The UK insurance market is entering a significant period of consolidation, investment and transformation. Recent activity across major insurers, private capital-backed businesses and the Lloyd’s market points to a sector that remains attractive to strategic buyers and international investors.

For technology and change leaders, this matters because M&A is rarely just a balance sheet event. Once a deal is announced, the real work begins, from integrating platforms, aligning operating models, simplifying processes to managing data, protecting service continuity and bringing people through complex change.

Following reports that Intact Financial is exploring a potential acquisition of Hiscox, and with previous high-profile deals such as RSA, Aviva and Direct Line, Ageas and esure, Athora and Pension Insurance Corporation, and Brookfield’s acquisition of Just Group, the direction of travel is clear. Scale, resilience, specialist capability and access to attractive markets are driving board-level decision making.

These deals also reflect wider pressures on insurers. Rising claims costs, regulatory expectations, operational resilience, customer experience, data capability and AI are all pushing firms to modernise faster.

M&A can provide the scale and investment required to accelerate that change, but it also creates immediate delivery challenges for CIOs, CTOs, Transformation Directors, COOs and People Leaders.

In this blog we’ll dive into exactly what this looks like in practice.

The technology challenge after a deal

Technology integration is often one of the most complex and visible parts of post-deal transformation. This can be a huge piece of work that can become the primary focus of a CIO. Insurers may need to consolidate legacy policy administration systems, integrate underwriting and pricing platforms, align claims technology, standardise data architecture, rationalise ERP or HR systems, and build secure, scalable digital channels. This is work that requires real specialists who have been there and done it before, with strong stakeholder commitment from leadership and impressive change management throughout the business to win the hearts and minds of all involved to take them on the journey.

The Lloyd’s market adds another layer of complexity. Acquisitions such as Radian’s acquisition of Inigo and Starr’s acquisition of IQUW show continued confidence in Lloyd’s as a global insurance platform. For international groups, a Lloyd’s presence can be seen as a strategic asset, but integration must be handled carefully to protect performance, culture, delegated authority models, regulatory confidence and specialist market knowledge.

For technology leaders, the risk is that integration becomes a purely technical exercise. In reality, successful M&A transformation requires clear prioritisation, strong governance, business ownership and experienced delivery capability. The best outcomes come when technology, operations, people and change are designed together from the start.

Implementation of new systems to improve efficiency, streamline processes and support profitability is often a key objective in both integration and value-creation programmes.

That could be a new platform, underwriting work bench or a new ERP across the group. These will all impact a business in huge ways if done right. And of course, with AI on everyone’s strategy moving forward, how to utilise these tools for the greatest gain is on every CIO’s agenda.

The change agenda: moving from transaction to transformation

With M&A comes change at scale. Some organisations will focus on integration, others on value creation, operational efficiency or growth. In most cases, the change agenda will include operating model redesign, process standardisation, automation, regulatory alignment, customer migration, data transformation and cultural integration.

What this means for people and recruitment

M&A can create opportunity as well as uncertainty. For some employees, larger organisations and broader transformation programmes can open new career paths, exposure to bigger platforms and opportunities to take on more complex roles. For others, change may bring duplication, restructuring, redeployment or redundancy.

From a recruitment perspective, this creates two parallel challenges. First, organisations need to secure the specialist talent required to deliver integration and transformation at pace. Second, they need to manage workforce change sensitively, retaining critical knowledge while supporting people through uncertainty. In a competitive market, clarity of message, speed of hiring and access to proven interim and permanent talent will make a material difference.

Demand will also become for leaders and specialists who can bridge technology, change and insurance expertise, with roles linked to AI adoption, data, cloud, platform integration, cyber security, business readiness, programme delivery and regulatory change becoming increasingly important, not to mention for those candidates who understand insurance environments.

Organisations will need people who can work across technology and business teams, manage ambiguity, engage senior stakeholders and maintain momentum while continuing to serve customers and brokers, as insurers seek to realise value from acquisitions, strengthen resilience and improve efficiency.

How Sanderson can help

Sanderson supports organisations through complex technology, digital, change and transformation hiring challenges. With deep experience across permanent and contract recruitment, Sanderson can help insurers access the specialist skills needed to deliver post-deal integration, transformation and operational improvement.

