Head of Strategy, Innovation and Digital Transformation at AAR Insurance

Overall Purpose of the Job

• Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Head of Strategy, Innovation & Digital Transformation will assist coordinate and execute AAR Insurance’s strategic agenda, digital transformation programs, and innovation initiatives. The role drives organizational alignment, fosters creativity, and champions adoption of technologies and business models that enhance customer experience, efficiency, and competitiveness.
• It embeds a culture of innovation and digital-first thinking, ensuring delivery of high-impact projects across Kenya and the wider East Africa region. The role oversees strategic and business change initiatives through direct reports and matrix management, leveraging data and technology to deliver greater value to customers and employees.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate the corporate strategy development process, ensuring alignment with AAR Insurance’s vision and mission.
• Translate strategy into actionable plans with clear milestones, KPIs and monitoring frameworks.
• Partner with business units to identify growth opportunities and ensure strategic alignment of initiatives.
• Provide insights and reports to the CEO, Executive Team, including the Board on progress of strategic initiatives.
• Lead a structured innovation framework to design, test, and scale new solutions in products, services and processes.
• Coordinate cross-functional teams to implement innovation initiatives.
• Build external partnerships with startups, technology providers and industry ecosystems to accelerate innovation.
• Promote a culture of creativity, agility and continuous improvement across the company.
• Develop and continuously refine AAR’s digital strategy, embedding it into business planning processes.
• Drive adoption of emerging technologies (AI, automation, cloud solutions, Insurtech platforms) to create differentiated customer and employee value.
• Oversee modernization of core systems in Kenya and EA, ensuring scalability, compliance and resilience.
• Manage the digital transformation project portfolio and monitor impact against strategic objectives.
• Manage the end-to-end lifecycle of strategic and digital projects, ensuring delivery within scope, time and budget.
• Apply best-in-class project management practices (PMP, PRINCE2, Agile, etc.).
• Ensure effective stakeholder communication, risk management and governance of transformation programs.
• Provide periodic status reports and knowledge-sharing across teams.
• Draft and enforce project management policies, frameworks and documentation standards.

Education, Experience & Competencies

• Graduate level in an IT or Business-related field. Master’s degree (MBA, MSc) preferred.
• Project Management Certification such as PMP, CSM, PRINCE2, CPM, CPMP.
• 5+ years of progressive leadership experience in strategy execution, innovation and digital transformation.
• Proven track record in managing multi-stakeholder technology and transformation projects.
• Experience in financial services or insurance sector preferred.
• Strategic thinker with strong execution and delivery ability.
• Excellent problem-solving skills in complex environments.
• Strong leadership, influence and stakeholder management skills.
• Exceptional communication and reporting skills.
• Commercially minded, solutions-driven and adaptive.
• Team player who inspires collaboration and innovation.