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The insurance industry continues to throw up some intriguing job opportunities for ambitious IT professionals. The Stack's latest job of the week is at insurer Aviva, which is looking for a Head of IT Procurement.

Aviva is a leading UK provider of insurance, wealth and retirement solutions, with strong franchises in Canada and Ireland. It has, like many insurers, embarked on an ambitious digital transformation programme in recent years -- vowing in its last annual report to continue to "simplify our technology estate, removing legacy systems and   applications, and improving our overall operational resilience, customer service and agility."

(It has trimmed costs by £244 million and is on track to make that £300 million this year, a year earlier than planned, as it continues efforts to digitise and automate its sprawling set of customer journeys. The company has generally positive reviews on Glassdoor, with one recent post noting "community spirit, ethics, DE&I, green credentials all a credit to them. Genuinely tried [sic] hard to be a good company and provide good service.")

See also: Job of the Week: CISO, Direct Line Group

What's the Aviva Head of IT Procurement going to be doing? "...creating sustained value across all IT spend categories, through effective sourcing, supplier rationalisation and proactive commercial management of third party IT spend, whilst managing risk within Aviva’s appetite and protecting service" an ad posted March 8 notes.

It adds: "The Aviva Head of IT procurement will develop and implement an IT Procurement Strategy agreed with Procurement Director and... key partners including Group CIO." (In a challenge that may be particularly compelling for some green-minded IT professionals, the first item in Aviva's list of key responsibilities is to "drive Aviva’s sustainability agenda across the IT supply chain to support Aviva’s commitments including net zero."

The company is not publishing a salary band (we have asked and will update this post if we get a reply) but says it is offering a "competitive salary depending on location, skills and prior experience; a generous defined contribution pension scheme; annual performance related bonus and pay review; holiday allowance of up to 29 days plus bank holidays and the option to buy/sell up to 5 additional days" and flexible range of benefits.

The location is hybrid with potential office locations being Bristol, London, Norwich, and York.

Recruitment is being led by Ben Parker.

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