Business Applications Apprenticeship

Location: Birmingham

Start date: September 2026

Salary: £23,000

Closing date: 21st November 2025

Howden Retail

Our Retail division is spread across the UK and Ireland and focuses on small-medium size enterprises (SMEs), individual clients and private high-net-worth clients, providing them with tailored insurance solutions that meet their unique needs. Whatever the question, the concern, or the risk, we can get the right experts in a room and find the right answer.

Business Applications

Our expert team of Business Analysts are responsible for looking after the insurance platforms that our brokers rely on to do their jobs effectively. We act as trusted partners to the business and handle everything from day-to-day support to complex system changes and data migrations.

If you are curious about technology and how business analysts support and drive meaningful change in a business, this could be a perfect first step in your career.

What is the role?

This is a one-year apprenticeship programme where you will start your career as a Business Applications Apprentice. You will rotate across our Service Desk, Configuration and Change, Schemes Development and Data Migrations teams, learning how we keep our broking platforms running and evolving for colleagues and clients.

You will be part of a friendly and supportive team who will guide you every step of the way. One day a week will be dedicated to studying towards a Level 3 qualification, all while earning a salary and gaining valuable real-world experience.

What you’ll do?

You will gain a nationally recognised Level 3 qualification for your relevant programme. As part of this, you’ll spend one day a week studying with your dedicated trainer, who will support you every step of the way to ensure you're set up for success.

Take part in a year long structured development programme designed to help you build the skills and confidence needed to thrive in your role. All of our apprentices take part in this programme, so you’ll have a group of peers to learn alongside.

Learn foundations of insurance and technology through hands-on learning and structured apprenticeship training.

Learn how to support colleagues with application queries and incidents.

Build your confidence with configuring small system changes and building template documents, with support from your manager.

Contribute to scheme build tasks, ensuring the schemes are correctly set up in the system for our brokers.

Use your attention to detail skills to help accurately move data from one system to another.

What are we looking for?

No experience in insurance is required; we’ll teach you everything you need to know!

Final year sixth form/college students or recent college leavers.

GCSE English and Maths at Grade C or 4.

A keen eye for detail and comfortable handling data and spreadsheets with accuracy.

Great communication and a willingness to learn.

Intellectually curious individuals who enjoy problem solving.

Team players who thrive on collaborating with others.

Good communication and emotional intelligence.

Deadline driven and eager to make impact in the work you do.

Application process

Our application process is designed to help you show your potential, not to test what you already know!

Online application form – no CV required: We believe you're more than just a document, so we won’t ask you to submit a CV. Please upload a blank document on the application form.

Online gamified assessment: These games will help us understand your natural strengths and how you approach different situations. There are no right or wrong answers. You can complete this stage on your phone or laptop, whichever suits you best!

Pre-recorded video interview: You will record your answers to a few questions using your phone or laptop, giving you the chance to tell us more about yourself in your own time in a relaxed setting.

Assessment centre: Our final stage is an in-person assessment day at one of our offices close to you. You'll take part in some fun group activities and meet our team in a relaxed setting. This day is all about getting to know you better and for you to see what it's like to be part of Howden and experience our culture. We'll cover all your travel costs for this day!

At Howden, we are committed to developing and maintaining a culture of equality and diversity in the workplace and welcome applications from all backgrounds.

Be sure to follow your Early Careers team on TikTok @earlycareersjo and @millieinsurancecareers. We’re here to guide you through every step of the process! From exploring the roles on offer and understanding our assessments, to tips on how to ace your video interview - we have got you covered! You will also get behind-the-scenes insights into our assessment days: including how to prepare, what to wear, and what to expect. Think of us as your career coaches, right by your side from start to finish.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new

We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges

We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

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