Actuarial Director

Job Description:

We’re KSM, one of the top 50 largest independent advisory, tax, and audit firms in the United States. But more than our size, it’s our people and culture that set us apart. We believe great things happen when people are supported, challenged, and given the freedom to do their very best work. That’s why we’ve built a workplace where your career and personal life can thrive together – where you have the flexibility to manage your time, the resources to grow, and a team that genuinely cares about your success.

We’ve been employee-owned since 2001, giving every team member a stake in our collective success. This ownership mentality fosters a culture of collaboration, curiosity, and excellence  – where new ideas are welcomed, different perspectives are valued, and you’re encouraged to explore what excites you most. Whether you’re expanding your skills, tackling new challenges, or making an impact beyond the office, we provide the resources and support to help you grow in the direction that’s right for you.

At KSM, your contributions matter – not just to the firm, but to your colleagues, clients, and the communities we serve across the U.S. If you’re looking for a place where you can do meaningful work, build lasting relationships, and grow in ways that align with what’s most important to you, we’d love to meet you.

Noble Consulting Overview:

As part of the KSM family, Noble Consulting Services, Inc. is a nationwide consulting firm based in Indianapolis providing a full range of services to insurance regulators. Through our deep experience as former regulators, big-4 managers, and insurance industry professionals, as well as highly motivated recent graduates, we are recognized for our understanding of the insurance industry, regulatory environment, and emerging challenges.  We serve regulators throughout the nation who trust us in both routine and unique situations.

Position Summary:

The Actuarial Director is responsible for leading actuarial components of financial condition examinations of life insurance companies on behalf of regulatory bodies, other regulatory consulting projects and other insurance related engagements. Operating within a consulting environment, this role serves as the primary actuarial subject matter expert, owning workstreams related to statutory valuation, reserving adequacy, product pricing and actuarial modeling.

For financial examinations, the Actuarial Director supports all seven phases of the risk-focused examination process for the actuarial functions of life and A&H insurers, including but not limited to reserving, pricing, and reinsurance activities. The actuary will be responsible for coordinating, directing, and implementing the actuarial portion of a financial examination, including evaluation of the governance and controls of an insurer’s reserving, pricing and/or reinsurance processes and performance of substantive examination procedures. Other projects include assisting in review of premium rate and policy form filings for state insurance department clients, as well as other projects providing valuation or other actuarial support to both regulatory and non-regulatory clients. This position will primarily relate to companies filing the life and A&H annual statement blank but may also perform services related to health insurers.

The Actuarial Director provides independent, well-supported conclusions regarding insurers’ financial positions, ensuring alignment with NAIC regulatory frameworks and actuarial standards of practice. This position will report to the Vice President Actuary (chief actuary? Actuarial practice lead?). It will not initially have supervisory responsibilities but such responsibilities can be expected with growth in the actuarial staff.

Responsibilities:

Technical

Regulatory Examination Leadership

• Lead actuarial workstreams within financial condition examinations of life insurers conducted on behalf of state Departments of Insurance
• Define scope, approach, and testing procedures for actuarial review areas
• Develop defensible conclusions and support overall examination findings and recommendations

Statutory Valuation & Reserving Review

• Evaluate adequacy of statutory reserves, including principle-based reserving (PBR) frameworks (VM-20, VM-21, VM-22 as applicable)
• Review asset adequacy testing (AAT) and cash flow testing methodologies for compliance and reasonableness
• Assess key assumptions (mortality, lapse, interest rates, expenses) and identify potential reserve deficiencies

Model, Assumption & Calculation Validation

• Review actuarial models, including methodology, governance, and controls
• Perform independent validation, benchmarking, or recalculation to corroborate company results
• Assess data quality, assumption-setting processes, and model validation frameworks

Reinsurance & Complex Structures

• Evaluate reinsurance arrangements (including captives and offshore structures) for risk transfer, reserve credit eligibility, and economic substance
• Analyze the financial impact of reinsurance and capital optimization strategies

Policy Form and Rate Review

• Analyze and evaluate life and A&H premium rate and policy form filing support documents, including nonforfeiture compliance for life insurance and annuity filings, loss ratio and related demonstrations of the reasonableness of A&H premiums, and compliance with other laws and regulations.
• Evaluate actuarial justification of requests for significant rate increases.
• Perform independent testing of ratemaking, nonforfeiture demonstration or other calculations, as needed.

