Oliver Wyman Actuarial – Life Insurance Principal

Marsh McLennan•New York, NY

9d•$185,000 - $270,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Oliver Wyman's Actuarial Consulting Practice is seeking a senior actuary to join its litigation and advisory practice as an Expert Witness Actuary. This role supports insurance and reinsurance disputes by producing independent, defensible actuarial opinions, preparing expert reports, and providing testimony. The position requires deep technical expertise in liability valuation, reserving, pricing, and complex product design, along with strong model governance skills and the ability to work under tight deadlines with outside counsel. The US Life Actuarial Practice utilizes advanced actuarial and modeling techniques to manage insurance risks for organizations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Finance, or a related quantitative field.
ASA or FSA (or equivalent) required.
Minimum 10+ years of actuarial experience in life insurance, annuities, or reinsurance with strong background in liability valuation, reserving, and pricing.
Proficiency in reserving, valuation frameworks (statutory, GAAP/IFRS), experience studies, and stochastic modeling.
Strong model development, validation, and documentation skills.
Ability to produce reproducible analyses and maintain full audit trails suitable for legal scrutiny.
Experience preparing expert reports and working with outside counsel; prior deposition/testimony experience highly desirable.
Comfort translating complex technical material into clear, defensible findings for legal audiences.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to present to non-technical audiences (judges, juries, executives).
Track record of mentoring staff, leading technical teams, and delivering high-quality work under tight deadlines.
Demonstrated independence, integrity, and adherence to actuarial standards of practice and ethical guidelines required for expert testimony.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in senior in-house actuarial roles (e.g., Chief Actuary, SVP) and/or consulting preferred.
Demonstrated experience with variable annuities, equity guarantees, or other complex life/annuity products is highly desirable.
Familiarity with actuarial platforms (e.g., Prophet, GGY) is advantageous.

Responsibilities

Prepare independent expert reports, affidavits, and exhibits that clearly document assumptions, methodology, and results for use in litigation, arbitration, and regulatory matters.
Provide expert witness and deposition testimony; explain technical findings to judges, arbitrators, juries, and attorneys.
Perform and oversee actuarial analyses relevant to disputes, including deterministic and stochastic cashflow modeling, sensitivity analyses, and experience studies.
Independently review and validate opposing-party valuations, reserving methods, model implementations, and assumption choices.
Ensure reproducibility and maintain complete audit trails and documentation of models and analyses used in expert opinions.
Collaborate closely with outside counsel and internal subject-matter experts to align technical work with legal strategy and discovery requirements.
Advise clients on settlement drivers, regulatory exposures, capital impacts, and reinsurance/retrocession implications.
Mentor and supervise actuarial staff contributing to expert engagements; maintain high standards of quality control and peer review.
Keep abreast of actuarial standards of practice, relevant legal precedents, and regulatory developments affecting insurance/reinsurance disputes.