AVP, Corporate Underwriting Risk & Governance

Sun Life · Toronto

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You are as unique as your background, experience and point of view. Here, you’ll be encouraged, empowered and challenged to be your best self. You'll work with dynamic colleagues - experts in their fields - who are eager to share their knowledge with you. Your leaders will inspire and help you reach your potential and soar to new heights. Every day, you'll have new and exciting opportunities to make life brighter for our Clients - who are at the heart of everything we do.

At Sun Life, we're driven by our Purpose: helping our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our values shape how we work: caring, authentic, bold, inspiring, and impactful.

When you join Sun Life, you'll work with passionate colleagues and empowering leaders who support your growth and celebrate your contributions, so you can make a meaningful difference in our Clients' lives.

Discover how you can make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world.

Job Description:

About the Role

The Corporate AVP, Underwriting Risk & Governance is accountable for maintaining the organization's underwriting philosophy, risk appetite, technical standards, and governance framework across all life and health insurance businesses. The role serves as a corporate risk subject matter expert on mortality, morbidity, product, underwriting, and fraud risks, providing underwriting risk management guidance to business units globally, with particular emphasis on emerging risks, high-net-worth markets, and the impact of underwriting and product design decisions on long-term business performance.

The incumbent will lead the evaluation and approval of underwriting and product-related risk initiatives, assess the mortality and morbidity implications of underwriting requirement changes, product innovations, and distribution strategies, and ensure alignment with corporate risk management objectives, with primary focus on our Asia business units and Private Wealth business. The role provides technical leadership to underwriters and input to actuarial, product development, and risk management teams on underwriting-specific risk while championing sound underwriting practices, risk governance, and sustainable growth.

Operating in a highly collaborative, consultative, and project-oriented environment, the Corporate AVP, Underwriting Risk & Governance will lead complex initiatives across the Asia business units and jurisdictions, influence business unit underwriting leadership and risk management decision-making, and represent the organization on underwriting and insurance industry matters under the direction of the Corporate Chief Underwriter.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Underwriting Governance

• Support and champion corporate underwriting philosophy, risk appetite, and underwriting governance standards.

• Provide enterprise oversight of underwriting practices across life, health, critical illness, disability, and medical reimbursement products.

• Evaluate proposed changes to underwriting requirements, underwriting evidence, accelerated underwriting programs, automation initiatives, and digital underwriting solutions.

• Assess and communicate the mortality and morbidity implications associated with underwriting and product design changes.

Mortality and Morbidity Risk Management

• Evaluate mortality and morbidity risks associated with existing and proposed products, underwriting methodologies, and distribution strategies.

• Assess the impact of product features, underwriting evidence requirements, and benefit structures on expected mortality and morbidity outcomes.

• Partner with actuarial, product, and risk management teams to monitor emerging experience trends and recommend mitigation strategies.

• Provide technical leadership on mortality and morbidity risk management across multiple markets.

Product and Anti-Selection Risk Assessment

• Assess product design features for anti-selection, fraud, claims, and sustainability risks.

• Identify underwriting controls, medical requirements, and risk management measures necessary to mitigate adverse selection and fraud exposure.

• Provide risk guidance during new product development and product enhancement activities.

• Evaluate the potential impact of product design changes on underwriting outcomes and claims experience.

Fraud Risk Oversight

• Identify emerging fraud risks and vulnerabilities within underwriting and product frameworks.

• Recommend underwriting, medical, and operational controls designed to mitigate fraud exposure.

• Partner with claims, investigations, and risk management teams to identify trends and strengthen preventive measures.

High-Net-Worth and Complex Risk Expertise

• Provide technical leadership on high-net-worth and Private Wealth underwriting practices, particularly within Asian markets.

• Evaluate large face amount and complex financial underwriting cases.

• Monitor market developments and emerging risk trends impacting high-net-worth and Private Wealth business.

• Support business units in developing prudent underwriting strategies for complex and high-exposure risks.

Retention and Reinsurance Management

• Provide leadership and guidance regarding retention management practices.

• Evaluate retention limits, concentration risk, and reinsurance effectiveness.

• Partner with reinsurance stakeholders as permitted to ensure alignment between underwriting strategies and risk transfer objectives.

Strategic Leadership

• Lead complex cross-functional underwriting initiatives involving multiple business units, jurisdictions, and product lines.

• Influence senior leaders and business partners on underwriting, mortality, morbidity, and product risk matters.

• Provide strategic recommendations balancing growth opportunities with responsible risk management.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to the Corporate Chief Underwriter on emerging underwriting and insurance risks.

Technical Thought Leadership

• Research emerging medical, underwriting, product, and industry developments.

• Participate in the development and maintenance of underwriting manuals, medical guidelines, and risk assessment standards.

• Translate emerging medical evidence and industry research into practical underwriting guidance.

• Represent the organization externally through industry associations, conferences, forums, and professional organizations.

What you'll need to succeed

• Minimum 15 years of progressive life and health underwriting experience.

• Minimum 5 years holding an individual underwriting approval authority of at least $30 million (preferred).

• Significant experience assessing complex mortality and morbidity risks.

• Experience underwriting high-net-worth and large face amount business, including exposure to Asian insurance markets.

• Demonstrated experience evaluating underwriting implications of life, health, disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and medical reimbursement products.

• Proven experience leading complex underwriting, governance, or risk initiatives across multiple business units or jurisdictions.

• Experience working with reinsurance and retention management frameworks.

• Experience developing underwriting philosophy, guidelines, manuals, and risk governance standards.

• Proven ability to influence business risk management and underwriting leaders.

• Strong strategic thinking and risk assessment capabilities.

• Exceptional communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

• Ability to work independently with minimal direction while managing multiple concurrent priorities.

• Strong collaboration skills with the ability to drive alignment across diverse stakeholders.

• Comfortable operating in a dynamic environment focused on governance, consultation, project leadership, innovation, and enterprise risk oversight rather than production underwriting activities.

Preferred Designations

• FALU

• FLMI

• Additional designations in risk management, supplemental health, or related disciplines.

What's in it for you

• Being a member of the Sun Life family, a group of people united by our Purpose: to help Clients and Employees achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives.

• In 2024, Sun Life ranked among the top 100 most sustainable global corporations by Corporate Knights for the 15th consecutive year, leading Canadian insurers. 

• We are proud to be on the 2024 Best Workplaces in Canada list by Great Place to Work. 

• We’re also listed as one of the Best Workplaces for Women and Best Workplaces with Most Trusted Executive Teams.

• Our unique Sabbatical Program gives you the opportunity to take up to 6 weeks off, every five years.

• Care Days available for self-care or care of others (i.e., family or others you may support) and Sick Days to support your well-being.

The Base Pay range is for the primary location for which the job is posted. It may vary depending on the work location of the successful candidate or other factors. In addition to Base Pay, eligible Sun Life employees participate in various incentive plans, payment under which is discretionary and subject to individual and company performance. Certain sales focused roles have sales incentive plans based on individual or group sales results.

Diversity and inclusion have always been at the core of our values at Sun Life. A diverse workforce with wide perspectives and creative ideas benefits our Clients, the communities where we operate and all of us as colleagues. We welcome applications from qualified individuals from all backgrounds.

Persons with disabilities who need accommodation in the application process, or those needing job postings in an alternative format, may e-mail a request to thebrightside@sunlife.com.

We are proud to be a hybrid organization that offers our employees the choice and flexibility to work from both the office and virtually based on the needs of the business, our Clients and you.

We may use artificial intelligence to support candidate sourcing, screening, interview scheduling.

We thank all applicants for showing an interest in this position. Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

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