28 Days Annual Leave

21 Hours Volunteering Leave

Pension Scheme

Life Assurance

Private Medical Cover

AXA Shareplan

Wellbeing Initiatives

Employee Assistance Programme

Flexible Benefits

Discounts

Our Values

Our Values shape what we do and how we do it.
They inspire, guide, empower & unite us.

Customer first

All our thinking starts with the customer

Integrity

We’re guided by strong moral principles

Courage

We speak our mind and act to make things happen

One AXA

Being together and being different makes us better

Inclusion

At AXA we have a culture of trust, respect and care, where everyone belongs. We have an ambition to become one of the most inspiring companies to work for, as such we’re committed to supporting employee needs, providing meaningful career development, and celebrating differences. We all have a role to play in ensuring a working environment in which everyone, regardless of who they are, can reach their true potential. 

Equal Opportunities

We believe in hiring people who possess the appropriate skills and values that align with our vision. Our selection process is fair and equitable, ensuring that all candidates have an equal opportunity to join us. We are dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion, and we actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds. As an Equal Opportunities Employer, we take pride in treating our employees and potential hires with respect and without discrimination based on any Protected Characteristics. 

Accessibility Concierge

As a Disability Confident employer, we’re proud to offer our support and access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. A unique, industry leading offering created to support and encourage candidates with long term health conditions or disabilities that may require alternative methods of applying or for reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process. Our trained Accessibility Concierge Ambassadors will have a conversation with you to identify the support you need and explain how you will be supported throughout the process. The service is available to all candidates, including those already employed by AXA. To ensure ease of access, every job advert lists a responsible Talent Acquisition contact, who’ll be able to connect you with the Accessibility Concierge if you require any support.

Disability Confident 'Offer of Interview' Scheme

AXA UK are recognised as a Disability Confident Leader. We actively encourage applications from people who face barriers in the workplace due to a disability or long-term health condition. We participate in the Disability Confident ‘Offer of Interview’ scheme. This means a fair and proportionate number of candidates with long-term health conditions or disabilities who meet the essential criteria of a job, will be offered an interview.

  • You'll need to show you meet the essential criteria as detailed in the job advert or job description
  • You don’t need to share the details of your long term health condition or disability for your application to be considered under this scheme

As part of your application, you’ll be asked if you would like to ‘opt in’. To ensure ease of access, every job advert lists a responsible Talent Acquisition contact, who’ll be able to connect you with our Accessibility Concierge if you require any support.

Screening & Conduct

As a regulated financial services company, all successful candidates will be subject to pre-employment checks. Additionally, adherence to the Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) Insurance Conduct Standards and the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Conduct Rules will be required.

How we hire

There are 3 stages to our recruitment process; Application, Interview and Decision. This process provides an opportunity for us to get to know you, and for you to get to know us. We’re looking for people who share our values and ambition.

Application

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Interview

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Decision

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How we work

We know one size doesn't fit all so depending on our customer's needs, your unique circumstances and how your team operates we offer a blend of home and office-based working.

Read more View Office Locations

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