General

• Evaluate and leverage work of others, including CPAs, actuarial and risk management professionals, and internal auditors.
• Provide support to the Examiner-in-Charge and the examination team related to actuarial process governance and controls.
• Apply the Risk Focused approach in performing financial examinations.
• Assist regulatory review of reinsurance contracts for compliance with risk transfer and related laws and statutory requirements.
• Serve as a professional advisor and subject matter expert on technical matters of an actuarial nature.
• Prepare accurate and comprehensive reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations of an actuarial nature.
• Perform other related duties as required.

Service clients

• Exercise professionalism both on site and near the company.
• Manage the expectations of the client, insurer, your supervisor and other team members.
• Provide the client, insurer, and your supervisor with regular status updates.
• Exhibit dynamic, flexible demeanor with superior client service skills.

Monitor and meet budgets

• Assist in development of project budgets and proposals.
• Manage timelines and budgets for actuarial procedures on assigned projects.
• Provide supervisor advance notice when deliverables are near completion.

Ensure quality of work product

• Coordinate actuarial support with non-actuarial project requirements.
• Communicate the project objectives and responsibilities of actuarial team members.
• Perform/review work completed in a timely manner.
• Identify opportunities for improvements.
• Identify and work towards resolution of potential issues.

• Development and implement process efficiencies.
• Assist other team members as needed.

Expand business and/or network

• Ability to interact with all levels including executives and senior management.
• Participate in networking meetings, lunches, and dinners.
• Participate in NAIC, AAA and other regulatory development activities.

• Develop and maintain relationships with key contacts.

Personal Development

• Participate in performance reviews with Noble staff and project debriefing.
• Ensure evaluations are received/administered as per Noble Consulting policy.
• Complete basic and continuing education requirements in accordance with actuarial qualification standards
• Maintain up to date knowledge of laws, regulations, actuarial guidelines, actuarial standards of practice and other guidance applicable to life and A&H actuarial practice.
• Embrace opportunities to expand responsibility.
• Share knowledge of actuarial best practices and actuarial standards of practice within the firm and the regulatory community.

Deliver conclusions and work product

• Communicate proactively throughout engagements.
• Provide conclusions in work performed, including summary memos of any findings.

Requirements/Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics, actuarial science, statistics, economics, or other related business field.
• 10+ years actuarial experience in a life insurance company, financial services or consulting firm, or regulatory agency in the United States, with strong emphasis on valuation and statutory reporting.
• Designation of Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (or equivalent) and membership in the American Academy of Actuaries.
• Demonstrated experience with regulatory examinations, financial audits, or consulting engagements supporting insurance regulators
• Deep knowledge of statutory accounting principles (SAP), NAIC model regulations, and actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs)
• Capable of leveraging past experience and expertise to adapt to current projects and challenges outside of core skill set.
• Solid communication skills, both verbal and written. A commitment to the financial strength of the US insurance industry and the regulatory process to maintain that strength.

Preferred

• Prior experience leading examination workstreams or managing client-facing regulatory engagements
• Familiarity with reinsurance structures, including captives and reserve financing arrangements
• Working knowledge of ERM/ORSA and insurer governance frameworks

• PC skills including experience and working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook, TeamMate, ACL/Access, and other applications. Experience using life actuarial systems -  MG-ALFA/Triton, Prophet, Axis, etc. – is a plus but is not required.

The position is open to remote/virtual work.

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, veteran status, or any other protected category. 

KSM only accepts resumes directly submitted by a candidate and referrals submitted by current KSM employees. Unsolicited resumes or candidate profiles sent by staffing agencies and fee-based referral services will not be considered outside of a signed KSM vendor contract. KSM will not pay a fee to recruiters or agencies that do not have a signed KSM vendor contract.