Karen Miller
Chief Executive
As Chief Executive, Karen is responsible for leading MPS to execute on the strategy agreed with Council.
Read moreKaren 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.
Read moreDr 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
Stephanie leads MPS’s global legal, advisory, and membership services, ensuring the delivery of the best possible service and outcomes for members.
Read moreStephanie Smith
Chief Operating Officer
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.
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.
Read moreHelen Bryant
Chief Commercial Officer, UK & Ireland
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.
Nirven Maharaj
Chief Commercial Officer, International
Nirven Maharaj joined MPS in June 2025. Nirven is responsible for driving global business growth and strengthening relationships across key international regions.
Read moreNirven Maharaj
Chief Commercial Officer, International
Nirven Maharaj joined MPS in June 2025.
Nirven is responsible for driving global business growth, and strengthening relationships across key international regions. He also plays a pivotal role in advancing our transformation agenda, ensuring the smooth integration of new technologies, processes, and practices across markets.
Nirven brings a wealth of experience in business expansion and client relationship management across diverse sectors. His strategic thinking and deep understanding of international operations position him well to support the continued growth and evolution of MPS's global membership.
Previously, Nirven served as Chief Operating Officer at Absa Insurance in Johannesburg, where he led major change initiatives and was instrumental in driving strategic transformation. He is a seasoned and visionary executive with a strong track record in leadership, innovation, and operational delivery.
He holds an MBA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and a national diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Technikon Natal.
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.
Read moreRichard 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.
Read morePhil 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.
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.
Read moreMark 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.
Amy Shah
Chief People Officer
Amy Shah joined MPS in September 2025. She is responsible for shaping and delivering our global people strategy.
Read moreAmy Shah
Chief People Officer
Amy Shah joined MPS in September 2025.
Amy is responsible for shaping and delivering our global people strategy, leading on transformational change, fostering a high-performing and inclusive culture and driving talent development across all regions. She leads the People Team to support our strategic goals through innovative workforce practices and business transformation.
Amy brings more than 20 years of global Financial Services human resources experience to MPS. Her career encompasses a global track record in shaping and delivering HR strategies to support strategic growth, driving complex change and transformation programmes including mergers and acquisitions, cultural evolution, executive reward and organisational design. Amy is recognised for her thoughtful and inclusive leadership, with a proven ability to engage stakeholders and drive meaningful change.
Prior to joining MPS, Amy served as Chief Human Resources Officer for Savills Investment Management, where she was part of the Executive Committee and led global transformational change.
She holds a BA (Hons) in European Studies and French from Manchester University and is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Jonathan Vardon
Chief Information Officer
Jonathan Vardon joined MPS in August 2023. He has significant experience in leading large, complex transformational initiatives.
Read moreJonathan 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.