Whether you need interim programme leadership, project and delivery capability, business analysis, architecture, business readiness, product, data, cyber or technology specialists, Sanderson can work with you to shape the right talent strategy. That may mean rapidly building a delivery team, supporting a critical transformation programme, providing market insight to inform hiring plans, or helping secure senior technology and change leaders who can guide the business through uncertainty.

In a market where M&A, AI, operational resilience and customer expectations are reshaping insurance, having the right people in place will be central to realising deal value. Sanderson can help organisations move quickly, confidently and with the specialist recruitment expertise required to turn transformation ambition into delivery.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch today if you’d like to find out more.

Financial services recruitment is becoming increasingly selective throughout 2026, with employers focusing investment on specialist skills that support regulatory compliance, financial crime prevention, technology transformation and operational resilience. As organisations navigate evolving market conditions, hiring demand has become increasingly concentrated in areas where expertise remains difficult to source.

Across banking, insurance and FinTech, the latest data reveals a market that is not necessarily expanding uniformly, but instead reallocating recruitment activity towards functions that are strategically critical for growth and risk management. While some traditional areas have softened, others are experiencing significant increases in demand, creating new opportunities for both employers and candidates.

At Sanderson, we continually analyse market trends to help organisations make informed hiring decisions and stay ahead of changing talent demands.

That’s why we’re pleased to share our latest report, produced in partnership with VacancySoft, highlighting the key developments across the UK Financial Services market during July 2026.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the key insights:

Specialist Skills Are Driving the Market

The overarching theme across financial services recruitment is clear: competition is increasingly focused on specialist capabilities rather than volume hiring with employers prioritising expertise in fraud prevention, financial crime, actuarial science, broking and claims.

Actuarial Talent Remains in High Demand

London’s actuarial recruitment market remains resilient, with vacancies increasing by 6% year-on-year.

Fraud & Financial Crime Hiring Continues to Grow

Risk and compliance recruitment across Northern England remains broadly consistent with last year, but the composition of demand is changing with fraud vacancies increasing by more than 20% year-on-year.

Broking Emerges as an Insurance Growth Area

While parts of the insurance market have experienced slower hiring activity, broking continues to buck the trend. We’ve seen specialist insurance broking vacancies increase by 19% during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

Claims Recruitment Gains Momentum

Claims hiring is showing encouraging signs of growth across the UK insurance sector with vacancy volumes strengthening significantly in both London and the North West.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest vacancy data, regional hiring insights and analysis of the most in-demand financial services skillsets, download the full report below.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’re here to help you turn market insight into hiring success.

Financial services recruitment continues to evolve throughout 2026, with organisations balancing technology investment, regulatory demands and changing operational priorities.

Across banking, insurance and FinTech, employers are now placing increasing emphasis on digital capability, cybersecurity and specialist risk expertise, while regional financial centres continue to attract significant investment and hiring activity.

Plus, while London remains the UK’s leading hub for specialist financial services talent, growth opportunities are becoming increasingly distributed across the country as organisations expand regional operations and seek access to wider talent pools.

But what do the latest hiring trends tell us about where the market is heading?

At Sanderson, we keep our finger on the pulse of the latest market movements so we can help you understand how these trends may impact your hiring strategy and where the opportunities may lie.

That’s why we’re pleased to share our latest Report, produced in partnership with VacancySoft, highlighting the key developments across the UK Financial Services market during June 2026.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the key insights:

North West Banking Recruitment Continues to Outperform

Banking vacancies across the North West have consistently outpaced both 2024 and 2025 levels, highlighting the region’s growing appeal as a financial services hub.

Cybersecurity Demand Accelerates in Scotland

Demand for banking IT Security professionals in Scotland has risen sharply, driven by increased investment in cyber resilience and regulatory compliance.

Traditional Insurance Roles Remain Resilient

Despite ongoing digital transformation, vacancies across Broking, Claims and Underwriting remain significantly higher than last year.

Technology Hiring Surpasses Insurance Specialists

In London’s life insurance market, technology vacancies have now overtaken recruitment for traditional insurance roles as digital investment continues to grow.

