Actuary, Pricing

Career Opportunity

Role Title

Actuary, Pricing

Purpose of role

The Actuary, Pricing is a senior leader responsible for leading the development of innovative product solutions in support of Foresters Financial Purpose. They will be expected to demonstrate expertise in at least one technical area of importance to product pricing, and ensure compliance with applicable Product and Risk Management Policies and Standards.
The successful candidate will leverage their experience, knowledge, network, and leadership skills to contribute to product initiatives in a wide range of capacities as required to support the business’ current objectives, and to develop Foresters resources and capabilities to support future success for many years to come.
They will be expected to maintain up-to-date knowledge of the design and risk profile of Foresters Financial products in all lines of business including how they contribute to earnings/profitability. They will prepare clear and effective written communication including documentation, analysis, and presentations for a wide range of audiences including business functions and oversight roles. The successful Actuary will be widely regarded within the organization as someone proactive in their sharing of new ideas, best practices, expertise, and ability to draw out the best in people.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities

Assume a dynamic and multi-dimensional lead role in the product development process including gating, evaluation of external factors such as regulations, project planning, and governance:

• Ensure pricing models reflect product risks, profitability, and assumptions in accordance with Foresters and industry best practices
• Identify and recommend solutions to ongoing and emerging risks to the business
• Assess the compliance of Foresters product designs and features with applicable federal, state/provincial regulatory and tax law
• Advise other departments in the preparation of contract/administrator/illustration and other marketing support materials
• Produce actionable recommendations and rationale to advance the progress of product initiatives with respect to market competitiveness and achieving Foresters strategic and financial objectives via the AAG, PMPC, PSGC, or other forums as appropriate
• Coordinate and contribute to the preparation of key documentation as necessary to satisfy governance requirements within the Product Management Policy and Product Management Standard
• Support the ongoing management of non-guaranteed elements

Provide actuarial support for implementation and regulatory filing work in order to prepare to bring new products to market:

• Approve and sign off on required actuarial documentation for regulatory approval
• Respond to regulatory objections, support answers to questions, and recommend either product changes to achieve product approval or alternate action to the AAG and PMPC

Support responses to inquiries requiring Pricing guidance and engage other departments such as Sales, Product Management, or Legal as necessary:

• Customer requests or complaints related to Foresters products
• New product updates to the Appointed Actuary’s Report (AAR)
• Special quotes

Represent Foresters in a range of 3rd-party relationships:

• Oversee the procurement of reinsurance for Foresters products available for sale in accordance with the Reinsurance Risk Management Policy and negotiate favorable terms; support other actuarial teams as needed for in force or financial reinsurance transactions
• Support response to industry surveys providing business intelligence to Foresters Financial

Exhibit leadership qualities to support current and future talent development:

• Create opportunities for own pre- or post-qualification actuarial staff (if applicable) to not only focus them on actions necessary to achieve deliverables within deadlines, but to continually broaden or deepen their skills and competencies
• Adjust leadership style to support the ongoing development of employees of any team
• In collaboration with other senior leaders, embody and reward creative and innovative thought leadership

Key Qualifications

• Fellowship in the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and the Society of Actuaries with minimum of 5 years of experience post-Fellowship.  Membership in the American Academy of Actuaries an asset.
• Excellent communication skills required to focus on key messages and actionable data:
• Ability to tailor communication to the target audience; anticipate questions and adjust to the flow of a presentation or meeting as appropriate by listening to or observing participants
• Prepare clear and effective written communication in a variety of formats including memos, reports, and presentations; leverage experience and knowledge of target audience to determine the appropriate level of detail and structure for key messages, analysis, and/or actionable data
• Ability to respond to on-the-fly “what if” questions in presentations or meetings with limited time and/or data
• Respectfully and tactfully resolve conflict via negotiation and compromise with stakeholders and partners within and external to Foresters
• Understand the impact of complex assumption changes in models; use top-down analysis and rules of thumb to help teammates investigate and solve issues
• Strong knowledge of Moody’s AXIS and Microsoft Excel and Word essential to support creation of best of breed actuarial models, analysis, and documentation
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Access, SQL Server Management Studio, or PowerPoint an asset
• Innovative and creative mindset that appropriately balances production of deliverables with process improvements and employee learning to help Foresters meet its current and future objectives
• Ability to think critically about individual and team SWOTs (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), and support/advise senior management in managing them
• Adaptively teach, coach, and mentor team members taking into consideration the design and review of tasks/assignments
• Focus team on tactical objectives while creatively identifying areas for development and incorporating them into deliverables
• Excellent ability to manage multiple projects of varying size/complexity with varying levels of involvement; proactively assess emerging risks related to the critical path, deadlines, and dependencies, and support the escalation process
• Broad and current knowledge of life insurance products and product regulations in the U.S. and Canada, including working knowledge of the competitive landscape
• Working knowledge of interrelationships between different departments required to run an insurance company
• Strong knowledge of Corporate and Group Actuarial functions such as financial reporting, valuation, ALM, Capital Management, Risk Management, or Business Planning
• Ability and desire to foster strong working relationships with employees and leaders within the company
• Share new ideas, best practices, and expertise across business functions as appropriate with employees, peers, or management

#LI-Hybrid

Equal Opportunity Employment and Inclusion – at Foresters Financial, we are committed to sustaining an equal opportunity environment for all job applicants. We embrace Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (IDE) as a core strategic objective for building strong, innovative teams in which all our employees can show up wholly and authentically as themselves.

Foresters Financial strives to provide an accessible candidate experience for prospective employees with different abilities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodations during the recruitment process, please email [email protected] in advance of your appointment.

Thank you for choosing Foresters. Only those candidates who will be selected for further consideration will be contacted by our Talent Acquisition Team.