Head of Internal Model Design - Canada Life Limited in London

Location: London

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 Summary: The role holder is accountable for implementing the IM change agenda, including the development of minor and major model change proposals to support strong commercial outcomes and strategic business decisions for Canada Life UK. Integrating the use of the model in strategic business decisions such as investments, ALM, pricing, reinsurance, and risk management. Lead internal and external stakeholder management to ensure understanding and lead the integration of the internal model into business decisions as well as strong regulatory engagement.

The following skills and experience are highly desirable:

• Hands on IM development experience (incl. Credit MMC experience)
• Strong PRA engagement skills
• Python programming and prototyping
• Matching Adjustment Under Stress, Credit Risk Modelling, stochastic aggregation frameworks essential.

What will you be doing: The role holder is accountable for the internal model:

• Driving development and optimisation of the internal model
• Support strong commercial outcomes and strategic business decisions for CLUK.
• Integrate the use of the model in strategic business decisions such as investments, ALM, pricing, reinsurance, and risk management
• Drive innovation to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal model.
• Operation of the internal model Direct ownership of the internal model for methodology and change:
• Harmonising the PIM
• Enhanced PIM or Full Internal Model Development
• Development of Matching Adjustment Under Stress
• Development of stochastic aggregation and proxy modelling

Lead internal and external stakeholder management to ensure understanding and integration of the internal model into business decisions as well as strong regulatory engagement. Lead on the provision of effective and timely oral and written communication:

• Internal and external stakeholders
• Senior Executives
• Relevant Boards
• The Prudential Regulatory Authority as appropriate in relation to the internal model.

This role will have responsibility for gaining regulatory approval for all major internal model changes including the addition of new asset classes. Responsible for the ongoing appropriateness of the Canada Life U.K. Internal Model. Manage, develop and motivate the team in the achievement of their individual and business objectives. Provide direction, guidance and coaching to colleagues to develop skills and capabilities in order to continually evolve the output from the area. Maintain a strong external network with other financial institutions, consultancies, and other professionals.

What Experience will you have for the position:

• In depth knowledge of internal models, with proven track record of driving change, innovation, and optimisation.
• Proven track record of developing IM components from scratch, including getting them approved.
• Proven prototyping capability.
• Excellent technical skills and in particular, specialist knowledge of Solvency II, Credit Risk & MAUS, and Aggregation techniques for internal models
• Strong PRA engagement experience.
• Experience in applying technical expertise to analyse risk and capital information and apply this commercially.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities
• Strong commercial outlook
• Strong communication skills, demonstrating a clear and articulate standard of written and verbal communication in a complex environment, tailored for all levels of management. Attention to detail.
• Strong influencing skills, with experience of engaging with senior management and regulators to get desired outcomes
• Strong interpersonal/networking skills, with the ability to maintain a variety of relationships with multiple stakeholders
• Proven track record of delivery under tight time pressure
• Self-motivated, well-organised, pragmatic, and able to perform tasks independently

Qualifications (For the job and not the person):

• Qualified Actuary with current IFoA membership

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.