Fraud Risk Talent in High Demand

Fraud Risk is one of the fastest-growing specialisms in Financial Services, with demand increasing by more than 20% year-on-year.

Competition for Technology Talent Intensifies

Financial services employers are offering increasingly competitive salaries to secure skilled professionals in software development, cybersecurity and digital transformation.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, vacancy volumes and insights into the most in-demand roles across banking, insurance, risk and technology, then download the full Report below.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re here to help you turn insight into action.

For years, Managed Service Programmes (MSPs) have been associated with large-scale financial institutions. When many people think of them, they often picture big global banks with overflowing contractor populations, complex supply chains and sizeable procurement teams.

And thanks to this, many challenger banks, mid-sized firms, start-ups and scale-ups have dismissed MSPs as something that’s simply not relevant to them saying things like “we’re too small“, “we don’t have enough contractors” or “an MSP would be way too complex and expensive for us“.

They’re common assumptions, we get it. But these days they’re pretty outdated.

The reality is that medium-sized and scaling financial services organisations face many of the same workforce challenges, regulatory obligations and operational risks as their larger counterparts. And actually, having leaner HR, talent acquisition and procurement teams, the impact of those challenges can be felt more acutely.

Whether you’re engaging 15 contractors or 150, you still need robust governance, compliant processes, clear audit trails and good visibility of your contingent workforce. All things an MSP can deliver without the cost, complexity or scale once associated with enterprise programmes.

In this blog, we’ll explore why MSPs have evolved beyond the enterprise market, the challenges facing smaller financial services organisations today and how an MSP can help create greater visibility, control and value across your contingent workforce.

Let’s get started!

Small Contractor Population, Big Challenges

The financial services landscape has shifted significantly in recent years.

Organisations are operating in an environment that’s heavily regulated, fast-moving and increasingly resource constrained.

There’s been a shift towards total workforce strategies as organisations seek better visibility across all worker types, not just their permanent employees. The result is often additional pressure on HR, talent acquisition and procurement teams who are already balancing competing priorities and just trying to get on top of the BAU!

Not only that but many mid-sized firms looking to grow are facing extra challenges like:

• Increased pressure and scrutiny on contingent workforce spend
• Growing expectations for real-time workforce data and reporting
• Limited visibility across departments and hiring teams
• Fragmented contractor engagement models as they scale
• Inconsistent governance, compliance processes and operational controls

And even with a relatively small contractor population, these challenges can compound quickly. As contractor populations grow across different departments, a lack of uniformity can emerge. Maybe there’s different suppliers charging different margins, contractors performing similar roles being paid at different rates, varying contract terms and even inconsistent compliance standards. When you combine this with differing approaches to IR35 governance, you’ve got yourself a stressful combination of internal confusion, unnecessary cost and (most worryingly) increased organisational risk.

But it doesn’t need to be like this.

Four Ways MSPs Transform Contractor Management

1. Regulatory Governance and IR35 Compliance

For many mid-sized financial services organisations, IR35 remains one of the biggest risk areas in their contingent workforces. Without dedicated compliance or contractor management teams, many challenger banks and scale-ups can find it difficult to apply consistent governance controls across every engagement.

This alongside fragmented processes and poor record-keeping can expose businesses to financial penalties, reputational damage and increased regulatory scrutiny.

A well-designed MSP helps by introducing:

• Standardised IR35 assessment processes.
• Embedded governance frameworks and consolidated operating procedures.
• Improved operational efficiency through auditable processes.
• Reduced risk through specialist oversight and governance controls.

This is something we’ve seen work well in practice. For many of our clients, we’ve used an MSP to establish, implement and own robust governance frameworks that help embed IR35 processes, standardise vetting practices and strengthen supplier controls. The result is a fully auditable, risk-controlled model that provides confidence for both hiring managers and leadership teams.

2. Reducing Administrative Burden

Contractor administration often places a significant strain on already overstretched internal teams.

When you’re already spinning plates, having to then vet and onboard contractors, deal with offboarding, manage supplier coordination and then handle rate management can quickly become ridiculously time-consuming and horribly inconsistent.

