1. a.
Job Title: Insurance Manager and Assistant to the Financial Controller
Term: Permanent, full-time position commencing 22 August 2011, or as soon as possible thereafter
Based at
Grade
Reporting to :
South Kensington
Professional Services level 4
Financial Controller
This is a permanent, full-time position.
(£40,220)
The College has a wide range of insurance needs, provided through external underwriters (mostly Zurich Municipal and Royal and Sun Alliance) on the advice of brokers (currently Aon). The insurance budget is approximately £1.3m a year, with material damage sums insured of approximately £2bn.
As well as insurance, the Financial Controller has overall responsibility for all payments to employees via payroll, accounting systems, maintenance and development of large-scale financial processes, communication of internal procedures to academic departments and support units within the College, regulatory controls, and authorisation of all types of expenditure. He is supported by several teams specialising in high-volume transaction processing.
The postholder will provide ad hoc support over the full range of activities. The expectation is that approximately 70 % of the postholder’s time will be devoted to insurance, and 30% to more general administrative duties.
Detailed duties are as follows:
Insurance Management
Manage College insurance claims and liaise with internal contacts, insurers, loss adjusters and brokers to ensure timely settlement. Maintain accurate electronic and paper records of all claims. b. Communicate travel insurance arrangements to College staff and students, and make special arrangements for unusual trips. Arrange additional insurance policies when required for new College construction works-inprogress contracts, liaising with Estates Division contacts, external Project
Managers and external construction firms as necessary. c. Advise internal College contacts about College insurance arrangements, and respond when potential gaps are identified. d. Maintain and supply management information about the state of the insurance budget and claims to the Financial Controller on a regular basis.

2. e. Advise research staff and NHS Regional Ethics Committees about Imperial
College indemnity arrangements for clinical trials. Refer specific trials to the insurer as required, and arrange additional policies where needed for overseas research activities. f. Provide specialist advice and guidance to staff and students about College insurance and indemnity arrangements and procedures generally. Review and, as appropriate, approve or amend insurance and indemnity clauses of proposed College contracts. g. Oversee College’s 2012 insurance tender exercise.
Motor Fleet Administration
Maintain accurate electronic and paper records of approximately 50 vehicles, and ensure all vehicles are insured, taxed and hold valid MOT certificates and congestion charge authorisation. Liaise with departmental vehicle operators to ensure compliance with insurance policies and statutory requirements.
3. Benefits-in-kind administration and HM Revenue and Customs Liaison
3.1 Advise staff and College Divisions/Departments on issues arising in connection with benefits which are provided to certain employees (e.g. living accommodation, company cars, and relocation expenses) in order to minimise exposure to income tax.
3.2 Liaise with the HM Revenue and Customs over the interpretation and implementation of their regulations, and prepare statutory returns for taxable benefits in kind (form P11Ds). Negotiate with HMRC the annual PAYE settlement agreement for non-individual (but taxable) expenses. [These processes have been completed for the 2010/11 tax year.]
3.3 Other income-tax related matters as required from time to time, with guidance from the Financial Controller and Tax Manager.
4. Financial Controls, communications and other matters
4.1 Maintain a database of internal signature records, and non-computerised financial security systems generally (working alongside the Systems
Accounting team who maintain parallel controls for the computerised systems).
4.2 Continue with the maintenance of the Finance Division ’s intranet site, with specialist expertise available from colleagues as required.
4.3 Identify the need for, and draft, guidance notes on internal financial procedures, amendments to the College’s Financial Regulations and other similar papers of College interest.
4.4 Develop and implement operational systems within the Financial Services section: answer internal and external enquiries concerning out-of-the-ordinary operational and regulatory matters in College finance.

4.5 Assist with maintenance of a database of studentship awarded to the College, answering enquiries from academic departments concerning availability of funds and eligibility of students to participate.
5. Special projects and support for the Financial Controller
Undertake special projects for the Finance Division and provide general administrative support for the Financial Controller.
Person Specification
The Postholder will:

ideally have had insurance experience, working within a broking or underwriting office, or in the insurance department of a large corporate organisation;

possess good general administrative skills, demonstrated by practical experience in a business or public-sector office environment;

be of graduate-equivalent calibre, with strong financial and/or legal knowledge;

have well-tried analytical and problem-solving skills;

display good communication and inter-personal skills at a level required for liaison with senior College management and external professionals;

have significant recent experience of desk-top computer applications, such as
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, and a web editor; including some of the non-standard functionality such as mail-merge and data sorting;

be able to work largely unsupervised, fulfilling broadly defined College objectives, possessing a flexible approach to work and a strong commitment to succeed.

Background information about Imperial College and the Finance Division
Imperial College is one of Europe’s leading centres for higher education and research in the fields of science, engineering and medicine. In recent years, it has been consistently rated amongst the top few institutions in all the published league tables, both for its undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes and for its research work.
The College has approximately 14,000 students, of whom 9,000 are undergraduates, and about 6,500 full-time staff. Its financial turnover is approximately £700m a year, of which about a half is attributable to sponsored research work.
More information about the College’s academic achievements, its history and its facilities are available from the web site: http://www.imperial.ac.uk/ and in particular the left-hand drop-down menu.
The College’s Finance Division has an intranet presence, much of which is viewable by the general public, at:- http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/finance
Application procedure
Applications must be made using the College’s iRecruitment online application tool.
Detailed information about how to apply online can be obtained from our web site at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/employment/howtoapply