Insurance Supervision, Scale D

The Insurance Supervision Directorate promotes the safety and soundness of over 500 insurers operating in the UK. This includes life insurers, general insurers, friendly societies, Lloyd’s and the London market. We help identify and mitigate potential risks before they can have an adverse effect on policyholders and financial stability. Protecting the UK’s insurance policyholders is a vital job – and you can help us do it.

Our supervisors come from a diverse range of backgrounds including the financial services industry, consulting and business advisory, accountancy, actuarial, compliance, non-financial industries, other parts of the PRA and the wider Bank.

We achieve our aims through intensive and intrusive supervision, where they seek to ensure firms have sustainable business models, sufficient capital to support their activities and to withstand unexpected shocks, that they are well managed, and have embedded effective corporate governance, systems and controls appropriate to the nature, scale and complexity of their business.

Major Life Groups Division supervises some of the largest UK based life insurance groups, mostly listed entities i.e. Aviva, M&G plc, Legal & General and Phoenix. These firms provide a diverse range of products including annuity business, life products and pensions.

Retail life Division supervises a diverse mix of life companies with a wide range of innovative business models including monoline annuity writers, mutuals, start up businesses and asset managers, ranging from Cat 1 to 4 in size.

London Markets Division supervises the Society of Lloyd’s, its managing agents and company market firms. The Division overs the whole of the world leading wholesale insurance market, whose participants have a global reach.

In line with the Bank/PRA strategic review priorities we have started the implementation of confident and consistent supervision. Additional senior leadership is now necessary across Insurance Directorate to drive through the delivery of horizontal supervision, working alongside supervisors and technical specialists.

In each role, the successful candidate will devote a substantial proportion of their time leading the delivery of cross firm supervision across the Division and Directorate as well as focusing on supervision of our most challenging firms. We are looking for individuals who bring deep technical expertise and ability to form robust supervisory judgements/ insights/ recommendations. The role holder will require credibility and confidence in interactions with the specialists and leaders at the firms supervised in the Divisions and as well as the ability to engage effectively with multiple internal stakeholders (IAD, Legal, Policy, Actuarial).

Reporting to the Head of Division, the role holder will form part of the Directorate’s leadership team and Divisional SMTs need to lead and shape the approach to supervision of firms on a cross firm basis, prioritising the areas of focus, agreeing priorities with Heads of Division.

The role holder would benefit from extensive supervisory experience, experience in related roles in the Bank (FMID, FSSR, Markets, Banking and Policy for example) or relevant experience from the insurance industry. The role holder will need a track record of delivery and proven strong technical competencies in at least some of the following areas:

• Life or general insurance industry and business model analysis;

• Insurance accounting and financial analysis;

• ALM and liquidity management;

• Illiquid assets;

• Capital management, internal model and other Solvency II approvals;

• Insurance, market, credit, liquidity, operational risk;

• Corporate governance, risk frameworks and controls.

The successful candidate will need to give thought leadership in deciding on the balance between risks needing a vertical and horizontal lens and consider and recommend issues that are more effectively tackled on a comparative / cross firm basis rather than in an idiosyncratic manner.

Scale D roles in Insurance carry significant responsibility. The candidate will contribute to the running of the Division and will often deputise for the Head of Division in Directorate-wide meetings.

In MLGD we are looking for a Senior Manager who will have people management responsibility and who will lead on the design and delivery of our cross firm supervision plans and risk assessments in our business plan. You will use your excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills to ensure that cross-firm work dovetails with vertical supervision activity. You will set clear goals and smart stretching objectives for those delivering cross-firm work and will take a lead in engaging all MLGD staff in cross firm work.

In RLD we are looking for a Senior Technical Specialist. You will provide thought leadership and deep technical expertise to the teams and can be expected to be called on to help with some of our trickiest supervision issues as they arise across the division. The role does not have direct line management responsibility, but as a leader within the division we would be looking to you to role model behaviours and mentor and support junior staff.

In LMD we are looking for a Senior Manager who will have people management responsibility and will lead the supervision of a team with a varied portfolio of often specialist firms. These range from Cat 2 Lloyd’s focussed businesses to unique institutions such as NHBC, Flood Re, Pool Re and the P&I Clubs. You will be responsible for devising and driving through supervisory strategies across this eclectic collection of firms, working to lead a team of 6 supervisors. You will also play a key role in the LMD senior leadership and be expected to contribute to projects and horizontal work outside of the core focus of the supervision team.

For all roles, you will report to the Head of Division for all aspects of horizontal and regular supervision.

To allow the broadest scope of candidates to apply, we are recruiting jointly for these roles, but please express a preference in your application.

• Problem-solving skills and ability to formulate proportionate supervisory responses

• Strong communication written and oral communication skills, including the ability to explain complex technical topics in a clear and accessible way.

• Personal impact and strong internal and external stakeholder management skills

• Ability to lead, handle and organise multiple projects/ work-streams within tight timelines.

• Strong personal impact and credibility

• The ability to act independently and effectively lead a programme of work, delivering through others, working flexibly with virtual teams and providing leadership and direction

• The ability to manage and motivate a team or project team, creating an inclusive environment and supporting our diversity goals

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to analyse complex issues, including financial information

• For roles in MLGD and RLD: Experience of prudential supervision as relevant to the Life sector, including capital and solvency requirements and their practical application, good grasp of the current external environment and developments from Solvency II Reform.

• For LMD role: Experience and understanding of the Non-Life sector, for instance in areas such as underwriting and pricing, and reinsurance.

• Possession of a professional qualification (e.g. actuarial, accountancy, CFA) may be helpful but is not essential for this role.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident scheme. You can find more information on what this means here. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

This specific role offers a base salary of £79,880 - £101,250 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• A 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice at Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.

The Application Process

Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.

The closing date for applications is 1 June 2023

The assessment process will comprise of two stages.