About the position:
The Chief Underwriter is responsible for overseeing the underwriting strategy and execution for the Canadian life reinsurance business. This senior leadership role manages risk selection, establishes underwriting guidelines, and ensures alignment with the company's risk appetite, treaty terms, and pricing assumptions. This individual is a key technical authority and decisionmaker on complex facultative and treaty underwriting cases, works with Business Development to build and manage relationships with clients, and champions innovation to enhance efficiency and competitiveness.
Responsibilities:
Underwriting Strategy & Governance- Develop and enforce underwriting guidelines, standards, and practices in alignment with company objectives and regulatory requirements.
- Make decisions on complex, high-face-value, and impaired risk cases; act as final signatory within authorized limits.
- Partner with actuarial, legal, and claims teams to ensure alignment across business units.
- Monitor underwriting metrics (e.g., turnaround times, quality scores, acceptance ratios) and implement corrective actions when necessary.
- Represent the underwriting function in audits, regulatory reviews, and executive-level meetings.
- Set and lead the strategic direction for life reinsurance underwriting in line with corporate objectives and risk appetite.
- Ensure compliance with internal controls, treaty terms, and Canadian and international regulatory requirements.
Underwriting Oversight- Ensure underwriting decisions are consistent with reinsurance treaties, pricing assumptions, and mortality expectations.
- Evaluate underwriting information for potential and current clients, including RFPs and underwriting changes. Provide an assessment of the underwriting risks, including any areas where the client's guidelines may be an outlier, to the actuarial team for their consideration.
Innovation & Digital Transformation- Oversee the evaluation and adoption of advanced underwriting technologies, including AI, predictive analytics, and new data sources.
- Identify and implement innovative solutions to streamline underwriting workflows and improve decision-making.
- Collaborate with actuarial, data science, and IT teams to develop tools that enhance risk assessment and provide solutions to our clients.
- Stay abreast of industry innovations and integrate best practices into underwriting operations.
- Drive underwriting transformation initiatives, including automation, analytics, and operational efficiency improvements.
Leadership & Team Development- Lead and mentor a team of underwriters
- Promote continuous learning and development in underwriting best practices.
- Foster a culture of excellence, compliance, and innovation.
Client & Market Engagement- Build and maintain strong relationships with clients
- Support business development through underwriting insights and client consultations.
- Represent the company at industry events, conferences, and client meetings.
Other skills and compentencies:
- Extensive technical underwriting knowledge
- Deep knowledge of life reinsurance products, underwriting tools and processes, and risk assessment methodologies
- Strong leadership and communication skills
- Ability to manage change in a dynamic environment
- Negotiates effectively with clients and treaty partners
- 15+ years of experience in life insurance underwriting, including significant leadership and complex case experience.
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Actuarial Science, Life Sciences, or related discipline.
- FLMI, AALU or FALU
Additional Information#LI-Hybrid:
