Head of UK Pricing Governance

Job Description

Supporting the Head of Pricing, UK, and in collaboration with the UK Actuarial function through matrix reporting to the Deputy Chief Actuary, UK to:    

Define, Drive and Influence Governance for UK Pricing  

• Support the strategic objectives of the UK Pricing Team as defined each year and aligned to broader strategic objectives for the UK Business by developing and maintaining an appropriate Governance & Controls framework.
• Assess current practices against needs and expectations, including regulatory requirements.
• Raise awareness and knowledge of governance and control expectations across the UK Pricing team.
• Design enhanced governance through appropriate forums, documentation, reporting and controls.
• Ensure value add implementation, which meets the needs of the team and the wider organisation, without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Monitor behaviours against required expectations to evidence a robust, but pragmatic governance and controls environment.
• Working with the Performance Management function, support technical development of appropriate pricing metrics to allow performance monitoring within the Governance framework through relevant forums and/or committees.
• Promote the benefit of pragmatic governance practices across the team.
• Demonstrate Sompo Values in delivery and performance. 

Support Actuarial & Pricing Leadership to:

• Promote strategic development and opportunity across the team.
• Promote the actuarial value proposition across the organisation.
• Develop and maintain the appropriate knowledge and behaviours across the team.
• Support group wide initiatives regarding pricing development, ensuring appropriate consideration for UK governance requirements within the context of strategic objectives and regulatory expectations.
• Support a positive and pro-active team environment which thrives through an understanding of opportunity, alongside responsibility and accountability.
• Demonstrate and role model expectations for teams through early-stage leadership behaviours.
• Contribute the pricing perspective to customer focused groups and committees, to meet regulatory requirements concerning aspects such as product design and consumer outcomes.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Technical Performance

• Account Pricing Support.
• Model Development Activity.
• Business Planning.
• Underwriting Risk Parameterisation.
• Portfolio Metrics & Analysis.

Customer focus/environmental awareness

• Ensure the team has sufficient awareness of the governance and controls required to support the business.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders in the team, Actuarial Function more broadly and across other function to promote the value proposition of the Governance & Controls framework.
• Appropriately communicate requirements in a way that is relevant to the audience.
• Maintain strong interpersonal skills.
• Look for opportunities to collaborate with other functions to support better outcomes for Sompo collectively, considering where pricing knowledge and skills could be valuable beyond core responsibilities.
• Networking with counterparts within Sompo to encourage sharing and adopting of best practice.

Policy, process, & procedures

• Operate in accordance with Actuarial Professional Standards.
• Open and co-operative with the FCA, PRA and other regulators.
• Act in accordance to Sompo values.
• Observe proper standards of market conduct.
• Contribute to the development, enhancement and maintenance of internal standards and governance frameworks for UK Pricing.
• Adhere to internal requirements and policies relevant to the role including pricing policies and referral criteria
• Contribute to improving internal pricing processes through continuous improvement and supporting broader strategic projects.
• Ensure understanding and support adherence to policies and procedures.

Leadership

• Demonstrate Sompo UK Leadership support as a senior member of the UK Pricing team, supporting actuaries and analysts across the department, and working with senior leadership to promote the vision, goals and strategy for the UK Pricing function.
• Provide input to strategic thinking around the development of the team to meet and exceed requirements and provide the best service to the business.
• Provide point of contact for pricing governance across the business and functions, connecting with senior leaders who have a contribution or an interest in pricing governance.

People Management

• Provide information to senior actuarial leadership on resourcing, delivery and performance to support broader team management.
• Provide a clear vision for the team with regards to pricing governance aligned to the broader vision from the Head of Pricing, UK.
• Support the UK Pricing team’s business towers on governance related matters, training and peer review.
• Ensure clear requirements and expectations are set for the pricing actuaries to ensure the team can meet governance requirements both collectively and individually.
• Support broader development of junior members of the UK Pricing team through training and team events.
• Ensure clear communication of UK pricing governance to pricing teams operating across Sompo and provide support for efficient implementation of the requirements.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, & EXPERIENCE

Qualifications

• BSc in Mathematics, Statistics, Economics, Actuarial Science, or Similar.
• Qualified Actuary (FIA or equivalent) or a Part Qualified Actuary who has demonstrated capabilities through extensive experience and prior roles.

Experience

• Good previous experience of individual case pricing and pricing models within a general insurance environment.
• Demonstratable capability of working closely with other members of the team and other functions to support day to day governance activity and deliverables.
• Significant knowledge of pricing performance metrics and how they can be utilised in terms of performance measurement and governance.
• Understanding of regulatory requirements in respect of case pricing, planning and performance including appropriate governance requirements.
• Good understanding of Financial Services Industry best practice in actuarial analysis, modelling and underwriting
• Demonstratable capability to develop the required understanding of Sompo business and processes relevant to the role.
• An ability to identify potential risks and support mitigation through development and implementation of appropriate controls relevant to the role.

Skills

• An ability and interest in promoting the Actuarial & Pricing value proposition across key stakeholders in the business.
• The capacity to pro-actively support a team to ensure appropriate influence and drive regarding pricing governance.
• A desire to identify opportunities for continuous improvement and additional value add for the team and for stakeholders.
• Appropriate levels of knowledge of MS Excel, Access, Powerpoint and Word.
• Knowledge or the ability to develop knowledge within the wider team, as required, of relevant programming languages.
• A deep understanding of actuarial techniques relevant to the role, as well as other parts of the Actuarial Function which could be impactful on pricing.
• Excellent communication.
• Ability to persuade and influence stakeholders and collaborators in the support of day-to-day business decisions.
• Excellent report writing skills, and the drive to ensure appropriate documents are in place to enable Pricing actuaries to meet internal requirements as well as meeting Professional standards.