Group Head of Validation

This is a fantastic opportunity for a senior and experienced actuary to sit within the Actuarial and Financial Risk Team.

We’re looking for an actuary with experience of capital modelling / model validation and a passion for financial risk management.

The successful applicant will own the second line independent validation of Admiral’s partial internal model and push forward improvements.

You will be part of a team that contributes to all aspects of identifying, measuring, monitoring, managing and reporting financial risks across the Group. You will be expected to share your knowledge and best practices with the wider team.

You will be reporting directly to the Head of Financial and Actuarial Risk, Gavin Dunkerley.

Although the role predominantly focuses on capital management, there will be an opportunity to get involved in financial risk management activities other than model validation.

As a part of the team, you will be involved in the review and challenge of work completed by the first line finance and actuarial teams in the UK. You will also support and review work completed by the risk and actuarial functions within Admiral’s overseas underwriting entities covering France, Spain, Italy and the USA.

Admiral Group is growing and diversifying, and a key aim of the team is to proactively manage the financial risks around the strategy. This includes the proactive modelling of emerging risks as they become material to the Group.

The Financial and Actuarial Risk Team is a new team established in 2020 to provide a Group focus on key financial risks within the Group. The team currently has four team members including three actuaries with a focus on insurance risk and a financial risk manager with a focus on investment risk and intragroup financial risks. Team members work flexibly in their roles and support other team members as well as the wider Group Risk Team. The strong Admiral culture (described below) is important to the way in which the Team works.

What we’ve done so far this year…

In the first two months of this year the team have completed:

• a model simplification paper to identify unnecessary areas of model complexity and a plan to simplify the model
• a review of the capital plan and capital requirements
• a review of year end reserves and proposed margin above best estimate
• a new dashboard to give up-to-date information on written exposures and
• several investment and intragroup papers considering the risks and recommendations for managing financial risk within the Group.

Main Duties

You will:

• support the business in its desire to identify, measure, monitor, manage and report financial risks across the group
• develop the overall model validation scope and plan, manging the scope and costs of any external reviews commissioned
• act as the subject matter expert on the Solvency II regulatory requirements, PRA & GFSC rulebooks and the frameworks used in assessing model risks and regulatory compliance
• deliver against the plan of activities, maintaining and developing the Solvency II validation, model risk and regulatory compliance frameworks, polices and standards to a level appropriate for a FTSE 100 regulated business and reflecting changes to the regulations
• consolidate results from model validation and present progress and findings to the relevant committees and boards
• maintain and amend the model validation scope and plan against a range of triggers events or changes within the business, supporting any major model change protocols
• collaborate with the Head of Financial and Actuarial Risk, Chief Risk Officer, Chief Actuary and Head of Capital on wider review of methodology and assumptions in respect of internal models
• work with areas across the business to help them understand and provide oversight over their model risks and help determine where responsibility for new regulatory requirements should reside
• work collaboratively with colleagues and take personal accountability to maintain and enhance controls you are responsible for to support improvement of the overall control environment, customers outcomes and a reduction in Admiral’s risk
• support the business with Risk and Capital Assessments for new products, businesses and propositions
• monitor and report on all material validation findings across the Group to the relevant committees and boards
• support the financial risk appetite process, with appropriate early warning indicators, triggers and limits and reporting mechanisms with the Group Risk Team
• input into both the stress and scenario testing for the Group and the wider ORSA process including production of the annual ORSA report for Board approval

Key Skills, Qualifications and Experience

Essential:

• Experienced qualified actuary - with the Institute and Facility of Actuaries (or equivalent)
• Detailed knowledge of risk frameworks, Solvency II, regulatory rulebook and model risk
• Excellent communication – both written and interpersonal skills to liaise with people of different levels in different parts of Admiral and with external stakeholders, such as regulators
• Current and regularly updated knowledge of peer risk management practices and regulatory expectations to ensure continuous development of internal practices and thinking
• Experience of writing board/committee papers and strategy documents
• Ability to work independently and proactively as well as supporting a team
• Able to multi-task contracts and projects, work under pressure and lead large complex projects
• Highly organised
• Objective, timely and confident decision-making skills
• Attention to detail, with an analytical and problem-solving mindset
• Strong oversight, influencing and persuasion skills
• An ability to react quickly and decisively to problems once identified
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications e.g. Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Desirable:

• More than ten years of actuarial experience
• Experience of working within Risk
• Experience of working with a motor insurer

Salary, Benefits and Work-Life Balance

We do not have a set salary for this position, as it will be dependent on the successful candidate’s experience. We are happy to see CVs from all candidates who meet the requirements and will be happy to discuss the remuneration package.

At Admiral, we are proud to be a diverse business where we put our people and customers first. We have great benefits to ensure employees have a great work-life balance; it's one of the reasons why we're consistently voted one of the Sunday Times’ Best Big Companies to work for in the UK. We want you to have an element of freedom to define a working lifestyle that supports this, so accommodate flexible hours wherever possible.

You can also view some of our other key benefits here; https://admiraljobs.co.uk/employee-benefits/.

If you think this role is for you and would like to be considered for this opportunity, please click “apply now” to complete an online application form.

Please note, we are unable to accept CVs via email.

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