Job Description

About the Role

As Director, Underwriting Portfolio Management, you will be accountable for delivering the underwriting portfolio plan, the underwriting contribution to Group capital allocation, capacity recommendations and steering actions that improve the risk-adjusted performance and resilience of the underwriting portfolio.

This is a hands-on analytical leadership role, working directly with underwriting data in Palantir and other analytical platforms to investigate portfolio questions, test hypotheses, form conclusions and translate those conclusions into recommendations and implemented management actions.

You will own the quality of the portfolio conclusions and track whether the resulting actions deliver the intended impact. The role is not limited to running planning processes, preparing governance materials or commissioning analysis from others.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and deliver the underwriting portfolio plan, including TLP / Group Capital Allocation Strategy, translating Group objectives, risk appetite, financial ambition and market conditions into explicit portfolio choices.
• Assess portfolio economics, risk, return, diversification and capital consumption to produce clear capacity, allocation and steering recommendations.
• Work directly with Palantir and other analytical platforms to test hypotheses, interpret underwriting performance and exposure data, and form robust portfolio conclusions.
• Identify material risks, concentrations, dependencies and opportunities early enough to drive meaningful management action.
• Translate analysis into specific steering actions, support governance decisions, track implementation and adjust where outcomes are not being achieved.
• Partner with portfolio engineering, data and analytics colleagues to improve tools, workflows and decision-support capabilities.
• Communicate clear recommendations to underwriting, finance, risk, capital management and senior leadership, while developing team capability across portfolio management, commercial judgement and analytics.

About the Team

• The Portfolio Strategy & Steering team combines underwriting portfolio management, engineering, data and advanced analytics.
• It operates as one integrated team, with two Directors leading specialist teams, allocating resources to shared priorities and jointly accountable for quality and impact.

About You

You are a senior professional who combines deep expertise in underwriting, its economics and portfolio management with strong commercial judgement and analytical capability.

You are comfortable leading specialists and working directly with granular portfolio data. You move fluently between detailed analysis and senior-level recommendations, challenge assumptions and translate strategic objectives into measurable portfolio choices and implemented management actions.

You bring strong leadership presence, the ability to synthesise complex information into clear conclusions and the credibility to influence senior stakeholders across underwriting, finance, risk and capital management.

We are looking for candidates who meet these requirements:

• Proven experience analysing and managing complex underwriting portfolios, with the ability to translate evidence into explicit portfolio choices, capacity recommendations, steering actions and measurable performance improvement.
• Deep expertise in capital-allocation processes, capacity-setting frameworks and the analysis of risk, return, diversification and capital consumption, with the ability to develop and challenge senior-level allocation recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to interrogate large and complex datasets, test hypotheses and produce decision-ready insight using Palantir or comparable modern data and analytical platforms.
• Strong understanding of underwriting economics, market dynamics and portfolio management within reinsurance or commercial insurance.
• Proven ability to present complex analytical conclusions clearly and concisely and to influence senior stakeholders across underwriting, finance, risk and capital management.

For Zurich, the base salary range for this position is between CHF 180,000 and CHF 270,000 for a full-time role.

The specific salary offered considers the scope, complexity and responsibilities of the role, as well as the applicant’s education, qualifications, expertise, skills and experience.

Please Note We are open to making this hire across any Swiss Re office within Europe and North America.

Salary ranges will vary between location in line with local market benchmarking, which will be shared during the screening/ interview process.

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