Senior Actuarial Trainee in London

Location: Can be located in the Bristol, London or Watford office.

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.

Job Purpose

This role would be to join the actuarial student scheme at Canada Life. The scheme is designed to provide a breadth of experience to those studying towards actuarial qualification as a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (or equivalent) through rotations to different areas of the business. The first rotation will be in the Bulk Purchase Annuities (BPA) team, in New Business Pricing, where you will work with other team members to support the pricing and execution of bulk annuity transactions. The role requires an understanding of defined benefit pensions to accurately manipulate, interpret and check data, model liability cashflows, and understand business metrics relating to profit and capital. Rotations usually last 18 to 24 months, and subsequent rotations would likely be to an actuarial team.

Key Accountabilities

• Support the pricing and execution of bulk annuity transactions
• Accurate and complete data manipulation and subsequent modelling of scheme benefits
• Actively identify areas of opportunity to improve pricing tools and process efficiency
• Work collaboratively and effectively with wider BPA teams, such as BPA reinsurance, Data Verification and Member Options. An ability to adapt working techniques to cater to different individuals’ and teams’ requirements to achieve desired outcomes
• Understand and apply technical actuarial techniques, with an awareness of business and commercial impacts of pricing decisions

General responsibilities

• Progress towards actuarial qualification as a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, balancing study, work and professional development
• Development and maintenance of bulk annuity pricing methodologies and models in accordance with Technical Actuarial Standards (where relevant) and End User Computing requirements.
• Contribute to a collaborative and inclusive team culture
• Understanding of risk management, in relation to risks relevant to this role. Follow appropriate risk management procedures to control, monitor and report on business activities, and escalate key risks or issues appropriately
• Understanding and ability to implement and maintain an actuarial control framework and meet governance requirements
• Compliance with Company policies and regulatory, professional and legal requirements

Desired Knowledge / Experience / Skills

• Student actuary with previous actuarial experience
• Demonstrable numerical, analytical, problem-solving and data manipulation skills, with attention to detail and an ability to identify issues and interdependencies
• Advanced working knowledge of MS Excel. Experience of Prophet is advantageous.
• Experience of working with complex data, with a demonstrable ability to make conclusions and communicate recommendations effectively
• Strong, clear and timely oral and written communication to internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent project management skills, working effectively both independently and as part of a team
• A demonstrable interest in Bulk Purchase Annuities, with a knowledge of defined benefit pension schemes and bulk annuity transactions

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. We have a fantastic number of other benefits and support services as well as regular personal and professional development.

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. Our blueprint behaviours shape and influence how we work, and are central to the relationships we have with others. Every day we are encouraged to be more curious, own the outcome, face into things together and find a way forward. 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 regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic 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.

“At Canada Life we believe in the power of great people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives coming together to build better futures. Emerging talent is crucial to our growth and creating an environment that continues to inspire us all.” Nick Harding, Chief People Officer, Canada Life UK

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.