Junior Account Manager

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. We're experts helping clients adapt and thrive in a changing world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mind-set, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 23,000 employees and spanning 56 countries.

Our people are our biggest asset as well as our largest shareholder group and are everything that makes us unique; our inclusive culture, the quality service we offer our clients, and our continued growth, all come from our people-first approach. There’s no such thing as individual success. We all need to play our part, contributing our skills and experience to make a true difference. That’s Howden.

Why work at Howden?

We have always been employee-owned and driven by entrepreneurial spirit. Right from the beginning, we've focused on employing talented individuals and empowering them to make a real difference to the company, whilst building successful and fulfilling careers at the same time. Simply put, we hire talented specialists and give them what they need to make a difference for clients. Always have, always will.

People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down disappointed head-hunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

The Role

As a Junior Account Manager in our Airline team, part of Howden’s Aviation & Space division, you will support the day-to-day servicing of our aircraft leasing clients. These are service-heavy accounts that generate a steady volume of requests, each with a short turnaround and little room for error and getting them right is what keeps those relationships strong. You will work alongside experienced brokers and account managers who will teach you the technical side of the business as you go.

What You'll Do

This is a role with a clear path. As your knowledge and confidence grow, there will be opportunity to become involved with our airline clients and to develop towards a broking or account executive career, with support to gain professional qualifications along the way.

• You will act as a first point of contact for routine client requests, logging them, prioritising them against competing deadlines, seeing them through to completion and keeping clients informed along the way.
• Preparing and checking client documentation will form a significant part of your role. Accuracy matters here: third parties rely on what we issue, and it needs to be correct, consistent with what was agreed, and delivered on time.
• You will support the renewal process end to end – gathering information from clients, helping collate it for market, keeping the timetable on track, and preparing materials for client meetings and reports.
• Maintaining accurate account records and schedules on the company’s systems will be your responsibility, ensuring the wider team is always working from a single, current source of information.
• You will support the administration of premiums and settlements, working with colleagues in our technical and accounts teams to make sure everything is processed correctly and settled on time.
• Working closely with insurers, claims colleagues and other parts of the Howden business, you will build the relationships and market understanding that underpin a long-term career in aviation insurance.
• You will adhere strictly to company procedures and compliance requirements for documentation, record-keeping and communication.

Who we're looking for

This is an early-career role, and we are more interested in aptitude and attitude than in the length of your CV. Experience in insurance or aviation is welcome but not required – we will teach you the technical side. What we are looking for is:

• Exceptional organisation. You will be handling many small tasks at once, and the difference between doing this well and doing it poorly is whether things are chased before they become late.
• A high standard of accuracy and attention to detail, with the discipline to check your own work rather than assume it is right.
• Confidence with numbers and good working knowledge of Excel.
• Clear, professional written communication. Much of your output will be correspondence with clients, insurers and third parties that needs to be unambiguous and well presented.
• Calm and resilient under pressure, with the ability to hold your nerve through busy renewal periods and to adapt when priorities change.
• A collegiate approach – comfortable asking questions when you are unsure, and willing to help colleagues when they are under pressure. At Howden, everyone works for each other.
• Genuine curiosity about aviation and a real appetite to learn the technical side of the market.
• GCSE Maths and English (or equivalent) to ensure a solid foundation in core skills, with A levels desirable. A degree is not required.
• A willingness to work towards professional qualifications such as the LLMIT (the Lloyd’s and London Market Introductory Test) and Cert CII or ACII, for which study support is provided.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Our business succeeds by allowing our people to make a mark in the areas they care about most: personal development, volunteering, and fundraising for charity, or creating new insurance products that address society’s greatest challenges.

And we know that separate home and work lives don't really exist. If you're happy and healthy at home, you're more likely to be happy and fulfilled at work – and vice versa. That's why we do our best to support our people in every aspect of their lives.

Diversity and Inclusion

At Howden we value diversity - there is no one Howden ‘personality type’. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
• We support each other, in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
• We are determined to make a positive difference, at work and beyond

We consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness, and respect – regardless of age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or family circumstances.

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Our sustainability promise

We’re on a life-long journey to become an ever-more sustainable group. It's a commitment to taking care of our people and the world we live in, to doing good business, and to making a positive impact wherever we can. Our governance processes, company policies, and review systems are all geared towards our goal of making a positive impact in the world. You can read more about our sustainability work here.