Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is tasked with assisting and advising the Chief Executive in the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Karen Miller

Chief Executive

As Chief Executive, Karen is responsible for leading MPS to execute on the strategy agreed with Council.

Karen Miller

Chief Executive

Karen Miller joined MPS as Chief Executive in 2024. As Chief Executive, Karen is responsible for leading MPS to implement the strategy developed by Council.

This includes:

promoting and maintaining the values of MPS
regularly reviewing MPS’s risk assessment procedures
overseeing all major operational issues
monitoring the company's financial performance.

Karen has over 40 years in the insurance sector in South Africa and the UK, 14 of which in executive roles. She joins MPS from Saga Insurance, where she served as Chief Operations Officer, helping build a more efficient organisation without compromising customer service. Among her previous roles, Karen was the Chief Executive Officer at ABSA General Insurance and Chief Underwriting officer at Mutual and Federal Insurance Company, a part of the Old Mutual Group.

She is a Fellow of the Fellow of the Insurance Institute of South Africa with an Advanced Diploma in Insurance.

Dr Rob Hendry

Chief Member Officer

Dr Rob Hendry took up the role of Chief Member Officer in December 2024. He is responsible for leading our member education, advocacy, and research work.

Dr Rob Hendry

Chief Member Officer

Dr Rob Hendry took up the role of Chief Member Officer in December 2024. He is responsible for leading our member education, advocacy, and research work, which includes the MPS Foundation, and ensuring members' needs and interests are represented in our leadership team.

Rob is a native of Glasgow and studied medicine at Dundee University, graduating in 1981. He was a partner in an urban teaching practice in Dundee for over 12 years.

He developed an interest in medical law and completed an MPhil in Law and Ethics in Medicine at Glasgow University in 1992. This led to consultancy work for Medical Protection and part-time teaching at Dundee University. He took up a full-time appointment as a Medicolegal Adviser with the Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland in 1996 and remained there until he moved to Medical Protection when a Scottish office was opened in 2009.

Rob is a Foundation Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine and continues to have an interest in teaching, having honorary positions at several universities. He has an interest in mediation and has served on a number of governmental working parties looking at alternative approaches to dispute management.

Having completed his MBA at Strathclyde University Graduate Business School in 2001, he has continued to develop his business interests. In 2011, he was appointed Deputy Medical Director and in 2013 became Medical Director of Medical Protection, responsible for medicolegal services delivered by Medical Protection to its members worldwide.

Stephanie Smith

Chief Operating Officer (Interim)

Stephanie leads MPS’s global legal, advisory, and membership services, ensuring the delivery of the best possible service and outcomes for members.

Stephanie Smith

Chief Operating Officer (Interim)

Stephanie Smith joined MPS in January 2025.

Stephanie leads MPS’s global legal, advisory, and membership services, ensuring the delivery of the best possible service and outcomes for members. She also oversees the Transformation Office, driving improvements to systems and processes to ensure an exceptional member experience.

She is a highly experienced Chief Operating Officer with a particular focus on delivering operational efficiency and digital transformation.

During her 35-year career, Stephanie has worked across a variety of sectors including engineering with Rolls Royce, aviation with British Airways and insurance with Allianz.

Her previous experience covers all aspects of a Chief Operating Officer role including strong leadership, transformation, strategy development, operations and customer management and she is passionate about doing the right thing for members and colleagues. She champions equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and Environmental, Society and Governance (ESG).

Stephanie holds a MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Aston University and certificate (CEng MIMechE) from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. She is also a Non-Executive Director and Board Member of the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, and chairs their Finance, Performance and Transformation Committee.

Lisa Davis

Chief People Officer

Lisa Davis joined MPS in March 2023 and has responsibility for our People and Culture strategy across our global business.

Lisa Davis

Chief People Officer

Lisa Davis joined MPS in March 2023 and has responsibility for our People and Culture strategy across our global business. These aim to develop highly engaged and technically excellent people, working in a positive, diverse and inclusive workplace. She has a strong track record of delivering exceptional workplace culture and business transformation, complemented by financial analytical capability.

Lisa has over 20 years’ expertise in the Financial Services sector and joins us from Just Group PLC, where she was Group Chief People Officer. Prior to this, Lisa worked at Skipton Building Society as their Group Chief People Officer, leading their business to achieving Investors in People Platinum status (awarded to only 0.5% of UK organisation), 3-Star rating as UK’s 25 Best Big Companies and one the 30 Best Companies to work for in Financial Services. She originally worked for EY and PA Consulting before moving into internal HR roles at Santander, Aviva and npower.

Lisa is also Vice Chair of the Board of the HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter.

Helen Bryant

Chief Commercial Officer (UK & Ireland)

Helen Bryant joined MPS in January 2025. She is responsible for driving growth and brand engagement in the UK and Ireland.

Helen Bryant

Chief Commercial Officer (UK & Ireland)

Helen Bryant joined MPS in January 2025. She is responsible for driving sustainable growth and brand engagement in the UK and Ireland as well as overseeing strategic planning and marketing for MPS's global brands. Her teams also play a key role in supporting business transformation, ensuring MPS continues to meet the evolving needs of its members and clients.

