Life & Health Products Hub Head EMEA (80 - 100%)

About Swiss Re

This is an exciting, highly visible, and challenging opportunity within L&H Products. The role will lead the EMEA Products team working across many disciplines including terms and conditions, set costing assumptions and define underwriting policy upon which we conduct L&H business across EMEA. EMEA represents a significant portion of Swiss Re’s overall book of the L&H business.

You will own the delivery of the Life & Health financial plan by identifying and leading growth initiatives. You’ll report to the L&H Products Division Head with dotted line into the EMEA CEO, and work in close collaboration with the Client Markets Heads of L&H in Continental Europe, Middle East & Africa and UK and Ireland, as well as with the Head of L&H Business Management EMEA. You will also be a member of the L&H Products Executive Team, the Swiss Re L&H Products Steering Committee and the EMEA Management team. The role also leads our Disability Portfolio globally and is responsible for setting strategic direction as well as for the results on this portfolio; this is a leadership role that involves engaging regional leaders around the world.

The opportunity

An exciting role that is responsible for leading and engaging approximately 100 people (Costing, Experience Studies, Underwriters and Medical Officers) across multiple locations to deliver the L&H plan for the EMEA region. You will provide oversight of the terms and conditions for costing and underwriting upon which we conduct L&H business in EMEA and monitor its profitability and performance.

Core responsibilities:

This is primarily a leadership role, leading a large and varied group of professionals. You will inspire teams and build our performance culture working to provide clear direction on what success looks like.

You will also:

• Provide costing sign-off for transactions, approve and maintain terms of trade, ensuring quality and applicability of pricing tools and experience studies.

• Monitor the performance of L&H business in EMEA and take action to grow economic profits. This will include performing regular reviews of business performance, interpreting trends and anomalies in financial performance and providing direct input to portfolio steering

• Lead and manage our underwriting function, delivering an effective and market leading service, as well as driving leadership topics towards positioning Swiss Re as the clear number 1 underwriting team across EMEA.

• Own and drive Swiss Re’s global Disability portfolio financial results, by setting the strategy and steering the business toward profitable growth across all markets worldwide, while handling margins and risks in line with Swiss Re’s target liability portfolio.

• Engage with clients directly and with Client Markets support, serving as a leader and face to the client on key issues and at major Swiss Re client events

• Drive organizational culture change to improve Swiss Re’s agility and commercial attitude through open dialogue with our people and leading by example

• Drive regional implementation of the EMEA 2025 strategy

  
  

Operational excellence, Compliance and Controlling Activities

Core responsibilities:

• Ensure an effective and efficient operating model is in place for the Hub (covering people, content/topics, processes, systems and set-up) – demonstrate continuous improvement

• Continuously drive operational excellence and efficiency efforts, including delivery of productivity, simplification and performance improvements

• Review operational risks, audit (Group Internal audit and external) and compliance topics and develop and lead improvements with corrective actions

• Support the implementation of you and your team’s actions fully by following Swiss Re’s Code of Conduct and uphold the Group guidelines and standards applicable to our L&H business

• Review quarterly financial results and monthly performance metrics and advance issues as required

  
  

About You

• An engaging individual that has a proven record of delivering results through inspiring those around you.

• You are able to demonstrate strategic vision and agility - having the ability to think, and anticipate future consequences and trends, and incorporate them into a plan with a relentless focus on execution

• You will be self-motivated, able to overcome obstacles, challenges, navigate ambiguity and take unpopular stands when necessary.

• You will be outcome focused and able to demonstrate a consistent track record of exceeding goals; evidence of the ability to make good decisions through a combination of analysis, experience and judgment

• A leader of people able to inspire and engage diverse teams, delegating authority whilst collaborating across teams/functions

• An authentic communicator able to present complex information both to technical and non-technical audiences confidently, simply and concisely

• A ’doer’ – someone who balances their passion for connecting with people and exploring innovative ideas with getting things done!

  
  

Professional Qualities:

• Significant experience in reinsurance/insurance/financial sector, ideally with an actuarial qualification and preferably including roles working closely with or in different business functions and a consistent ability to work cross-functionally and across diverse geographical locations and cultural backgrounds (experience of working in HGMs is an asset)

• Strong understanding of market dynamics and trends, L&H re/insurance products and evolving client needs

• Consistent record of building productive and collaborative working relationships with internal and external stakeholders at the senior management level

• Experience in operational processes and metrics, cost planning and monitoring/steering and comfort working with large budgets

• Consistent track record of motivating and inspiring teams and a clear role model when it comes to demonstrating the leadership imperatives.

  
  

Languages:

• Proficient command of English is a prerequisite, knowledge of European languages (German, French) is an asset.

  
  

We are 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 – at all levels and in all functions and regions. 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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