Job Detail

Zurich, ZH, CH

Head of Portfolio Underwriting 

About Swiss Re

The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk – from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cybercrime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally. It is organised into three Business Units, each with a distinct strategy and set of objectives contributing to the Group’s overall mission.

About the Role
As Head of Portfolio Underwriting you will lead a high-performing team to be the Group's Portfolio Underwriter. As a group, we generate as much value by our portfolio allocations (how we allocate our capital to different underwriting risk portfolios) as we do by our individual underwriting decisions. 
Our team has a unique position in seeing all of the Group's underwriting activity. We use this to craft the overall group-wide portfolio, generate insights into underwriting opportunities, steer capital and capacity throughout the year, and develop our group's portfolio management capability. 

You will have the following major responsibilities: 

• Lead the Portfolio Underwriting department – talent, key processes, and budget are just some of the matters you will need to focus on


• Shape the target underwriting risk portfolio for the Group as a whole over the near - and medium-term


• Steer scarce Group-wide resources in support of the target portfolio and to maximize opportunities (e.g. capital, risk limits)


• Support Group-wide costing processes and systems to steer business in line with Group strategy


• Generate insight form Group-wide underwriting data, including through advanced analytics and Geo specific approaches


• Identify new underwriting risk pools or changes to risk pools that present opportunities to the group


• Develop underwriting and portfolio management models and tools for Credit & Surety to use and improve the portfolio management capability across the Group


• Manage operational and compliance risks, and oversee the key control frameworks within the team

About the Team 
You will have 6 direct reporting lines and lead a department of aprox. 45 international talents. You will be part of the leadership team of Swiss Re Institute (SRI) whose mandate is to create competitive advantage in risk knowledge and capital allocation. SRI leverages our R&D to ensure our capabilities remain cutting edge, maintain our underwriting excellence and incubate new business. The SRI creates and delivers transformational R&D to generate data-driven insights on existing and new risk pools, and the economic context within which we operate. 
Using these insights, the SRI determines Swiss Re's underwriting strategy and steers capital allocation to insurance risk pools and provides advice to the Group's investment, capital allocation, and sustainability strategy.

About You

• You hold knowledge, experience and technical expertise
  
  
  
  • Excellent University degree, Masters degree in quantitative or finance discipline is a plus
  
  
  • Minimum of 10-15 years of experience in re/insurance underwriting/pricing or related discipline
  
  
  • Working knowledge of breadth of insurance products, and aware of potential market issues
  
  
  • Strong knowledge of analytical techniques, including ability to quality check and assure sophisticated analytical work
  
  
  • Solid industry expertise and market knowledge. Understands Underwriting relevant capabilities of competitors.
  
  
  • Fluency in English, other languages are a plus
  
  


• You have the following core leadership competencies


• You have great business acumen: 
  
  
  
  • In-depth understanding of (re)insurance trends, proven financial acumen and deep experience in underwriting/pricing
  
  
  • Ability to quickly prioritize multiple projects based on their relative value
  
  


• You can reliably drive strategy:
  
  
  
  • Excellent analytical, conceptual and organisational skills - you have seen what best in class looks like and strive for excellence
  
  
  • Strategic mind set, creative thinking, a desire for continuous development and learning, and strong capability in global vision and strategy shaping
  
  


• You strive for impact and nurture passion to perform in your team:
  
  
  
  • A strong results orientation and can-do attitude - you are a hands-on shaper, show passion, energy, intensity and excitement
  
  
  • Stress-resistant and with a real passion for impact - you drive a high-performance culture by executing impeccably and leading change
  
  
  • Prioritize effectively, delegate and coach your team members to succeed 
  
  
  • Prepared to voice unpopular views when necessary
  
  


• You are an outstanding people leader: 
  
  
  
  • Prior experience in leading culturally diverse international teams of 40+ staff members enables you to monetise the value of diversity 
  
  
  • An inspiring leader who builds commitment, fosters diversity, inclusion, teamwork and cooperation 
  
  


• You build and maintain positive relationships and influence others: 
  
  
  
  • Charismatic, engaging personality coupled with the gravitas necessary for this senior leadership role
  
  
  • Excellent in communicating at all levels with the ability to represent Swiss Re with external stakeholders and SRI towards Group Board members successfully
  
  

Swiss Re is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. Our aim is to live visible and invisible diversity – diversity of age, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, physical abilities, personalities and experiences – in all functions and regions at Swiss Re. We also collaborate in a flexible working environment, providing you with a compelling degree of autonomy to decide how, when and where to carry out your tasks.

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Reference Code: 85561