Outwards Reinsurance Director

The role oversees all aspects of the company’s outwards reinsurance activities, ensuring effective administration, governance, and performance of the reinsurance programme. Operating within a group structure, the role provides leadership, oversight, and coordination to ensure the outwards reinsurance strategy supports business objectives and maintains strong operational and governance standards. The role holder will manage the relationship with the outsourced outwards reinsurance partner, ensuring compliance with service levels, binder terms, and regulatory requirements, while providing insight and oversight to support planning, purchasing, portfolio optimisation, and post-placement activities.

Key Role Accountabilities

• Lead the relationship with the outsourced reinsurance provider, ensuring adherence to binder terms, service level agreements (SLAs), and key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Oversee execution of our outwards reinsurance plan at key renewal dates, securing optimal terms in a timely manner, maintaining regular communications and providing transparent progress to the Pelagos Insurance Capital (PLGO) executive team.
• Provide oversight of outsourced post-placement administration, including premium and recovery calculations, management and reporting, aged debt management, erosion reporting and data management.
• Monitor and manage reinsurance counterparty credit risk in collaboration with underwriting, actuarial, and finance teams, ensuring adherence to our counterparty credit exposure methodology, and driving improvement and automation.
• Ensure effective management of reinsurance collateral with treasury and finance, overseeing trust fund account funding at key renewal dates.

PLGO’s own account

• Work with underwriting, senior leadership, actuarial teams, brokers, and reinsurers to place own-account outward reinsurance into the market, ensuring alignment with PLGO’s business plan and strategy, and timely execution of optimal terms and placements.
• Oversee the preparation of underwriting data, exposure information, and loss history to support reinsurance placements and renewals covering PLGO’s own account.
• Support the development and eventual transition to in-house management of reinsurance activities as the business grows.

Governance

• Ensure compliance with all regulatory reporting requirements and internal governance standards for outwards reinsurance.
• Support the design, implementation, and ongoing management of the outwards reinsurance strategy in line with business objectives.
• Work with internal stakeholders and outsourcing partners to ensure adherence to governance frameworks and operational standards.
• Support with development of the outwards reinsurance governance framework and associated standard operating procedures.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the outwards reinsurance programme and post-placement administration framework, recommending improvements as needed.
• Prepare management information, reports, and presentations for senior leadership and Board committees as required.

Team and culture

• Build and maintain strong working relationships across underwriting, actuarial, ops, finance, and claims functions.
• Collaborate effectively with internal stakeholders and external partners to support delivery of business objectives.
• Support the development of the outwards reinsurance function as the business grows, including potential team leadership responsibilities.
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and operational excellence.

Qualifications, Experience and Competencies

• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in insurance, finance, actuarial science, or a related field (professional qualifications such as ACII, CPCU or equivalent preferred).
• Experience: 10+ years’ experience in outwards reinsurance within an insurer, reinsurer, or broker.
• Competencies:
• Reinsurance Technical Expertise: Strong technical knowledge of treaty and facultative reinsurance across multiple lines of business.
• Financial and Analytical Acumen: Solid understanding of insurance and reinsurance financial concepts, including loss triangles, IBNR, and capital models.
• Third-Party and Outsourcing Management: Experience working with outsourced service providers and managing third-party relationships.
• Analytical Thinking and Attention to Detail: Strong analytical skills with high attention to detail and a structured approach to problem solving.
• Communication and Influencing Skills: Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to a range of stakeholders.
• Systems and Data Capability: Experience with reinsurance administration systems and exposure management tools advantageous.
• Organisation and Project Management: Highly organised with strong project management capabilities.