Lead Underwriting Data

About the Role

 

This is a strategic leadership role that will directly manage a growing, mid-to-large team, responsible for transforming Swiss Re’s Underwriting data ecosystem into a scalable, trusted foundation for insight, automation, and artificial intelligence. You will lead the architectural design and delivery of the Underwriting data service layer—making data accessible, complete, governed, and fit for purpose.

In close collaboration with Corporate Technology, Architecture, and Data Governance teams you will drive the unificaton and interoperability of our systems, the data curation and collection efforts, the development of reusable infrastructure and intuitive data products that enable smarter decisions across Underwriting, pricing, portfolio steering, and portfolio management.

The ideal candidate will bring an entrepreneurial mindset—curious and bold in challenging the status quo. You’ll balance vision with hands-on leadership, champion data as a product, and turn infrastructure into competitive advantage. Your work will not only power today’s Underwriting—it will lay the data foundation that enables tomorrow’s.

 

Mandate

Build and operationalize an industry leading data foundation for Underwriting—aligned with enterprise strategy, designed for global scale, and built to enable scalable AI.

 

 Key Focus Areas

• System Interoperability: Collaborate with technology teams to align systems around shared data architecture and consistent design patterns.
• Data as a Product: Deliver reusable, intuitive, and governed data assets—enriched with underwriting logic and owned throughout their lifecycle.
• AI-Ready Infrastructure: Create infrastructure that supports scalable, explainable AI and decision augmentation.
• Data Enrichment: Drive the integration of the vast landscape of external, unstructured, and third-party data to deliver insights that drive Underwriting excellence and market positioning.

 

Powering Innovation with Data

• Accelerate the adoption of the Analytical Data Model (ADM) through automation, alignment, and standardization.
• Partner with Governance to embed transparency, compliance, and traceability in our data products.
• Use NLP, LLMs, and intelligent automation to enhance ingestion, mapping, and validation.
• Challenge legacy assumptions and create a modern, complete data layer that differentiates Swiss Re in the market.

 

Primary Responsibilities

 

A. Service Layer Architecture & System Integration

• Own the design and evolution of the service layer architecture connecting Underwriting systems to analytics, models, and decision tools.

• Ensure enterprise alignment by working closely with Corporate Technology and Architecture on shared infrastructure and principles.

• Standardize our data around, the physical ontology of our business – the insurance life cycle.

• Incorporate external/unstructured data and enable fluid integration with downstream tools.

• Ensure complete and proactive landing of all system generated data.

 

 B. Data Productization & ADM Adoption

• Lead the transformation of raw outputs into high-quality, version-controlled, and discoverable data products.

• Drive ADM adoption in collaboration with architects, platform teams, and data governance stakeholders.

• Automate mapping, validation, and product publishing using ML and GenAI tooling.

• Ensure data products are actionable, enriched with underwriting semantics, and designed for usability across the Underwriting community.

 

C. Infrastructure for AI and Real-Time Applications

• Build modern infrastructure capable of supporting streaming, real-time scoring, and adaptive models.

• Implement vector stores, feature pipelines, and intelligent enrichment layers in collaboration with AI product teams.

• Enforce security, observability, and explainability by design.

• Ensure every system and product is ready for AI—and every decision traceable. D. Leadership, Trust & Execution

• Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of engineers, architects, and AI specialists.

• Foster deep alignment across business, tech, and governance—building trust and shared ownership of transformation.

• Deliver with speed and rigor—championing a culture of excellence, accountability, and continuous innovation.

• Communicate strategy, progress, and risks clearly — translating between technical teams, executive stakeholders, and the broader enterprise 

 

About the Team

 

You will join the Global Underwriting Data & Analytics team – a talented, curious and collegial cohort committed to solving the biggest challenges facing the industry today. The team brings a deep understanding of the Underwriting problem statement and the technical purview necessary to solve it.

 

 

About You

 

Understand data as a representation of reality—and the completeness, usability, and trustworthiness of that data defines how we compete. You’re not afraid to challenge old assumptions or ask better questions. You bring deep technical credibility, commercial awareness, and a strong sense of ownership. You think in terms of the physical ontology we exist within, you design for scale, and you lead with purpose.

 

Qualifications and Experience Required
• Master’s degree or higher in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related technical field.
• 5+ years in Underwriting, Actuarial, or Product roles with data exposure.
• 10+ years in data engineering, platform architecture, or enterprise systems leadership.
• Experience leading high-performing technical teams (5+ direct reports).
• Proven success delivering enterprise-scale infrastructure and data products in alignment with strategic goals.
• Expertise in Python, SQL, Spark, Java; familiarity with orchestration tools (Airflow, dbt) and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Snowflake, Palantir).
• Experience collaborating with enterprise architecture and governance to drive data compliance and standardization.
• Understanding of GenAI, NLP, and AI/ML pipeline readiness.
• Excellent communication skills and senior stakeholder engagement experience.
• Bias toward action, an entrepreneurial mindset, and a commitment to team development.

 

About Swiss Re

 

Swiss Re is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. We anticipate and manage a wide variety of risks, from natural catastrophes and climate change to cybercrime. We cover both Property & Casualty and Life & Health. Combining experience with creative thinking and cutting-edge expertise, we create new opportunities and solutions for our clients. This is possible thanks to the collaboration of more than 14,000 employees across the world.

Our success depends on our ability to build an inclusive culture encouraging fresh perspectives and innovative thinking. We embrace a workplace where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive and develop professionally regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, skillset, thought or other characteristics. In our inclusive and flexible environment everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and their passion for sustainability.

If you are an experienced professional returning to the workforce after a career break, we encourage you to apply for open positions that match your skills and experience.

 

 

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Reference Code: 134417