Senior Financial Accountant

About the Role

Do you want to be part of an international company that is making a difference in the world? Are you an accounting professional with experience working in the P&C reinsurance field?

The successful candidate in this role will assume responsibility for the end-to-end Financial Accounting & Reporting and capital management processes for the P&C Canadian Branch, collaborating with Finance and Actuarial teams in Toronto, Zurich, Bratislava and India. You will report directly to the Head of Reporting for P&C, and will have direct interaction with the Canadian CFO, as well as with other business leads. Your duties will be performed in compliance with Local / Group requirements and the internal control framework.

You will be accountable for producing accurate and timely technical and non-technical balances for regulatory reporting, including both inbound and ceded business. You will also be reviewing and analyzing actual results compared with expectations and prior periods. The role is expected to work closely with other functions (P&C Actuarial Management, Claims, Underwriting, Operations) and will also be involved in recurring and ad hoc capital planning, including updating of capital forecasts on a quarterly basis for the Branch. There will be opportunities to contribute to key projects within the Reinsurance environment, including migrations from legacy information systems to new platforms, new transactions, and new or amended retrocession arrangements.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Developing and maintaining financial analysis and reporting processes and tools, including gross inward business and any related intercompany reinsurance.
• Analyzing and providing explanations for the Branch's financial results for Canadian statutory/IFRS and Swiss statutory bases, including investigation of unusual variances and obtaining appropriate analytical support.
• Performing automation and streamlining of processes to improve efficiency and documentation quality. You will need to be creative, decisive and challenge processes, procedures, and controls to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Finance team.
• Ownership of internal and regulatory capital submissions; quarterly or annual filings with regulators (e.g. OSFI) and other external partners such as industry associations.
• Ensuring that all reporting requirements are met in accordance with evolving Group and regulatory requirements.
• Working with other functions as well as with Finance colleagues in Canada, Zurich, Bratislava, and India to resolve accounting and administration issues.
• Reviewing the technical (cashflows/IFRS17 financials) and non-technical (investment/expenses/cash) reconciliations/analysis performed by Central teams.
• Perform & document internal control processes, respond to internal and external audit inquiries.

About the Team

The Finance Reinsurance team, within the overall Canadian Finance team, are responsible for the accounting and reporting of Property and Casualty (P&C) reinsurance technical balances (premiums, claims, commissions, reserves, together with intra-group reinsurance – "IGR" - thereon), and non-technical balances (e.g., investments, general expenses) for Swiss Reinsurance Corporation, P&C Canadian Branch (the "Branch"). The team works with various business partners in support of relevant transactions.   You will be joining a diverse and inclusive team of finance professionals that come from a variety of backgrounds and experience within the industry.  The team works well in a collaborative environment while fostering and developing independent thought.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in an Accounting/Finance related discipline; or 3-5 years related experience, in a reinsurance/ insurance environment (preferable) or other complex industry.
• CPA, or equivalent (current or in the near future)
• Strong learning skills, detail oriented, analytical skills, and decision-making skills.
• Knowledge of insurance products, preferably in the Property & casualty reinsurance space. Exposure to capital reporting, as well as knowledge of reinsurance contracts is an asset.
• Strong technical computer skills, including Word, Excel (Pivot Tables, knowledge of INDEX/MATCH/XLOOKUP and SUMIFS formulas is an asset), PowerPoint, and business objects.
• Proven organizational and time management skills; ability to handle multiple priorities.
• Proven interpersonal skills, including working internally across departments.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.

The base salary hiring range for this existing position located in Toronto is CAD $90,000 to $105,000. The specific base salary offered for this or any given role will take into account a number of factors including but not limited to job location, scope of role, qualifications, complexity/specialization/scarcity of talent, experience, education, and employer budget.  At Swiss Re, we take a "total compensation approach" when making compensation decisions. This means that we consider all components of compensation in their totality (such as base pay, short-and long-term incentives, and benefits offered), in setting individual compensation.range

Please note that an artificial intelligence (AI) tool may be used in the screening and assessment of applicants for this position.