Senior Actuary

Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.

Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.

Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.

As an experienced qualified actuary at Canada Life, you will be responsible for leading actuarial, statistical and financial insight and analysis to senior management. You will oversee analysis and insight produced by other actuaries where appropriate and lead small to medium sized teams of qualified and part-qualified actuaries and analysts.

Using your significant specialist technical expertise and solid commercial understanding, you will take a lead within the team and function to advise the business and influence decisions. This ensures that we manage risk to the business in line with Canada Life’s risk appetite, comply with our statutory responsibilities and meet the needs of our policyholders and regulators.

• Accountable for providing accurate modelling, financial analysis, advice and support to a range of areas of the business, taking ownership for making considered and commercially astute recommendations.
• Utilising your subject matter expertise in your actuarial discipline to analyse risk factors to demonstrate understanding and management of risk exposure to the organisation, taking accountability for appropriate action to manage and, where appropriate, mitigate risk exposure.
• Leading risk analysis activity within your discipline, you will be responsible for effectively operating cross-functionally across the business on BAU and project activities.
• Communicate to senior executives in an appropriate manner, the impact, financial and otherwise, of the various actuarial investigations, reports, recommendations and analyses.
• Additionally, using your experience and your deep knowledge of the business and the work done by your team, you will consider developmental opportunities, making recommendations to improve operational efficiency and competitive advantage.
• Initiating and overseeing the production of regular reports and annual/longer term plans undertaken by other actuaries, taking accountability for leading the continuous review and improvement of department processes and procedures.
• Oversee and implement actuarial control frameworks, ensuring insight and commentary for senior managers and boards is written to a high standard and complies with legislation and internal control requirements.
• Manage, coach, develop and motivate a team of qualified and part-qualified actuaries in order to optimise the performance of the team in line with the Divisions objectives.
• Develop the skills and knowledge of team members so that they have the expertise to achieve the business requirements, as well as maximising individual development.

Technical Expertise

• Strong commercial awareness and understanding of the needs of the business.
• Ability to apply technical actuarial techniques and understand business/commercial implications.
• Understand complex statistical and financial models across a range of actuarial disciplines.
• Significant experience in the life insurance industry and is a subject matter expert in a number of disciplines within the function.
• Proven ability to lead on high-profile projects, utilising experience in project management techniques to deliver complex projects on-time, in-full.
• Willing and capable of taking difficult and complex decisions independently.

Communication

• Strong communication skills, demonstrating a clear and articulate standard of written and verbal communication in a complex environment.
• Ability to adapt messages to the audience, in a format that is easily understood by non-technical colleagues.
• Strong influencing skills, with experience of engaging with Boards and senior management.

Relationship Building

• The ability to develop and maintain strong relationships across the actuarial function and the wider business.
• Strong interpersonal/networking skills, with the ability to maintain a variety of relationships with multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to flex their style and delivery, depending on the individual and/or audience.

Taking Initiative

• Exceptional problem solving skills and attention to detail with demonstrable ability in spotting issues and challenges.
• Self-motivated, well-organised, pragmatic and able to perform tasks independently.

Developing Self and Others

• Strong skills and experience in managing and motivating a team from a diverse range of professional backgrounds.
• Strong coaching ability in technical and non-technical skills in order to support the development of others.
• An interested and inquisitive individual who is committed to their own ongoing professional and personal development.

• Fellow of Institute of Actuaries (or equivalent).

Benefits of working at Canada Life

We believe in recognising and rewarding our people, so we offer a competitive salary and benefits package that’s regularly reviewed. As a Canada Life UK colleague, you’ll receive a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension and bonus scheme, along with income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance.

How we work at Canada Life

Our culture is unique and incredibly important to us. We care about doing the right thing for our people, customers and community and helping others to build better futures.

We want colleagues to have rewarding careers with us so we invest in the development of our people, technology and workplaces. That’s why we offer a range of training, flexible working and opportunities to grow and develop.

Diversity and inclusion

Building an inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce where everyone can feel they belong and achieve their potential is a key commitment for us. We are proud of the progress we’re making in DEI, and we continue for it to be a significant focus.

We appreciate that everyone has different work and life responsibilities. We’re happy to discuss flexible working arrangements, including part time, for any of our roles should this be a requirement for you.