An MSP sorts all this out. For organisations without large HR, procurement and compliance teams, an MSP creates a centralised operating model with clear ownership and accountability that delivers:

• Streamlined workflows and contractor lifecycle processes.
• Consistent business engagement and experiences for hiring managers as well as contractors and suppliers.
• Reduced administrative workload.
• A single point of contact throughout the contractor lifecycle.

3. Driving Cost Efficiency

For growing organisations where budgets are under close scrutiny, controlling contingent workforce spend becomes increasingly important as contractor populations expand. And without visibility and control, contingent workforce spend can quickly spiral.

When you’re dealing with rate inconsistencies, a growing supplier list, random hiring and a lack of market benchmarking organisations often end up paying different rates for similar skills while incurring unnecessary extra costs (which can have a serious impact on budgets over time).

An MSP helps control costs through:

• Specialist direct sourcing strategies.
• Supplier rationalisation while retaining access to critical skills and capabilities.
• Rate card standardisation.
• Targeted cost-management initiatives.
• Improved spend visibility and reporting.
• Reduced process inefficiencies and administrative costs.

This is something we always focus our approach on. When implementing an MSP, our goal is to create an optimised commercial structure that scales in line with demand, all while maintaining control of spend, which will give organisations complete visibility of where and how their budget is being used. Plus, for many organisations, the savings made through improved supplier management, direct sourcing and spend visibility even help offset the cost of the MSP itself.

4. Workforce Data and Visibility

If you cannot quickly answer questions such as:

• How many contractors do we currently have?
• Which suppliers are we using?
• Where does contingent workforce spend sit?
• Which engagements represent the greatest compliance risk?

Then you might not just have an issue with reporting. There could be an operating model problem too. For smaller financial services organisations, where workforce data is often spread across spreadsheets, emails and multiple systems, achieving a single source of truth can be particularly challenging.

This lack of visibility is often one of the clearest reasons organisations begin exploring MSP solutions for the first time, as they look for benefits like:

• Full workforce visibility across contractor populations, spend and risk.
• Real-time workforce dashboards.
• Contractor population tracking.
• IR35 status visibility.
• Spend and cost analysis.
• Improved forecasting and workforce planning.

It’s only once you have reliable data that you can start identifying opportunities to improve processes, strengthen compliance and reduce costs.

Taking Contractor Management to the Next Level

One of the biggest misconceptions among challenger banks and growing financial services organisations is that an MSP will replace their internal talent acquisition team or limit access to specialist expertise.

But in reality, the opposite is true.

A successful MSP only works to enhance internal capability rather than replacing it, giving organisations access to:

• Pre-vetted specialist suppliers.
• Deeper financial services talent expertise.
• Supplier performance management.
• Wider but carefully controlled talent pools.
• More consistent hiring outcomes.

This isn’t just theory. More than 80% of Sanderson’s MSP clients are implementing an MSP for the first time, demonstrating that managed workforce solutions aren’t just for mature enterprise organisations. Not only that, but we currently have 28 live MSP services, and more than 60% of these are supporting financial services organisations.

A Strategic Opportunity for Growing Financial Services Organisations

Whether you manage 20 contractors or 200, the underlying challenges are remarkably similar.

You still need governance. You still need compliance. You still need visibility of workforce spend, supplier performance and risk. The reality is that smaller contractor populations don’t remove these challenges, they simply leave fewer internal resources available to manage them. An MSP can solve these challenges as an embedded workforce partnership focused on long-term success.

The question is no longer whether you’re big enough for an MSP. It’s whether you can afford not to have one.

So, if you’re working in a challenger bank, scale-up or smaller scale financial services organisation while managing contractors across multiple teams and relying on fragmented processes to keep everything under control, now is the time to reassess your approach.

Get in touch with our MSP team today to discover how a scalable MSP solution can help you gain greater control, drive efficiency and create a stronger foundation for future growth.

Tax teams play a critical role in financial services organisations. Whether it’s ensuring compliance, enabling global growth or supporting strategic decision-making, they’re often right at the centre of the action.

But finding the right talent, particularly during periods of change is no easy task. Exactly what one of our recent financial services clients, a leading provider of post-trade solutions, found when they were going through a major ownership transition.

They needed to rapidly establish a scalable tax function to support their international operations, but the challenge was finding individuals with the right balance of technical expertise, commercial awareness and the ability to build from the ground up.

