Technical Insight, Strategy & Policy Lead
Solus (Part of the Aviva Group)
Shaping the future of vehicle repair through insight, innovation and industry leadership.
About the Role
As the Technical Insight, Strategy & Policy Lead, you will play a critical role in defining the future technical direction of Solus. You’ll ensure our repair capability, standards, and policies remain industry‑leading, while positioning the business at the forefront of emerging technologies, digital transformation, sustainability, and evolving customer expectations.
This role blends technical strategy, market intelligence, industry representation, and operational policy development. You’ll translate external insight into practical, scalable solutions that drive quality, compliance, efficiency and innovation across our repair network.
If you’re passionate about future vehicle technologies, influencing industry standards, and shaping the next generation of repair capability, this is a role where your expertise will have both immediate and long-term impact.
What You’ll Be Doing
1. Technical Strategy & Market Intelligence
- Monitor emerging vehicle, diagnostic, digital and connected technologies.
- Analyse regulatory and market trends—including sustainability and customer behaviour.
- Build strong relationships with manufacturers, suppliers, brokers, industry bodies and innovators.
- Provide intelligence and recommendations shaping Solus and Aviva’s future repair capability.
2. Repair Policy, Standards & Compliance
- Translate Aviva and industry standards into practical operational policies, repair methods and total loss guidelines.
- Ensure compliance with BSI, SVS, ATA, VRA and other recognised frameworks.
- Work closely with Aviva’s supplier audit team to maintain robust technical governance, including cybersecurity and data privacy.
3. Technical Training & Capability Development
- Define Solus’ technical training strategy and identify future skills requirements.
- Ensure colleagues maintain required accreditations and receive training aligned to emerging technologies.
- Lead technical aspects of new site development and improvement of existing centres.
- Drive technical process re‑engineering to enhance productivity, quality and cost efficiency.
4. Industry Representation & Influence
- Represent Solus at Thatcham, IMI, ABP, VRA and other relevant bodies.
- Influence industry standards, policy and future repair regulation.
- Act as spokesperson for Solus’ technical expertise across customers, partners and industry forums.
- Engage in benchmarking and strategic collaboration to maintain Solus’ market-leading position.
5. Expert Escalation & Technical Leadership
- Provide subject‑matter expertise on complex technical complaints and non-standard cases.
- Support internal teams and external partners in technical decision-making.
- Recommend and guide adoption of new repair technologies and sustainable practices.
Key Decisions You’ll Own
You’ll make decisions with both immediate operational and long‑term strategic impact, including:
- Technical strategy recommendations and future capability planning.
- Interpretation and application of repair standards, including digital and sustainability requirements.
- Escalated decisions on complex or high-risk technical complaints.
- Input into supplier and training partner selection.
- Development of new policies, repair methods, and benchmarking approaches.
Risks You’ll Manage
- Compliance risk: Adherence to industry and Aviva standards.
- Reputation risk: Repair quality, safety, and customer outcomes.
- Capability risk: Readiness for future vehicle technologies and regulatory shifts.
- Operational risk: Consistency of repair methods across the network.
- Financial risk: Avoiding inefficiency or outdated practices.
- Cybersecurity risk: Safe handling of data and connected vehicle systems.
Planning Horizons
You’ll operate across multiple timeframes:
- 0–6 months: Immediate standards, training, escalations and digital initiatives.
- 6–24 months: New policies, process re‑engineering, pilots of emerging technologies.
- 2–5 years: Future capability, site strategy, long-term technology and regulatory planning, talent pipeline development.
How the Role Delivers
This is a high‑influence role without direct line management. Success depends on collaboration across:
Internal stakeholders:
Solus SLT, operations leaders, centre managers, training teams, compliance, Aviva Claims and Supplier Audit.
External stakeholders:
Manufacturers, suppliers, industry bodies, brokers, commercial customers, regulators and technology partners.
What You’ll Bring
- Strong technical expertise in automotive repair and emerging vehicle technology.
- In-depth knowledge of industry standards (BSI, SVS, ATA, VRA).
- Experience developing technical policy and repair methodology.
- Proven success influencing industry committees and external stakeholders.
- Track record of delivering process improvements and adopting new technologies.
- Experience designing and delivering technical training programmes.
- Strategic thinker with strong analytical and communication skills.
- Customer-centric, collaborative and confident in representing a business externally.
Why This Role Matters
The automotive sector is transforming rapidly. Digitalisation, connected vehicles, sustainability requirements and new repair technologies are reshaping the landscape.
This role ensures Solus remains:
- Insight-led – understanding what’s coming next.
- Influential – shaping industry standards and future repair policy.
- Innovative – piloting and adopting new technologies.
- Ready for the future – building long-term capability and skills.
- A trusted market leader – delivering safe, high-quality, customer-focused repairs.
Our Values
- Commitment: Delivering evidence-based strategies that secure Solus’ future technical capability.
- Community: Building strong partnerships within Aviva and across the industry.
- Confidence: Influencing standards and representing Solus with authority.
- Care: Championing repair quality, safety, colleague development and environmental responsibility.
