Global Head Specialty Reinsurance - Hybrid in London

About the Role

As Head Specialty Reinsurance you are accountable for the underwriting performance, portfolio resilience and the profitable growth of Swiss Re's global Specialty reinsurance portfolio. You carry a global P&L responsibility and lead the Specialty business across Agriculture, Aviation, Cyber, Engineering & Nuclear, and Marine & Energy, with end-to-end ownership of underwriting strategy, portfolio results and risk governance. The role includes a direct reporting line for the Head Specialty Claims. In this senior underwriting leadership role you set direction, hold the pen on underwriting decisions that matter, and translate Swiss Re's strategy into disciplined execution across regions and lines. You operate as a trusted partner to the P&C Re Executive team, shaping priorities, steering capital and representing Swiss Re externally with clients, brokers and industry bodies.

Key responsibilities

• Portfolio leadership, risk governance and performance: Owns, steers and profitably grows the global Specialty portfolio across the cycle, with clear accountability for new and in-force businesses. Holds the ultimate UW pen and therefore accountability for risk appetite definition, underwriting standards and their consistent application across lines and regions. Ensures robust underwriting control frameworks, including clear authorities, escalation paths, referral discipline and adherence to risk policies. Guides complex, material or precedent-setting underwriting decisions, balancing commercial ambition with disciplined risk judgement and long-term portfolio resilience. Actively monitors portfolio performance, emerging risk signals and accumulation exposures, intervenes decisively where underwriting action is required to protect capital and earnings.
• Strategy, market and client leadership: Defines and owns the global Specialty strategy, translating market, client and portfolio insights into clear priorities and actions. Builds and maintains senior relationships with key clients, broker partners and market influencers, representing Swiss Re's Specialty leadership externally. Anticipates regulatory, geopolitical, competitive and macroeconomic developments and proactively steers portfolio and product responses.
• People and organizational leadership: Leads, coaches and develops a global community of Specialty underwriting leaders and experts, building strong succession, accountability and performance ownership. Fosters a high-performing, collaborative underwriting culture balancing trade-off decisions between portfolio priorities within Specialty and across the broader P&C Re landscape. Attracts, retains and develops industry leading Specialty underwriting talent, ensuring the capabilities needed for emerging risks and modern underwriting practices.
• Transformation, data and execution: Drives operational excellence and rigor in execution, ensures high adoption of tools and adherence to processes. Champions the use of data, analytics and tools as core enablers of underwriting quality, speed and client impact. Sponsors change initiatives that improve efficiency and scalable insights from standardized business approaches to digital solutions.

About You

You are a senior underwriting leader with the credibility, judgement and presence to lead at enterprise level. You combine Specialty expertise with a strong commercial mindset and a clear sense of accountability for outcomes. You are prepared to spend a significant amount of your time and energy on Business Unit and enterprise-wide topics and initiatives.

We are looking for candidates who bring:

• Extensive senior executive leadership experience with proven track record across underwriting, portfolio management and senior client/broker leadership management.
• Proven ability to lead leaders and manage large, diverse teams across geographies.
• Deep understanding of underwriting governance, risk appetite and portfolio steering, with recognized or progressing senior underwriting authority.
• Strong strategic judgement, commercial acumen and confidence operating with C-suite clients and senior internal stakeholders.
• Highly developed non-technical skills including decision-making, negotiation, stakeholder management and comfort navigating ambiguity.
• A strong belief in data and technology as performance enablers, with experience driving adoption and change.
• Fluency in English; additional languages desired.

Our company has a hybrid work model where the expectation is that you will be in the office at least three days per week.

For London, the annual base salary range for this position is between GBP 216,000 and GBP 324,000 (for a full-time role). The specific salary offered considers: the requirements, scope, complexity and responsibilities of the role, the applicant's own profile including education/qualifications, expertise, specialisation, skills and experience. In addition to your base salary, Swiss Re offers an attractive performance-based variable compensation component, designed to recognise your achievements. Further you will enjoy a variety of global and location specific benefits. Eligibility may vary depending on the terms of Swiss Re policies and your employment contract.

About Swiss Re

Swiss Re is one of the world's leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. We anticipate and manage a wide variety of risks, from natural catastrophes and climate change to cybercrime. We cover both Property & Casualty and Life & Health. Combining experience with creative thinking and cutting-edge expertise, we create new opportunities and solutions for our clients. This is possible thanks to the collaboration of more than 14,000 employees across the world.

Our success depends on our ability to build an inclusive culture encouraging fresh perspectives and innovative thinking. We embrace a workplace where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive and develop professionally regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, skillset, thought or other characteristics. In our inclusive and flexible environment everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and their passion for sustainability.

If you are an experienced professional returning to the workforce after a career break, we encourage you to apply for open positions that match your skills and experience. Swiss Re is an equal opportunity employer. It is our practice to recruit, hire and promote without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, pregnancy, sexual orientations, marital status, military status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Decisions on employment are solely based on an individual's qualifications for the position being filled. During the recruitment process, reasonable accommodations for disabilities are available upon request. If contacted for an interview, please inform the Recruiter/HR Professional of the accommodation needed.