Thanks to a focused search from Sanderson, they were able to secure a high-calibre tax team ready and raring to go. Read on to find out how we did it…

What was the challenge?

Our client approached us during a pivotal moment in their journey. They were transitioning away from their existing ownership structure and preparing for acquisition by a private equity investor. They were looking to strengthen their operational infrastructure, all starting with tax.

At the same time, they needed to ensure this tax function could support their global operations as they were working across more than 30 locations globally spanning the UK, US, Sweden, India and Singapore, so this was no easy feat.

The first priority was appointing a Head of Tax, alongside building out the wider team with a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst.

But there were challenges.

A Head of Tax is a role requiring a rare combination of strong technical expertise with the ability to operate in a changing environment, manage multiple stakeholders and build a scalable tax function from the ground up.

Their perfect candidate was someone who could navigate corporate tax compliance with ease, manage reporting, transfer pricing and outsourced tax providers without breaking a sweat, and all while supporting the setup of new entities globally.

What was our solution?

It was clear from the start that this was no standard tax recruitment assignment. But it was still no match for the Sanderson team.

Speed and precision were critical thanks to the acquisition taking place, so we quickly mobilised and implemented a targeted search strategy focused on highly specialised tax professionals with the right mix of technical, commercial and leadership capability.

We cracked on with a targeted search covering:

• International corporate tax environments
• Financial services organisations
• Multi-jurisdiction tax structures
• Transfer pricing and compliance
• Building and developing tax teams
• Operating in fast-paced, changing environments

Most importantly, we focused on identifying candidates who could not only manage the current tax requirements, but who had the skills needed to support their long-term vision.

What was the result?

Thanks to our thorough understanding of the client, we successfully delivered a strong shortlist of high-quality tax professionals across all the required roles. We started with the appointment of a Head of Tax and then went on to support the build-out of the wider tax team, placing both a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst.

This was a fantastic outcome meaning our client was able to rapidly establish a tax capability with the strength and structure needed to support their global operations during a period of significant change, but that was set up to support their long-term strategic objectives.

Key outcomes included:

• Successful appointment of a Head of Tax to lead the function
• Subsequent delivery of a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst to build out the wider team
• Became a trusted recruitment partner to support the ongoing growth of the function
• End-to-end support across multiple specialist tax hires

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

Building a specialist tax function requires more than finding qualified candidates. It demands a deep understanding of the business, its challenges and where it’s heading.

Whether you’re building out a new function, scaling your team or navigating a period of change, we can help you secure the talent needed to deliver long-term success.

Reach out to [email protected] if you fancy a chat about how we can help support you to reach similar goals.

Today’s Treasury leaders sit at the heart of organisational success, balancing liquidity, managing risk and enabling strategic growth. But hiring the right talent can be challenging.

During a period of global growth and an ownership change our client, a leading FinTech organisation, needed to quickly build a strong Treasury function. The challenge was finding senior talent with the right mix of technical expertise, leadership and transformation experience.

Sanderson delivered a focused, efficient search, securing high-calibre Treasury professionals who could both manage today’s demands and shape their future operations.

The result was a fully equipped team ready to support global operations, drive strategy, and add long-term value, all with minimal disruption. Read on to find out how we did it…

What was the challenge?

Our client, a leading FinTech organisation providing infrastructure and workflow solutions for global financial markets, approached us during a period of significant transformation as they looked to build and strengthen their Treasury function.

They were already operating across more than 30 locations across the world and following a major ownership transition involving global shareholders and a private equity investment, they needed a Treasury capability that could not only support their next phase of growth and change, but that could operate across a complex international landscape.

First up, they needed us to identify a senior Treasury leadership team, including a Head of Treasury alongside a Senior Manager and Analyst-level appointments.

But there were challenges.

A Head of Treasury is a role requiring a rare blend of technical expertise, strategic thinking and leadership capability. It’s someone who can establish and develop a function while supporting wider business objectives, so they needed candidates with the right combination of experience across:

• Global cash and liquidity management
• Debt servicing and capital structure optimisation
• Financial risk management
• Covenant reporting and compliance
• Regulated business environments
• Treasury transformation and automation
• Stakeholder management with shareholders, lenders and senior executives

What was our solution?

