Vice President, Protection and Medical Products

About FWD Group

FWD Group (1828.HK) is a pan-Asian life and health insurance business that serves approximately 40 million customers across 10 markets, including BRI Life in Indonesia. FWD’s customer-led and tech-enabled approach aims to deliver innovative propositions, easy-to-understand products and a simpler insurance experience. Established in 2013, the company operates in some of the fastest-growing insurance markets in the world with a vision of changing the way people feel about insurance. FWD Group is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the stock code 1828.

For more information, please visit www.fwd.com

PURPOSE

This role is responsible for leading the Group Centre of Excellence (COE) for Protection and Medical products, setting the strategic direction, technical standards and go-to-market playbooks to ensure sustainable, customer-centric and commercially viable product portfolios across markets.

The role champions best-in-class product design, underwriting, claims and healthcare solutioning, ensuring alignment between customer value, risk management, profitability and regulatory requirements across diverse markets.

It plays a critical leadership role in:

• Driving consistent product standards and playbooks across markets
• Supporting BUs in complex product design and risk trade-offs
• Acting as a key adviser and reviewer for product matters exceeding authority or deviating from guidelines
• Ensuring long-term portfolio sustainability amidst medical inflation and protection risk dynamics

A holistic coverage across all Protection and Medical product categories (Life, Critical Illness, Accident, Disability and Indemnity, Hospitalization and Surgical plans under reimbursement or managed care models) to provide customer-led and cohesive solutions to markets.

• Customer: It provides relevant & unique solutions to address customers’ needs
• Consistency: It aligns what we offer with what we promise, both from a vision and brand promise
• Collaboration: It enhances our efficiency to bring new innovative products to markets through collaborative partnership with the relevant stakeholders from the countries and the Group Office.

KEY ACCOUNTAIBILITIES

Lead the Protection & Medical COE across markets

• Set the strategic direction and standards for Protection and Medical propositions across all markets
• Develop and continuously refine Group playbooks covering product design, underwriting, claims, pricing considerations and operational readiness
• Ensure consistency of approach across markets while allowing for local regulatory and healthcare system nuances

Drive product design excellence and portfolio sustainability

• Provide deep technical expertise on product structuring, claims management, underwriting frameworks and healthcare ecosystem design
• Guide BUs in optimising product design to balance customer value, experience, risk and profitability
• Lead initiatives to mitigate risks from medical inflation, claims deterioration, fraud/waste/abuse and regulatory changes
• Drive portfolio-level thinking, ensuring sustainable product mix and long-term value creation

Act as the senior advisory and escalation authority

• Review and provide guidance on products exceeding Delegation of Authority (DA) or where there are deviations from Group guidelines
• Shape design, pricing, underwriting and claims considerations for complex or high-impact products
• Provide risk-informed recommendations balancing innovation with financial and operational risks

Lead cross-functional solutioning and capability uplift

• Lead cross-functional teams (Actuarial, Underwriting, Claims, Distribution, Risk) to resolve complex product challenges
• Close BU capability gaps through hands-on support, frameworks and structured guidance
• Drive knowledge sharing and capability building across markets

Drive governance, standards and best practices

• Embed governance frameworks and product standards aligned with Group policies and risk appetite
• Support product approval processes and risk assessments where required
• Promote disciplined product development and lifecycle management practices

Represent Group Proposition in strategic forums

• Represent Group Proposition in senior management forums, product committees and regional initiatives
• Act as a trusted advisor to BU CEOs, CPOs, CAs and CROs on Protection & Medical products
• Support Group-level strategic initiatives, partnerships and M&A assessments where relevant

QUALIFICATIONS / EXPERIENCE

• 18+ years of experience in Protection and/or Medical product development, pricing or portfolio management
• Strong understanding in claims, underwriting and healthcare cost management
• Proven experience working across multiple markets in Asia
• Experience in Group-level roles or cross-market leadership
• Actuarial or equivalent technical background preferred

KNOWLEDGE & TECHNICAL SKILLS

• Strong business acumen and analytical skills, excellent communication skills
• Ability to demonstrate the creativity and disruption in creating strong & unique product propositions based on customer insights
• Ability to manage multi-tasking
• Highly Resourceful
• Excellent people & leadership skills to provide effective products and sales & distribution marketing partnership
• Ability to work with a highly entrepreneurial and rapidly growing business for multi-channel distribution
• High level of organizational skills and ability to balance multiple priorities and conflicting deadlines
• Willingness to travel to support country initiatives whenever needed
• Value-added technical and financial acumen skills
• Knowledgeable with Risk Management framework