Helen brings over 23 years of experience from Allianz, where she held a variety of senior leadership and board positions across the bancassurance, legal protection, and broker markets sectors. She has a strong track record of delivering sustainable returns, business growth and customer-focused delivery. As well as being an experienced board member, Helen has led major corporate change and transformation programmes using her extensive trading and back-office experience to develop and successfully execute strategic initiatives.

Helen is a Chartered Insurer and an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute (ACII). She holds both a BA (Hons) and an MA from the University of Durham.

Richard Pile

Chief Finance Officer

Richard Pile joined MPS in May 2021. As Finance Director, he is responsible for the leadership of the Finance Division,

Richard Pile

Chief Finance Officer

Richard Pile joined MPS in May 2021.

As Finance Director, he is responsible for the leadership of the Finance Division, providing strategic guidance and oversight on MPS’s finance, investments, business information, procurement and facilities.

Richard has over 17 years of financial services experience in a variety of leadership roles including strategic portfolio planning, financial and management reporting, and operational.

Prior to joining MPS, Richard was Chief Financial Officer at Royal Sun Alliance (RSA) Luxembourg – the European arm of RSA Group. He spent 7 years at RSA in various senior finance roles, and prior to this, worked at Hyperion Insurance Group supporting its global expansion as Head of Group Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) and Reporting. Richard started his career at Grant Thornton, where he qualified as an accountant, working within its financial services practice.

Richard is also a member of MPS Council

Phil Towell

Chief Underwriting Officer

Phil Towell joined MPS as our Chief Underwriting Officer in February 2025, bringing over 25 years of senior actuarial and risk leadership experience.

Phil Towell

Chief Underwriting Officer

Phil Towell joined MPS as our Chief Underwriting Officer in February 2025, bringing over 25 years of senior actuarial and risk leadership experience in the London & Lloyd’s and global (re)insurance markets.

He is responsible for the establishment and implementation of our underwriting framework, covering risk appetite, pricing strategy, delegation of authority, quality assurance, and governance.

Before joining MPS, Phil held executive roles as both Chief Actuary in large corporations and a Partner in consultancy practice, leading teams in actuarial, risk, and predictive analytics disciplines. He has worked extensively across all major product classes and distribution channels, developing a reputation as a trusted partner to underwriting and wider executive leadership, particularly in technical pricing, business planning, and portfolio management.

Phil is a Chartered Actuary, Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (FIA C.Act), with a BSc (Hons) Economics degree (1st Class) from the University of Warwick.

Jonathan Vardon

Chief Information Officer

Jonathan Vardon joined MPS in August 2023. He has significant experience in leading large, complex transformational initiatives.

Jonathan Vardon

Chief Information Officer

Jonathan Vardon joined MPS in August 2023. He has significant experience in leading large, complex transformational initiatives, identifying digital opportunities to improve the customer journey and enabling the digitalisation of the businesses he has worked in. In his role as Executive Director of Member Experience, Digital and Change, he is responsible for developing our technology vision, architecture and roadmap, driving our cyber security agenda, and establishing a foundation of technology for digital growth in MPS.

Jonathan’s career includes a number of senior roles in the digital and technology space with a range of national and multinational organisations including Co-operative Group, Provident Finance Group, Boots UK and UST, a leading international provider of IT solutions.

He is also a former independent Member of Board of Governors and Chairman of the Sustainability and Resources Committee at Staffordshire University.

Mark Chaplin

Chief Risk Officer

Mark Chaplin joined MPS in September 2023. He is responsible for fostering a strong, member-focused risk culture across the business.

Mark Chaplin

Chief Risk Officer

Mark Chaplin joined MPS in September 2023. He is responsible for fostering a strong, member-focused risk culture across the business, which ensures our financial and operational risk requirements are met.

Prior to taking up this role at MPS, Mark spent over 25 years developing, delivering and embedding risk management, governance and regulatory compliance across complex and multi-location organisations within the insurance and financial services sectors.

He joins MPS from Aviva plc, where he was Group Enterprise Risk Director, leading the work to build a world-class approach to risk management, and Chief Risk Officer for Aviva’s internal reinsurance businesses and for the UK Life & Pensions and UK General Insurance businesses.

Publications

Online Resources

Education for Members

Events and Webinars

Executive Committee

Karen Miller

Chief Executive

Karen Miller

Chief Executive

Dr Rob Hendry

Chief Member Officer

Dr Rob Hendry

Chief Member Officer

Stephanie Smith

Chief Operating Officer (Interim)

Stephanie Smith

Chief Operating Officer (Interim)

Lisa Davis

Chief People Officer

Lisa Davis

Chief People Officer

Helen Bryant

Chief Commercial Officer (UK & Ireland)

Helen Bryant

Chief Commercial Officer (UK & Ireland)

Richard Pile

Chief Finance Officer

Richard Pile

Chief Finance Officer

Phil Towell

Chief Underwriting Officer

Phil Towell

Chief Underwriting Officer

Jonathan Vardon

Chief Information Officer

Jonathan Vardon

Chief Information Officer

Mark Chaplin

Chief Risk Officer

Mark Chaplin

Chief Risk Officer