Due to the seniority and specialist nature of the roles required, speed and precision were critical.

So, the Sanderson London team quickly set to work, immediately focusing our search on highly specialist Treasury expertise. We conducted a targeted search focused on candidates with experience covering:

• Treasury leadership within multinational organisations
• Private equity-backed or regulated businesses
• Complex debt structures and covenant management
• Global cash forecasting and liquidity optimisation
• FX, interest rate and wider financial risk management
• Treasury technology, automation and process improvement
• M&A and investment strategy support
• Building and transforming Treasury functions

We made sure to identify individuals who could not only manage the existing Treasury requirements, but who could also help shape the future operating model of our clients’ organisation.

What was the result?

With a targeted search process, we successfully delivered a strong pipeline of credible Treasury professionals for all the roles required, with the right combination of technical capability, transformation experience and commercial understanding.

The client successfully scaled their Treasury function with the right talent needed for their global organisation and to support them during a period of significant change.

Not only that, but the skills this new Treasury team brought helped them to establish a function capable of supporting not only their operational requirements, but their long-term strategic goals.

Key outcomes included:

• Identification of candidates with direct experience operating in complex global environments
• Shortlisted professionals aligned to the organisation’s strategic objectives
• Provided the exact leadership and operational Treasury expertise the client required
• A recruitment process managed with speed, precision and minimal business disruption
• Delivered significant cost savings by reducing contractor usage and cutting unnecessary third‑party spend.

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

Building specialist finance functions requires more than finding qualified candidates. It requires understanding the business challenge, the technical requirements and the future direction of the organisation.

Whether you’re strengthening your Treasury team, transforming finance operations or building specialist capability during a period of change, Sanderson can help you identify the talent needed to deliver critical business outcomes.

To discuss how we can support your next key hire, get in touch on [email protected]

Financial services recruitment has entered 2026 on a strong footing, with hiring activity increasing across insurance, banking and professional services.

While London remains the dominant centre for specialist talent, growth is becoming increasingly dispersed across the UK as employers respond to skills shortages, cost pressures and shifting business priorities. What’s emerging is a market shaped just as much by long-term structural change as by the wider economic environment.

But how is this playing out across different areas of financial services hiring?

At Sanderson, we keep our finger on the pulse of the latest market movements so we can help you understand how these trends may impact your hiring strategy and where the opportunities may lie.

That’s why we’re pleased to share our latest Report produced in partnership with VacancySoft, highlighting the key developments across the UK Financial Services market during May.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the key insights:

Claims Hiring Driven by Talent Shortages

London claims vacancies were 12% higher in Q1 compared to last year, with March alone running approximately 30% ahead of March 2025, reflecting a widening experience gap, as retirements accelerate and insurers compete for highly specialised talent.

Northern Cities Continue to Attract Professional Roles

The North of England is seeing sustained growth, with professional vacancies reaching a record high in March and cities like Manchester and Leeds continuing to attract roles that would previously have been London-based.

Actuarial Demand Accelerates

Demand for actuarial talent remains elevated, particularly in London with vacancies running approximately 16% ahead of early 2025 levels.

Scottish Banking Market Sees Significant Growth

Scotland is emerging as a key growth area within banking with commercial banking vacancies roughly trebled since the beginning of 2025, now exceeding banking operations roles.

Underwriting Talent Shortages Intensify

London underwriter vacancies are running at almost double the volume of the next-largest role category, highlighting the scale of demand and ongoing talent shortages in this area.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, vacancy totals and insights into the most in-demand roles, then download the full Report below.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re here to help you turn insight into action.

Insurance companies operate in highly complex and heavily regulated environments meaning they don’t just need to hire talent; they need to hire specialists.

Whether it’s understanding complex risk trends, meeting strict regulatory requirements like Solvency II or making sense of huge amounts of data, insurance companies need people with specific expertise to keep their operations running smoothly.

This need for specialist talent is especially clear in actuarial teams and even more sought-after in roles like Internal Model Specialists. These specialists require a strong understanding of how different asset classes behave under varying market conditions, alongside the ability to combine actuarial expertise with advanced stochastic and risk modelling techniques. They must assess how portfolios respond across a range of scenarios from expected market movements to severe stress events enabling insurers to better understand their risk exposure, capital requirements and financial resilience.

