Operations Platform Principal

Innovate and shape what comes next.

At AIA, your expertise, perspective and ideas can help us become a faster, simpler and more connected organisation while contributing to our Purpose of helping millions of people live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives. Across our diverse markets, you will take on real-world challenges, collaborate with talented colleagues and turn technology, data and bold ideas into simpler experiences, smarter solutions and positive outcomes for our customers and communities.

Join us to create what comes next, grow through new experiences and extend your impact across Asia.

About the Role

Position Objective: Leading the Technology, Digital and Analytics (TDA) Operations Platform teams with world-class technology to support our Operations business, focusing on the Buy, Service, Claims and Contact Center transformation or modernization. This role covers business stakeholder management, business transformation, end-to-end technology solution design & delivery involving GenAI, and offshore team management in an agile environment. Candidates must be proactive, self-motivated and passionate with relevant business and technology experience to transform Operations business.
Accountable for success in technology solutioning and delivery as well as BAU support with defined KPIs. It includes but not limited to new initiatives, existing application modernization and maintaining system stability & performance.

Roles and Responsibilities:

1. Technology Leadership & Business Partnership

• Act as the Solution Architect and Technology SME for Individual Life Operations, serving as a trusted strategic partner to Operations leadership on end‑to‑end solution design, technology choices, and delivery approach.

• Shape technology solutions that enable Operations transformation across Buy, Policy Servicing, Claims and Contact Center domains, aligning business outcomes with architectural best practices.

• Provide architectural leadership across initiatives, balancing speed of execution, cost, risk and sustainability.

2. Solution Architecture & Design Authority

• Lead the end‑to‑end solution architecture across applications, integrations, data flows, security and infrastructure for Operations platforms.

• Translate complex and evolving business requirements into clear, scalable and resilient solution designs, covering functional and non‑functional requirements (performance, resiliency, availability, security, operability).

• Own and maintain solution architecture artifacts (solution diagrams, integration views, data flows, technology standards alignment) throughout the delivery lifecycle.

3. Strategic Roadmap & Technology Evolution

• Define and evolve the Operations Platform technology roadmap, aligned to enterprise architecture principles and target-state vision.

• Proactively identify strategic, innovative and sustainable solutions, including modernization opportunities (cloud, APIs, workflow, automation, AI, low-code, intelligent OCR, etc.) to address business pain points.

• Continuously assess industry and insurance operations trends to ensure platforms remain future-ready and competitive.

4. Delivery Enablement & Execution

• Provide architectural guidance and governance throughout delivery, ensuring solutions are designed right the first time and are buildable within delivery constraints.

• Work effectively in ambiguous and agile environments, crystallizing unclear problem statements into concrete, executable solutions.

• Partner with delivery teams, vendors and system integrators to ensure architectural intent is correctly implemented.

5. Stakeholder Communication & Storytelling

• Articulate complex architectural concepts using simple, business-oriented language, supported by strong visual storytelling.

• Build trusted relationships with Operations, Product Owners, Delivery Leads and Technology stakeholders; manage expectations and trade-offs transparently.

• Influence decision-making by clearly linking technology design choices to business value, risk reduction and operational efficiency.

6. BAU Architecture Oversight & Operational Readiness

• Provide architectural oversight for mis

• sion-critical BAU applications, ensuring platform stability, scalability and sustainability.

• Ensure solution designs address availability, performance, monitoring, resiliency and recoverability, supporting defined KPIs and SLAs.

• Guide teams on observability, analytics and dashboards to enable effective production management and operational insights.

7. Governance, Risk & Compliance

• Collaborate closely with enterprise and enabling teams including Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, Technology Risk, Process & Control, to deliver compliant and well-governed solutions.

• Ensure all architectures and solutions comply with AIA security standards, technology policies, and regulatory requirements. Act

• as a design authority, ensuring deviations are consciously made, documented and risk-assessed.

8. Sustainability & Engineering Excellence

• Champion sustainable architecture and engineering practices, ensuring solutions are maintainable, well-documented and operable over the long term.

