Senior Software Licensing Specialist

About the Team

The IT Asset Management team at Admiral Insurance manages hardware and software assets across the estate, ensuring assets are controlled throughout their lifecycle and supporting compliance, governance, cost optimisation and operational effectiveness.

The Role

As Admiral’s lead Software Asset Management Subject Matter Expert, the Senior Software Asset Management Specialist is responsible for defining, governing and continually improving the organisation’s Software Asset Management capability. The role provides senior ownership across software licensing, SaaS and cloud consumption, licence compliance, vendor audit management, cost optimisation, software governance and lifecycle control.

Working across Procurement, Finance, Security, Architecture, Vendor Management, IT Service Management and technical teams, the role ensures effective licence positions are maintained, audit readiness is embedded as business as usual, and software decisions are supported by accurate data and commercial insight. The role acts as the senior escalation point for complex licensing, compliance, optimisation and governance matters.

Main Duties:

• Define and maintain Admiral’s Software Asset Management strategy, governance framework, standards, policies, roadmap, KPIs and maturity measures.
• Act as Admiral’s senior Software Asset Management Subject Matter Expert and escalation point for complex licensing, compliance, optimisation and governance matters.
• Embed Software Asset Management controls across procurement, financial management, service management, cybersecurity, architecture, supplier management and major technology change.
• Provide strategic oversight of the end-to-end software asset lifecycle, from demand and acquisition through to deployment, optimisation, renewal, retirement and disposal.
• Lead software vendor audits, licence compliance reviews, true-up activity and remediation plans, ensuring Effective Licence Positions are produced, governed and evidenced.
• Own software compliance risk identification, reporting and assurance, providing clear recommendations to senior stakeholders and governance forums.
• Drive enterprise-wide optimisation and cost avoidance through licence harvesting, rationalisation, vendor consolidation, SaaS optimisation and cloud cost reduction.
• Support strategic vendor negotiations, renewals and contract reviews through expert licensing guidance, usage analysis, entitlement data and future demand insight.
• Maintain trusted software asset data, entitlement records, dashboards, CMDB alignment and reconciliation controls to support audit readiness and informed decision-making.
• Analyse software usage, subscription trends, cloud consumption and deployment data to support budgeting, forecasting, investment decisions and financial planning.
• Lead continual improvement across SAM processes, tooling, automation, reporting and operating procedures to improve visibility, control and efficiency.
• Provide mentoring, coaching and technical leadership to Software Asset Management Analysts and wider IT Asset Management colleagues, supporting capability development and succession planning.

Essential:

• ITIL v4 Foundation or higher, with a recognised Software Asset Management certification such as IAITAM, BCS, CSAM or equivalent.
• Extensive Software Asset Management experience within a large, complex enterprise environment.
• Expert knowledge of software licensing models across on-premise, SaaS, cloud, subscription, perpetual, consumption-based and hybrid environments.
• Strong understanding of major vendor licensing, including Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, VMware/Broadcom, Adobe, ServiceNow and other enterprise suppliers.
• Proven experience leading vendor audits, compliance reviews, Effective Licence Positions, true-ups, remediation activity and software optimisation initiatives.
• Experience using enterprise SAM platforms such as ServiceNow SAM Pro, SNOW, Flexera or equivalent, with strong data quality, reporting and reconciliation capability.
• Ability to develop governance processes, operational controls, reporting frameworks, KPIs and assurance packs for senior stakeholders.
• Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation, influencing and communication skills, with the confidence to present clear recommendations to senior audiences.
• Strong analytical, strategic problem-solving and commercial judgement, with the resilience to lead complex initiatives with minimal supervision.

Desirable:

• Advanced IAITAM or CSAM certification.
• Experience with FinOps practices, cloud cost optimisation, software catalogue management, application rationalisation or standardisation programmes.
• Experience implementing or enhancing enterprise SAM tooling, automation and reporting capabilities.
• Experience managing strategic supplier relationships, supporting major contract negotiations or working within regulated financial services environments.
• Knowledge of SAM maturity models and industry best practice frameworks.

Admiral: Where You Can

We take pride in being a diverse and inclusive business. It's a place where you can Be You, and show up as you are. We’re committed to fostering a people-first culture where everyone is accepted, supported, and empowered to be brilliant. You can, Grow And Progress at a pace and direction that suits you, Make A Difference for our customers and each other, and Share in Our Future with all colleagues eligible for up to £3,600 of free shares each year after one year of service.

Everyone receives 33 days holiday (including bank holidays) when they join us, increasing the longer you stay with us, up to a maximum of 38 days (including bank holidays). You also have the option to buy or sell up to an additional five days of annual leave.

We’re proud of our people-first culture. In fact, we've been recognised as a Great Place to Work for Women, a Great Place to Work for Wellbeing, and an overall Great Place to Work for over 25 years! We’re fully committed to making sure your progression is not slowed or halted by barriers related to race, gender, age, sexuality or any of the protected characteristics.

Our fantastic benefits make sure our colleagues have a great work-life balance; You can view some of our other key benefits here.

Disability Confident Leader

As a Disability Confident Leader, for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition, that opt into the Disability Confident scheme, we’ll invite a fair and proportionate number of applicants that meet the essential requirements of the role to the first stage of our selection process.

If you need any adjustments or support with your application or during the recruitment process, just let us know. Please do email us. This number is dedicated to supporting candidates that require reasonable adjustments or support during the application process.

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