These roles are specialised and hard to fill, but insurance companies working with Sanderson trust us to deliver. Just as our London team did for this leading life insurer…

What was the challenge?

A market-leading life insurance provider came to us when they were looking to hire a candidate for a highly specialised interim actuarial position, an Internal Model Specialist. This was a role they needed to fill to support a critical enhancement to their Solvency II Internal Model framework.

The client needed us to identify an experienced contractor capable of designing and implementing an explicit interest rate volatility risk framework, including swaption-driven dynamics, calibration methodology, dependency modelling and even governance-ready documentation.

What was our solution?

It was clear from the outset that this role demanded highly niche expertise. Due to the technical complexity and scarcity of suitable contractors in the market, speed and precision were critical.

So, we quickly mobilised to conduct a thorough search that was broken down to look for candidates with experience covering:

• Solvency II / Solvency UK Internal Models
• Interest rate and swaption modelling
• Yield curve and PCA frameworks
• Correlation and dependency modelling
• Internal Model governance and validation

What was the result?

Within just 24 hours of receiving the brief, our team delivered a fully vetted shortlist of highly credible and niche actuarial specialists each with directly relevant Internal Model and derivative modelling experience, exactly what the client was looking for.

Key outcomes included:

• Highly technical quantitative requirements broken down into targeted searches
• 3 candidates shortlisted within just 24 hours
• 100% shortlist-to-interview conversion
• Successful placement completed within one week
• Full process managed end-to-end with minimal client downtime

The client was able to hire the specialist talent they needed, and the successful candidate brought extensive experience delivering governed Internal Model enhancements within life insurance environments including interest rate volatility calibration and capital model dependency design.

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

If you’re looking for a recruitment partner to help you source business-critical appointments in tight turnaround times, we’re here to help.

Whether for its actuarial talent as niche as this role, or other insurance specialities you need to move quickly on to stay competitive, then don’t hesitate to reach out on [email protected] and let’s have a chat about how we can help.

Insurance hiring has begun 2026 stronger than expected, with consistent growth across technology, security and transformation roles.

The market has even seen an acceleration in investment as regulatory pressure, geopolitical risk and AI adoption increasingly converge and we’re now looking at a market preparing for change as Insurers seem to be increasingly hiring for long-term structural change rather than short-term growth.

But how has this translated into the rest of financial services hiring?

At Sanderson we always have our finger on the pulse of the latest changes in the market so that we can help you better understand how new trends might impact your hiring plans and then support you to turn these into opportunities when it comes to your financial services recruitment.

So, with that in mind, we’re pleased to have produced this new Report with VacancySoft that sums up the latest trends we’ve been seeing in the UK Financial Services market during April.

Have a sneak peek at some of the highlights below and scroll down to grab your copy!

Insurance IT and AI Demand

Demand for insurance IT and AI professionals rose sharply through Q1, with March vacancy levels nearing record highs.

Rise in Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience

Cybersecurity recruitment has accelerated, with London accounting for over half of insurance IT security vacancies in Q1.

Insurance Hiring Strengthens

Hiring activity strengthened across the wider insurance market throughout Q1, with London seeing the most visible uplift. Increased claims complexity and continued investment in transformation capability are supporting demand.

Regional Shifts and Senior Hiring Trends

While London remains dominant, the North West has seen growing specialist hiring as middle office functions expand. Scotland also recorded increased executive hiring, reflecting a renewed focus on leadership.

If you would like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, monthly vacancy totals and insight into the top job roles by sector, then please do download a copy of the full Report via the form below.

Have any further questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, we’re well placed to help.

A global Insurance company recently came to Sanderson needing to address their change management delivery and capability.

They were looking to build a permanent Enterprise Change team in a short space of time, so the Sanderson team quickly stepped in to help source, screen and deliver multiple roles in this space. Working as a strategic partner, our team delivered at pace and in a way that would set this client up for the future, and the project saw success highlights such as:

• Over 5500 candidates approached
• Creation of a bespoke cognitive assessment process
• 196hrs of hiring manager time saved
• 100% offer acceptance rates

Read on to discover how.   

