Location: 

Zurich, Zurich, CH

Senior Actuary (Hybrid; m/f/x/d; 80-100%)

Are you a qualified actuary ready to step into a role where technical excellence meets commercial strategy? Do you thrive at the intersection of pricing leadership, portfolio performance and senior stakeholder influence — in one of the world's most international reinsurance environments? If this sounds like you, Swiss Re wants to hear from you.

 

About the Role


As a Senior Actuary in the Continental Europe Market Unit, you will be at the heart of Swiss Re's Life & Health business — shaping strategy, driving portfolio performance and acting as a trusted actuarial voice across markets. This is a role that blends deep technical expertise with real commercial impact, offering you the opportunity to lead, influence and make a difference at scale.

 

Key Responsibilities:


•    Act as Chief Actuary for one or more Continental European markets, providing technical leadership and oversight of pricing decisions, referrals and key actuarial assumptions
•    Monitor portfolio performance continuously — identifying emerging opportunities and risks, and supporting the design and execution of value-enhancing management actions
•    Partner cross-functionally with Client Management, Underwriting, Valuation and Portfolio Management teams to identify and unlock opportunities to enhance portfolio value
•    Influence strategic decisions by acting as a trusted counterpart to Inforce Optimisation and Portfolio Management teams — bringing constructive challenge and sharp actuarial insight
•    Lead actuarial assessments supporting repricing initiatives, recaptures, in-force transactions and other high-impact strategic projects
•    Contribute to client discussions, transaction structuring and negotiations, bringing both actuarial rigour and commercial perspective to the table
•    Support governance processes through referral reviews and independent actuarial challenge, ensuring robust decision-making frameworks
•    Connect the dots across the actuarial control cycle — building an end-to-end understanding of the business and feeding consistent insights back to the relevant teams
•    Represent your markets and contribute to selected Continental Europe cross-functional initiatives, broadening your impact beyond your core portfolio
•    Coach and support less experienced actuaries, actively contributing to a culture of technical excellence and continuous development across the organisation

 

About the Team


You will join a vibrant and highly collaborative Continental Europe actuarial community, working closely with colleagues across Client Management, Underwriting, Valuation, Pricing and Portfolio Management. The team is deeply embedded in Swiss Re's Life & Health business and plays a pivotal role in shaping the strategic direction of one of the most diverse and dynamic reinsurance portfolios in the region.
This role offers broad exposure to strategic initiatives, senior stakeholders and a rich variety of Life & Health products and markets — making it an exceptional opportunity for an actuary who is ready to grow their leadership footprint in a truly international setting.

 

About You


We are looking for a commercially minded, technically strong actuary who brings both depth of expertise and the confidence to challenge and influence at the most senior levels. You are someone who can translate complex actuarial insights into clear business recommendations, build trusted relationships across functions, and lead initiatives independently in a fast-paced, international environment.

 

We are looking for candidates who meet these requirements:


•    Qualified actuary (SAV, DAV, FIA, FSA or equivalent) with significant actuarial experience in life insurance, health insurance or reinsurance
•    Strong technical grounding in pricing, valuation, portfolio management or related actuarial disciplines, with a demonstrated ability to assess portfolio performance and translate findings into actionable business recommendations
•    Proven stakeholder influence — a track record of constructively challenging and engaging senior stakeholders, driving outcomes across organisational boundaries
•    Commercial acumen — a solid understanding of reinsurance value drivers and the ability to bring commercial judgement to actuarial work
•    Excellent communication skills — the ability to present complex actuarial topics clearly and compellingly to both technical and non-technical audiences, combined with fluency in English

 

These are additional nice to haves:


•    Experience in portfolio management, in-force management or portfolio steering
•    Background in supporting client negotiations and transaction structuring
•    Proven leadership qualities including the ability to inspire, engage and empower a team with diverse professional backgrounds and experience, with a passion for developing others
•    Strong understanding of various valuation methods including IFRS17
•    Additional European language skills — particularly German, French, Italian or Spanish

 

Salary Information


For Switzerland, the base salary range for this position is between 132,000 CHF and 198,000 CHF 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 the situation where you do not meet all the requirements or you significantly exceed these, the offered salary may be below or above the advertised range. In addition to your base salary, you may be eligible for additional rewards and benefits including an attractive performance-based annual bonus.

 

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

 

#Li-Hybrid

 

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 15,000 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.

 

We may use AI-powered tools to support the review and evaluation of applications for this position. These tools provide additional insights to our recruitment teams, but all hiring decisions are carefully reviewed and made by people. To learn more about how we use AI in recruitment and how we handle your personal data, please review our Data Privacy Statement before applying.

 

Keywords:  
Reference Code: 138490 

 

 


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