At IAG, we live and work by our purpose to make your world a safer place. We are motivated by a unique culture that celebrates honesty, creativity, empathy, equity and collaboration. We call it the IAG way, and it means we all share a ‘ready for anything’ mindset that sets the tone for positive actions and positive outcomes. We put heart into everything we do which guides us to create amazing things for our customers, our people and our communities.
We’re brimming with ideas, ambition and a readiness to apply bold thinking and risk awareness to make a difference where it matters most.
As the largest general insurance group in Australia and New Zealand, we own some of the region’s most trusted brands, including NRMA Insurance, CGU, SGIO, SGIC and WFI. We are ready for anything.
The Role
Firemark is IAG’s internal and external business incubator. Firemark consists of a Futures function, a Ventures function and a Labs function. The purpose of the role and your unique value add is to keep IAG on the forefront of thought leadership by designing, building, and leading Firemark’s Futures function. Through a deep understanding and synthesis of emerging technology and research commercialization opportunities, you will shape strategic systems of opportunity to drive growth and value chain enrichment.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the Futures Function
- Contribute to the overall Innovation & Ventures (i.e. Firemark) vision and strategy by representing the Futures function. Proactively contribute to, build, and model the One Firemark culture that we want to create across teams and geographies.
- Set the strategy for the Futures function. Translate into tactical plans for successful delivery. Identify and input strategic opportunities into the Innovation and Venturing pipeline for evaluation and prioritisation.
- Develop Firemark Systems of Opportunity & Drive Thought Leadership
- Author and oversee content to articulate IAG’s point-of-view on emerging themes and tell the Firemark story to internal and external audiences. Manage distribution across multiple owned channels (e.g. website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and external media (in collaboration with Corporate Affairs).
- Develop, curate and oversee administration of a knowledge & ideas platform that retains and builds IP and knowledge as an asset for IAG and enables effective communication of, and access to, content throughout the company.
- Identify the opportunity, application, and risks of future technologies
- Build and lead (and provide thought leadership for) the emerging technology practice and its evolution within Firemark including a strategic technology futures roadmap and readiness assessment to support new products/services.
- Research emerging technologies, risks and opportunities and translate them into new leverage opportunities within IAG and Firemark, including the mapping of key technology capability to value chain.
- Drive Strategic Theming and Synthesis
- Build a Futures practice in collaboration with Corporate Strategy to identify and shape emerging, possible and plausible futures to shape the strategy dialogue within IAG.
- Partner with Corporate Strategy to define the strategic themes that guide Firemark’s investment and incubation activity through synthesis of business and market context, corporate strategy, changing consumer behaviour and technology trends (Zoom in)
- Coordinate, manage and maintain a prioritised portfolio of ideas aligned to strategic themes and opportunity spaces to ensure an Innovation & Venture backlog exists for ongoing discovery and experimentation prioritisation.
- Lead Cooperative Research Experimentation & Commercialisation
- Partner with academic, industry, and government eco-system players to identify future value opportunities for IAG. Leverage research partnerships and funding to align with, expand, or accelerate prioritised portfolio initiatives.
- Identify and aggregate capabilities, talent, assets and intellectual property in key theme areas and identify opportunities for strategic IP acquisition, retention and/or commercialisation.
- Drive Value Chain Enrichment
- Proactively identify, build and implement ways to reduce cost, improve quality or shape future directions in IAG’s value chain through the novel application and mastery of hands on, deep internal system knowledge.
- Work with automotive OEMs and other ecosystem partners to identify new product/service offers and/or improve quality/cost of repair through repair innovation.
- Authorities
- Awareness and compliance with the Group Delegations & Authorities Policy.
- Financial authority – Budgeted/unbudgeted, capital, payroll, overtime approvals
- Budgetary authority – Dollar value of total budget
- Delegated authority – Dollar value for approval or role level
- People authority – Number of direct reports
Skills & Experience
- 15 years+ experience in research, trends, futures or transdisciplinary fields in complex operating environments
- Strong communication skills, including the ability to translate deep, technical concepts into simple and easily understood business terms
- Strong leadership and storytelling skills with a proven ability to inspire and motivate. Role models IAG values and behaviours to build trust with team and stakeholders. Strong executive engagement and communication skills
- Demonstrated thought leadership and a strong understanding of emerging risks with a global perspective. Ability to synthesis and influence external operating domain across regulatory, consumer, technology, innovation and research trends
- Demonstrated resilience in leading through complexity, ambiguity and responding to change.
- Deep experience in building internal and external partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared goals
- Strong research experience and networks and understanding of research ecosystem with demonstrated external ecosystem presence & influence
- Insurance market knowledge, and a strong network across the value chain a plus.
- Media spokesperson experience a plus
Ready for anything? Let’s talk
Start your career journey with us and click ‘Apply’! Applications close on Wednesday 21/07/21
IAG rewards and recognises its people with generous benefits, career development opportunities and real work-life balance. Employees also enjoy 13% superannuation, up to 50% insurance discounts, flexible work and leave options, generous parental leave and return to work programs, various corporate partner discounts and a people-focused culture that celebrates achievements big and small.
Creating a workforce that actively embraces diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging is key to our success. We believe in treating everyone fairly which means that inclusion, removing barriers, striving for equity and embracing diversity are woven through our values and behaviors. We encourage applications from all backgrounds and communities and are committed to providing a work environment that enables you to thrive, whatever your circumstances. If we can provide support with access requirements, alternative work arrangements please advise us via your application.
IAG has committed to the reconciliation movement in Australia for First Nations people and focus on providing a safe and supportive work environment for all our employees. More information on our Reconciliation Action Plan can be found on our company website.
