Vice President Chief Actuary

Arbella•Quincy, MA

About The Position

The Vice President Chief Actuary is a strategic leadership role overseeing actuarial models and indication development, advanced analytics, innovation, and data-driven strategies. The position leads actuarial and data science teams in delivering actionable insights, risk evaluations, predictive modeling, and financial forecasting to support business objectives and regulatory compliance. The role calls for a hands-on, service-oriented, collaborative leader with a strong commitment to excellence and Arbella’s values. The Chief Actuary drives the integration of actuarial science and advanced analytics into pricing, underwriting, risk management, risk selection, and business strategy. The position oversees reserving, actuarial support for pricing and product development, loss ratio forecasting, actuarial valuations, and assumption-setting. It also guides predictive modeling, machine learning, and AI applications; establishes practices for data governance, model validation, and algorithm transparency; and translates analytical insights into business recommendations. The role partners with senior executives and teams across IT, Finance, Underwriting, Product, the Office of General Counsel, and Claims. It represents the Actuarial/Data Science function in executive meetings and business events, presents recommendations to board members and stakeholders when needed, and supports data and AI strategy and governance. The position also leads technology adoption and continuous improvement, manages financial plan goals, and directs recruitment, staff development, performance management, and succession planning while fostering employee engagement, accountability, and an inclusive culture aligned with Arbella’s values.

Requirements

FCAS, ACAS, or equivalent (required).
15+ years of progressive experience in property and casualty actuarial roles.
At least 5–7 years in a senior leadership position.
Proven experience managing cross-functional teams, including data scientists, actuaries, and analysts.
Deep understanding of statistical modeling, machine learning, and AI applications in insurance or financial services.
Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills, with a high degree of integrity and ethical standards.
Excellent communication skills, including the ability to explain complex ideas to senior leaders, officers, the Board of Directors, and independent agents.
High energy and motivation to drive continuous improvement; ability to act as a diplomatic change agent and advocate for the customer.
Proven ability to attract, develop, and retain high-performing talent and build collaborative teams.
Demonstrated ability to manage large teams.
Strategic thinking, strong business acumen, and financial insight.
Innovative and creative collaboration, strong leadership presence, and a collaborative style.
Effective analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Deep property and casualty industry expertise and familiarity with reinsurance practices and partnerships.
Experience with programming languages such as Python, R, or SQL and data platforms.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or Ph.D. in Actuarial Science, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Lead and grow high-performing actuarial and data science teams.
Integrate actuarial science and advanced analytics into pricing, underwriting, risk management, risk selection, and business strategies.
Collaborate with senior executives on enterprise-wide decision-making, data strategy and governance, and AI strategy and governance.
Oversee reserving, actuarial support for pricing and product development, and loss ratio forecasting.
Ensure compliance with regulatory standards and support financial reporting.
Lead actuarial valuation processes and assumption-setting.
Guide the development of predictive models, machine learning applications, and AI tools.
Establish best practices in data governance, model validation, and algorithm transparency.
Translate complex data insights into strategic business recommendations.
Partner with IT, Finance, Underwriting, Product, the Office of General Counsel, and Claims to integrate models and insights into operations.
Present findings and recommendations to board members and stakeholders when necessary.
Promote innovation, continuous improvement, and ethical use of data; lead adoption of new technologies, modeling techniques, and cloud-based analytics platforms.
Meet financial plan goals with a disciplined approach.
Represent the Actuarial/Data Science function in executive meetings and off-site events, including agent councils, board, social, leadership, and business-planning events.
Foster accountability, innovation, continuous improvement, employee engagement, and an environment that embraces employee differences and Arbella values.
Direct recruitment, staff development, performance management, and succession planning.
Build strong, trusting relationships with partner agents and advocate for the customer.