The Challenge

The client had recently appointed a new Head of Enterprise Change, and they made some key observations such as the need for the company to bring in more experienced staff to support their change capabilities and delivery.

A proposal was then put together for a more effective change delivery framework which would reduce contractor cost and build a permanent internal change team. This structure came under four pillars: Portfolio Management, Change Management, Project Management and Business Analysis.

With only a handful of permanent Business Analysis and Project Managers and no Change Managers within Enterprise Change, the client needed to resource the team with the right disciplines in a short space of time.

Introducing Sanderson as a Resourcing Partner

Upon realising they needed to scale at pace, the client needed the help of a talent resourcing partner and so invited three recruitment companies to present a solution that would:

• Take responsibility for the end-to-end hiring process
• Elevate the client as an employer of choice
• Provide access to specialist talent in the insurance sector
• Save hiring managers time

During this process, it was clear for the client who would be their recruitment partner of choice.

“Sanderson was our first choice, we were drawn to their ways of working and instinctively knew it was the right path. It wasn’t just a good communication discussion, they stood out because they offered a sense of partnership but also a sense of transparency, agility and flexibility. Right from the get-go, it was their partnership approach that won the show.”

An Agile and Flexible Solution

The solution wasn’t just a “one-size-fits-all”. Led by Sanderson Insurance Practice Lead Denise Morris, we took the time to listen and work in partnership with the client. Here’s some of the key factors that stood out for them during the process:

Commitment

“They did all the heavy lifting for us”.

Sanderson hit the ground running with weekly meetings and created a dedicated reporting cycle in an interactive approach to screening, interviewing and shortlisting candidates in a short space of time.

“What worked was that we iterated our way to getting the best candidates, and that happened so fast, for the first round of screening they were coming to us with recommendations. It didn’t feel like a numbers game, Sanderson presented individuals who were quality candidates”.

With confidence in the top candidates, Sanderson offered advice and consultation in the final stages and presented the strongest CVs. This was then supported by a bespoke cognitive assessment process that was specific and unique for these types of change and transformation hires.

Flexibility

The client’s team really felt like they had a voice throughout and were heard when things needed to change. Sanderson were quick to respond to the evolving needs of the programme.

“As the recruitment process progressed, we had a much clearer vision and criteria for the type of candidates we wanted to interview. We knew what we needed, as did Sanderson, they helped to fine tune that process, they came on that journey with us.

While the scope of our requirements had evolved, our new recruits have surpassed expectations. They quality of candidates has been commented on by people outside of our team in their first 1-2 months of working here”.

A Strategic Partnership

The client reflected on the partnership and how Sanderson took their time to understand not just their strategic goals, but also their culture:

“I think one of the biggest things was the effort the team put into understanding us, what we were looking for and what we were building out. They understood the nature of the projects that we would be likely to drive and equally the projects we weren’t going to drive.

It was great to see the camaraderie being built by the new cohort of recruits. As they joined at the same time, there was a real sense of being in it together and we have worked to cement this attitude by organising workshops with the existing teams. The Sanderson team played a strategic role in helping us to construct our team charter”.

An Extension of the Team, Enabling BAU for Talent Acquisition

The client’s Talent Acquisition Lead expressed how Talent Acquisition worked seamlessly with both the Enterprise Change team, the team at Sanderson and together they delivered the work “as a triad”. Everyone had their role to play, and it freed up time for the TA team to work on the day-to-day support for the rest of the business.

“It was the effectiveness of Sanderson and the way they worked to ensure that I could carry on with my BAU job for the other parts of the business I support. I pretty much handed it over to Sanderson and trusted them to expedite this. And that’s exactly what happened. I was only really needed for facilitating admin or interviews. There was no disruption to the rest of Talent Acquisition, it was all in hand.”

Summary and reflections

A Project RPO Success

The solution we delivered here is called a Project RPO. This is a flexible recruitment solution that offers many of the benefits of outsourcing recruitment to a resourcing partner, but without the long-term commitment. You can find out more about Project RPO here.

Here’s what we delivered in numbers: 

Find out more about our RPO solution and get in touch with the team here if you’d like to have a conversation.