At a Glance
- Tasks: Underwrite financial products and shape new capabilities in a dynamic environment.
- Company: Join M&G, a leading savings and investments firm with over 175 years of innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy 38 days annual leave, a generous pension scheme, and flexible working arrangements.
- Other info: Be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity and supports your wellbeing.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by contributing to exciting new annuity propositions and processes.
- Qualifications: Strong underwriting experience and a proactive, adaptable mindset are essential.
The predicted salary is between 60000 - 80000 £ per year.
Our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions. Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.
We’re building something bigger, and better, that makes delivering change across our organisation easier, smarter and genuinely enjoyable for colleagues. M&G Life supports over 5 million customers with more than £300bn invested across our products, working with partners including Equiniti, Diligenta, Waystone, Paragon, Willis Towers Watson and M&G Global Services. We’re looking for a Senior Underwriter to help M&G Life deliver its strategic priorities for our Annuity products. This is a unique opportunity to join a newly established underwriting function supporting the launch and growth of an exciting new annuity proposition. As an early member of the team, you will have the chance to shape underwriting practices, influence processes and contribute directly to the success of the proposition.
Alongside delivering high-quality underwriting decisions, you will be expected to contribute across a range of activities including process design, testing, training, operational readiness, governance, customer journey development and continuous improvement initiatives. We are looking for someone who thrives in a dynamic environment, enjoys solving problems and is excited by the opportunity to build new capabilities rather than simply operate within established processes.
Key Responsibilities for this Role
- Underwrite a range of financial products, including annuities and investment bonds, ensuring all decisions align with company policies, risk appetite and regulatory requirements.
- Conduct comprehensive risk assessments by reviewing financial, medical and lifestyle data, applying underwriting principles to determine eligibility, pricing and appropriate terms.
- Analyse complex cases and escalate where necessary, providing clear rationale and recommendations to senior underwriters or risk committees.
- Collaborate with internal teams (e.g., Actuarial, Compliance, Operations) and external stakeholders (e.g., advisers, reinsurers) to obtain additional information, resolve queries, and ensure smooth case progression.
- Maintain robust documentation of underwriting decisions, risk assessments and supporting evidence for audit, governance, and reporting purposes.
- Monitor regulatory and market developments impacting annuity and bond products, adapting underwriting practices to remain compliant and competitive.
- Contribute to process improvement initiatives, leveraging data insights and technology to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and customer outcomes.
- Support training and knowledge sharing within the underwriting team, promoting best practices and continuous professional development.
Key Knowledge, Skills & Experience
- Strong underwriting experience across life, pensions or investment products.
- Proactive and adaptable, bringing a continuous improvement mindset and a willingness to take ownership of tasks and outcomes.
- Ability to apply critical thinking to interpret data from multiple sources, using digital underwriting tools and automation to turn complex information into clear insights that support effective commercial decision making.
- Experience in assessing and underwriting more complex enhanced annuity applications in line with underwriting guidelines and risk appetite.
- Experience working with reinsurers, including management of referral cases, facultative underwriting and underwriting authorities.
- Demonstrable technical underwriting skills with ability to act as a referral point and subject matter expert for more junior underwriters/underwriting support.
- Experience in completing internal quality assurance reviews.
- Strong knowledge of FCA regulation, Consumer Duty requirements and the importance of delivering good customer outcomes.
- Familiarity with automated underwriting systems, rules engines and digital underwriting solutions.
- Customer-focused and commercially aware, with the ability to balance positive customer outcomes with sound risk management and underwriting discipline.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to explain technical underwriting decisions clearly to a wide range of audiences.
- Adaptable and flexible, with the enthusiasm to take on a broad range of responsibilities and contribute to the successful development of a new underwriting function.
We’d love to hear from you if you’re someone who’s genuinely curious - the kind of person who asks thoughtful questions and digs a little deeper to understand what’s really going on. You enjoy working with others and naturally bring people together, even when things feel a bit unclear. You think ahead, notice patterns early and stay focused on creating real value for the people around you. Most of all, you care about making things better - for colleagues, for customers, and for the workplace as a whole.
If this sounds like you, we want you to apply!
What we offer:
At M&G, we’re committed to helping you thrive and supporting your wellbeing, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life, while planning confidently for your future. Our UK benefits include:
- A valuable pension scheme of 18%, with 13% made up of Employer Contributions and 5% Employee Contributions.
- 38 days annual leave including bank holidays, with the opportunity to purchase up to 5 extra days and additional flexibility through our Time Off When You Need It policy.
- Comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave.
- Health & Protection cover including Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with family options.
We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people.
M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, and we welcome applications from candidates with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro-divergent conditions. If you need assistance or an alternative means of applying for a role due to a disability or additional need, please let us know by contacting us at: careers@mandg.com
Senior Underwriter - Annuities in Stirling employer: Prudential Distribution
M&G is an exceptional employer that prioritises employee wellbeing and professional growth, offering a comprehensive benefits package including an 18% pension scheme, generous annual leave, and extensive family support policies. Our inclusive culture fosters collaboration and innovation, ensuring that every team member feels valued and empowered to contribute to our mission of providing confidence in financial solutions. Located in the heart of the UK, we embrace flexible working arrangements, making it easier for you to balance your personal and professional life while thriving in your career.