The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.
The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

The Insurance Supervision Directorate promotes the safety and soundness of over 500 insurers operating in the UK. This includes general insurers, life insurers, friendly societies and the London market. We help identify and mitigate potential risks before they can have an adverse effect on policyholders and financial stability.
We face a complex and challenging task, one that presents numerous opportunities to put your skills and experience to deliver real and lasting benefits to policyholders and society.

We continue to build an inclusive culture where everyone can be their whole selves and produce their best work. Our focus on inclusion is intended to build greater diversity in order to reflect the society we serve and be an employer of choice.

Department Overview

The General Insurance Risk Specialists (GIRS) department’s principal function is to provide broad and deep understanding of the prudential risks posed to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) by general insurers and reinsurers. Our principal aim is to help ensure that general insurance firms and groups are adequately controlled and capitalised. The department is comprised of approximately 35 specialists, with broad and deep technical knowledge of the General Insurance industry including actuaries, a chartered accountant, reinsurance, catastrophe risk and climate change specialists. Our work covers a wide range of technical areas including (but not limited to) reserving, capital, underwriting and pricing, stress testing, reinsurance, catastrophe risks and climate change, as well as thought leadership on current market issues and emerging issues.

Job Description

This role requires a combination of technical skills, people management and responsibility for elements of Departmental strategy. It requires strong stakeholder management, working closely with both Supervision and Policy colleagues, engaging with other areas of the Bank where appropriate, in the assessment of the risks that firms and their operation within the market present to our statutory objectives. The specialised knowledge and management skills of an Actuarial or Risk Specialist Manager is critical in arriving at suitable regulatory responses, whether that be technical review, through the management and development of junior staff or working closely with Senior Managers to ensure the smooth running of the Department.

The decisions made on the basis of the jobholder’s recommendations directly affect the risk specialist teams, supervision, regulation and ultimate fortunes of the insurance firms that the PRA regulates.

Role Requirements

Essential Criteria

• Strong commercial awareness with knowledge and skills commensurate with that of an actuary/risk professional with 5-10 years’ post qualification experience.
• Strong actuarial / technical competence in an insurance discipline, such as risk management, underwriting, capital modelling, reserving, reinsurance or exposure management.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Strong relationship and stakeholder management ability, including interaction with Senior stakeholders
• Experience of people management and the development of junior staff.
• Effective working autonomously and as part of cross-functional teams.
• Able to effectively multi-task across projects.
• Able to explain complex technical issues in a simple and accessible manner, using a combination of written, spoken and numerically-based communication approaches.
• A desire for ongoing self-development, across both technical and non-technical skills
• Dedication to contributing to an inclusive working environment.

Desirable Criteria

• Understanding of the relevant regulatory frameworks and supervisory approach including Solvency II. 
• Experience of leading a large project and delegating tasks for team members who may not be direct reports.
• Experience of leading strategic projects.
• Professional qualification (such as the Fellowship of the Institute & Faculty of Actuaries or by the Chartered Institute of Insurance) desirable but not prohibitive if sufficient experience and depth of knowledge can be demonstrated.

The Bank values diversity and inclusion – we want to reflect the society we serve better, we want the best people to work for us and we want our workplace to be inclusive.  We value all forms of diversity, including but not limited to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation.  One way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks, which are summarised .

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment, and are open to considering how the role might be carried out with flexible working.  This role is therefore open to flexible working patterns.

Where a role can be carried out from home, we are working towards colleagues spending at least half of their time in the office, so that we can all benefit from working together in person, while maintaining the flexibility offered by home working. From 6 June 2022, we expect colleagues to spend a minimum of 40% of their working time in the office per month.  Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them and their team.

We are also committed to making adjustments for candidates and employees where possible, and have partnered with external expert organisations to support us in this.  We are a member of the Disability Confident scheme, summarised here, and people who wish to apply under this scheme should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

We anonymise applications so hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information when reviewing your submission, including your CV. Please fully complete the application form questions as requested, as any incomplete submissions may not be reviewed.

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.  

This specific role offers a base salary of circa Â£61,100 - £94,000 per annum, along with our comprehensive benefits package as follows:

•    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 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
•    25 days annual leave with option to buy up to 13 additional days through flexible benefits.
•    Private medical insurance and income protection.