• Drive reuse of shared services, platforms and patterns to reduce complexity and technical debt across Operations systems.

• Continuously uplift solution quality and architectural maturity across the Operations technology landscape.

Minimum Job Requirements:

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems or related discipline; Master’s degree (e.g. Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Information Management, MBA with Technology focus) is highly preferred.

• Continuous learning mindset with demonstrated investment in modern architecture, cloud-native, data and AI disciplines.

Professional Experience

• 10+ years of experience in large-scale IT / Digital organizations, with 5+ years operating at Solution Architect, Technology Lead, or Senior Delivery Lead level, owning end‑to‑end solution design and technology decisioning.

• Proven track record delivering complex, business‑critical platforms within top-tier life insurers in Hong Kong and/or Greater China, preferably in Individual Life Operations.

• Strong hands-on experience shaping and delivering insurance Operations transformations, covering:

  • Buy / New Business & Underwriting

  • Policy Servicing

  • Claims

  • Contact Center / Omni-channel Operations

• Experience working in or with top-tier consulting firms (e.g. McKinsey, Accenture, Deloitte, BCG, PwC, EY, etc.) is highly preferred, particularly in architecture-led transformation or large-scale programs.

Solution Architecture & Technology Leadership

• Demonstrated capability in end-to-end solution architecture, spanning:

  • Application and integration architecture (API-led, event-driven, microservices)

  • Data architecture and analytics enablement

  • Security, resiliency, performance and operational readiness

• Strong experience designing solutions in hybrid and cloud environments, preferably with Microsoft Azure and/or Ali Cloud, including cloud-native services, DevSecOps and platform engineering concepts.

• Ability to balance target-state architecture vision with pragmatic, incremental delivery in complex brownfield environments.

GenAI, Data & Intelligent Automation

• Proven experience applying GenAI and intelligent automation technologies to insurance Operations use cases, such as:

  • Intelligent document processing / OCR

  • Knowledge assist and agent assist

  • Process automation and decision support

• Familiarity with enterprise GenAI platforms and ecosystems (e.g. Azure OpenAI, Gemini, DeepSeek or equivalent), including considerations around architecture, security, data privacy and responsible AI.

• Strong understanding of how AI capabilities translate into measurable operational and business outcomes, not just technical experimentation.

Delivery, Vendor & Operating Model Experience

• Experience leading or governing large-scale delivery teams, including offshore and nearshore delivery centers, for both transformation and BAU platforms.

• Strong understanding of agile and hybrid delivery models, and how to embed architecture governance without slowing down execution.

• Demonstrated ability to partner with system integrators, vendors and internal engineering teams to ensure architectural intent is realized.

Stakeholder Influence & Governance

• Senior-level stakeholder management experience across Operations, Business Leadership, Enterprise Architecture, Security, Risk and Controls.

• Ability to operate as a design authority, influence technical and business decisions, and manage architectural trade-offs transparently.

• Proven experience ensuring solutions comply with enterprise standards, security policies, regulatory and operational risk requirements.

Certifications (Preferred)

• Architecture & Cloud

  • TOGAF, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect, Ali Cloud Professional Architect or equivalent

• AI / Data

  • AI / GenAI-related certifications (cloud provider or recognized institutions)

• Insurance

  • LOMA certification or equivalent insurance qualifications

• Agile / Delivery

  • SAFe, Scrum, or equivalent delivery certifications (nice to have)

Competency

• Excellent communications, presentation and consulting skills.

• Excelling planning and execution ability at speed.

• Self-motivated, passionate and proactive to identify and deliver business and technology innovation opportunities.  Able to lead and work independently.

• Excellent problem-solving skills and decision making ability based on data insight.

• Strong technical knowledge and experience in delivering advanced technologies like GenAI IT for large projects.

• Fluent in both oral and written communications using Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

Other:

• You are required to obtain relevant license if your job involves in regulated activities.

Build a career with us as we help our customers and the community live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.

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