Lead Senior Actuary

Job Type: Permanent 

Location: This role could be based in any of Phoenix’s London, Birmingham or Edinburgh offices with time spent working in the office and from home.

Flexible working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about Phoenix Flex here.

Salary and benefits: Up to £150,000, dependent upon experience, plus bonus potential, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more.

The Senior Lead Financial Risk Actuary is a member of the Balance Sheet & ALM Oversight team. The key purpose of the role is to provide strategic advice; constructive challenge and oversight to the business relating to the Group’s various balance sheets. The role holder will work closely with the Financial Risk Leadership Team to champion the Risk Function’s Vision, Mission and Mandate.

Who are we?

We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked. 
 
We’re Phoenix Group, we’re a long-term savings and retirement business. We offer a range of products across our market-leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation that is tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet. 

Purpose of the role

The role holder supports the business through delivering effective oversight of the Group’s balance sheets and delivery of the company’s long-term financial strategy. The individual will collaborate with the business, ensuring the Group develops and implements effective strategies for managing and mitigating financial risks. Key to this is ensuring the risk management framework and risk appetite are appropriate; and that an effective, efficient Line 2 oversight model is in place.

Important areas within the oversight scope of this role are: asset-liability management including hedging, Matching Adjustment,  balance sheet optimisation and oversight including Solvency UK, UK GAAP and IFRS 17 Balance Sheets and liquidity; capital management and the financial risks arising from the effects of climate change. The team also contributes towards the Recovery and Resolution Plans and the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment.

Key responsibilities

• Support the Head of Balance Sheet & ALM Oversight through leading the oversight of the Group’s balance sheets (Group and all UK legal entities) and delivery of the company’s long-term financial strategy, providing Line 2 advice, guidance and challenge to the business. 

• Design and maintain effective and efficient risk oversight activities for Line 2 that is proportionate and risk-based, and provide clarity to the business on requirements around the risk identification, risk management, risk mitigation and position with respect to Phoenix’s risk appetite. This should include consideration of how technology and AI can be used to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of risk management.

• Opine on material business decision, and assesses if key risks and trade-offs are considered appropriately. Line 2 opinions should consider the Group’s strategic objectives and balance commercial opportunities with risk implications. 

• Provide both technical and people leadership, supporting a shift in the team culture to focus oversight on material risks and transactions; optimise resources to maximise performance and productivity; foster a culture that supports performance and development through feedback and coaching. 

• Influence and challenge executive-level decisions, leveraging internal, cross-functional relationships and networks, external market perspectives and a general high-level of appropriate experience. 

• Work independently with minimal managerial oversight, delivering Executive-level reports and material.

In all cases it is important to emphasise that this is a senior role, the successful candidate should lead by example and instil these attributes and accountabilities in the actions and behaviours of the wider team. The individual should also deliver thought leadership, remain up to date with latest market practice and support team development.

What we're looking for?

• In-depth understanding of life insurance products (in particular BPA and annuities), regulatory frameworks (Solvency UK, IFRS 17, UK GAAP), and the principles of business planning, and balance sheet management and optimisation – including understanding of best market practice in key areas of oversight.
• Deep experience in the core technical areas of the role (i.e. balance sheet modelling and analysis, solvency & liquidity analysis, asset-liability management and hedging, Matching Adjustment and climate financial risks) and strong understanding of insurance, credit and market risks.
• Extensive experience in effective and efficient financial risk oversight (including developing risk frameworks and setting risk appetite), focusing on material risks, helping the business find solutions to strategic financial risk challenges that balances commercial outcomes and risk considerations.
• Proven ability in bringing teams together and leading delivery of enterprise-wide change in a large, complex organisation
• Excellent verbal and written communications, with ability to communicate complex financial concepts simply and concisely

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you. 

 If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best. 

Please note that we reserve the right to remove adverts earlier than the advertised closing date. We encourage you to apply at the earliest opportunity.

Find out more about #LifeAtPhoenix 

• Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates 

• Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us

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