Age: 33
Since joining Allianz in 2013, Sam Watson has played a significant part in a number of programmes and undertaken a variety of roles, having been promoted year after year. Watson first served as new business controller for the company’s direct SME business brand. She took on the role of operations manager in 2014 and led a major transformation project that sought to deliver within 18 months new systems and products, organisational structure, branding and culture. In 2015 she was promoted to senior operations manager, which entailed increased FTE and revenue responsibilities and placed her in the midst of a project involving a business acquisition and merging of operational set-ups.
Watson became managing director of Allianz Business Services Ltd in 2016, and was nominated for the ‘business growth engine’ award. Currently, as senior corporate partnerships manager, she provides strategic oversight for the development of Allianz UK’s corporate partnerships across multiple product lines.
Watson started her career in banking in 2001 as trainer, specialising in anti-money laundering, suspicious transactions and high-volume transaction services. After leaving the banking sector, she went on to join a large outsourcing organisation and, by the age of 21, she was leading a 240-employee contact centre operation servicing a high-profile UK consumer broadband and network services brand. She also worked with companies engaged in debt recovery and in infrastructure design and manufacturing before finally becoming part of the team at Allianz.
ADVICE FOR YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
“Be honest and be brave. Be honest enough with yourself about what you enjoy (and what you don’t), and be brave enough to keep pushing forward. If we spend 80% of our lifetime at work, we had better enjoy it whilst we’re there...”
