Senior Risk Manager, Financial and Proposition Risk

At M&G, our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. With a heritage dating back more than 175 years, we have a long history of innovation in savings and investments, combining asset management and insurance expertise to offer a wide range of solutions.

Our two distinct operating segments, Asset Management and Life, work together to provide access to balanced, long-term investment and savings solutions.

Through telling it like it is, owning it now and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and offer workplace adjustments to ensure you have the support you need to succeed in your role.

M&G plc, as a major UK listed financial services provider, is expected and required to maintain a Risk Management and Compliance framework that meets regulatory standards. The Financial & Proposition team is responsible for second line oversight, review and challenge across product, proposition, insurance, ALM and connected financial risk matters.

This role is intended to combine deep technical expertise with practical judgement, supporting high quality governance decisions, robust control outcomes and good customer outcomes across existing products, new propositions and material product changes.

Purpose statements

- To advise on the identification, assessment and management of proposition, product, insurance and connected financial risks, helping the business to make well evidenced decisions that remain within risk appetite and support good customer outcomes.
- To lead second line oversight and challenge of new product developments, material product changes, pricing and repricing proposals, product lifecycle reviews and proposition governance papers, including the quality of rationale, controls, customer outcome assessment and risk acceptance.
- To operate effective oversight of insurance risks including longevity, persistency, expense and underwriting or margin pricing risks, ensuring that risk exposures, trends, management information and escalations are appropriately understood and challenged.
- To advise on ALM and product related financial risk matters, including the interaction between product design, liability profile, investment strategy, hedging, reinsurance, matching adjustment considerations, smoothing, guarantees and with-profits or shareholder risk sharing.
- To lead or support thematic reviews, deep dives and assurance activity across product and insurance risk topics, translating findings into proportionate recommendations and clear actions for senior stakeholders and governance committees.
- To operate strong stakeholder engagement with first line, actuarial, finance, investment, legal, compliance and risk colleagues, providing constructive challenge while supporting timely, pragmatic and customer focused outcomes.
- To advise on relevant policy, framework, limit and governance developments, including interpretation of regulatory change and industry practice where these affect product, proposition, insurance, ALM or financial risk oversight.

Key accountabilities

- Review proposition, product development, repricing, product feature change and lifecycle governance materials, assessing whether key risks, assumptions, dependencies, customer outcomes and mitigations are clearly articulated.
- Challenge the impact of investment strategy, strategic asset allocation, hedging and risk mitigation proposals on product economics, ALM positions, policyholder outcomes and fund or shareholder exposures.
- Support oversight of reinsurance, risk sharing and de-risking arrangements, including longevity reinsurance, annuity transfers, inter-fund arrangements and related collateral, liquidity, counterparty and operational considerations.
- Monitor relevant market, economic, regulatory and business developments and assess their impact on products, propositions, ALM positions, insurance risk exposures and risk appetite.
- Contribute to reporting, committee papers and second line opinions, ensuring the conclusions are balanced, evidence based, clearly written and suitable for senior governance audiences.
- Promote a strong risk culture through clear communication, constructive challenge, coaching and practical support to colleagues.

Knowledge statements

- Expert or strong detailed technical knowledge of UK life insurance, pensions, savings and retirement products, including with-profits, annuities, bulk purchase annuities, PruFund style propositions, unit-linked business and related customer outcome considerations.
- Detailed knowledge of the UK financial services regulatory environment, including prudential and conduct considerations relevant to product governance, proposition development, pricing, insurance risk, ALM and risk management frameworks.
- Detailed working knowledge of Solvency UK implications for insurance product development, capital, technical provisions, matching adjustment, risk mitigation, hedging, reinsurance and with-profits or shareholder fund interactions.
- Strong knowledge of insurance and market risks, including pricing, reserving, modelling, assumptions, stress and scenario testing, longevity, mortality, morbidity, persistency, expense, interest rate, credit and liquidity risk interactions.
- Working or detailed knowledge of strategic asset allocation, hedging techniques, ALM principles, reinsurance structures, collateral management and risk appetite or limit frameworks.
- Awareness of external market, competitor, regulatory and industry developments, with the ability to identify implications for product strategy, governance, policies and controls.
- Good understanding of governance, committee processes and how to provide effective second line review, challenge and opinion in a senior stakeholder environment.

Experience Statements

- Significant experience in a life insurance, pensions, actuarial, product, financial risk, proposition risk, investment risk or related second line risk role.
- Experience reviewing product developments, proposition changes, repricing proposals, product lifecycle reviews, risk sharing structures, reinsurance arrangements or investment and ALM proposals from a financial and customer outcome perspective.
- Experience analysing complex technical, regulatory or commercial issues and converting them into clear, practical recommendations for senior management or governance committees.
- Experience engaging with actuarial, finance, investment, product, legal, compliance and operational teams, including challenging senior stakeholders constructively and proportionately.
- Experience interpreting risk appetite, limits, policies, management information, stress results and business plan impacts to form a balanced second line view.
- Experience preparing concise, evidence based written reviews, risk opinions, committee comments or assurance outputs for senior audiences.
- Experience of all or some of the following: actuarial modelling, capital, reserving, product pricing, ALM or investment risk.

Personal attributes and skills

- Strong analytical mindset, with the ability to look beyond face value, ask the right questions and connect product, financial, regulatory, operational and customer outcome considerations.
- Confident communicator who can explain complex issues clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
- Able to influence and challenge senior stakeholders while maintaining constructive working relationships.
- Pragmatic, proportionate and outcome focused, with sound judgement on materiality and prioritisation.
- Persistent and resilient in the face of challenge, ambiguity or time pressure.
- Able to operate independently as a subject matter expert while contributing actively to wider team priorities.
- Strong written skills, with an ability to produce clear, senior audience ready risk opinions and governance commentary.
- A promoter of risk awareness, good governance, strong controls and good customer outcomes across the organisation.

Qualifications

- Relevant professional qualification or equivalent experience, for example actuarial, risk, investment or related qualification.

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Role level: Manager/Expert

Recruiter : Helen Simons

What we offer:

We’re dedicated to supporting your wellbeing and helping you thrive, both at work and beyond. Our benefits are designed to help you balance your professional and personal life , and financially plan for the future. Our UK benefits include :

- A valuable pension scheme of up to 18% (13% made up of employer contributions and 5% employee contributions).
- Access to our Share Save and Share Incentive Plan, alongside financial wellbeing and support services to help give you real confidence to put your money to work.
- Enjoy 38 days annual leave (including bank holidays), with the opportunity to purchase up to five extra days. Our Time Off When You Need It policy gives you the flexibility - to balance work and personal commitments.
- Our market-leading Inspiring Families policy includes comprehensive support and paid parental leave covering maternity, adoption, surrogacy, and paternity leave - because supporting families is an important part of our inclusive culture.
- Health & Protection cover includes Private Healthcare, Critical Illness cover and Life Assurance for you, with additional family options - for peace of mind.

To explore more about life at M&G and our full benefits offering, visit Life at M&G

At M&G we strive to have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture, underpinned by our policies and employee-led networks that offer networking, support and development opportunities for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds – across gender, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation and more – including neurodivergent individuals, career returners and those with military service experience.

M&G is proud to be Level 3: Disability Confident Leader under the UK Government Disability Confident employer scheme, and we welcome applications from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions. If you would like to participate in the initiative, you will have the opportunity to indicate this on your application.

We are committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process. All candidates have the opportunity to request reasonable adjustments when applying. If you need any additional support at any stage, please contact us at: [email protected]