Technical Lead, Policy Investigations

Aviva; Markham; Hybrid; CAD 95,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance company located in York Region, Markham, is looking for a Technical Lead in Policy Investigation. This role involves providing strategic leadership in safeguarding against fraud and financial crime through effective policy investigations. The successful candidate will need significant experience in insurance and the ability to coach team members on investigative best practices. This role comes with a competitive salary and several advantages, including a hybrid work model and support for professional development.

Benefits

Annual bonus eligibility

Retirement savings plan

Health benefits

Competitive vacation package

Employee wellness programs

Qualifications

• Minimum 6-10+ years’ experience in insurance, claims, underwriting, or investigations.
• Ability to lead and coach team members on best practices for investigations.
• Strong understanding of claims and underwriting processes.

Responsibilities

• Maintain communication with Technical Leads on case investigations.
• Support investigative staff in case strategy development.
• Conduct monthly monitoring of complex case volumes.
• Participate in decision panels for investigation cases.
• Lead new hire training and onboarding for investigative staff.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic Thinking

Analytical Skills

Communication Skills

Customer Service

Education

Post-secondary education or equivalent work experience

CIP designation or working towards CIP

Tools

Qlik

Job description

Experience Aviva

Individually we are people, but together we are Aviva. Individually these are just words, but together they are our Values – Care, Commitment, Community, and Confidence.

At Aviva Canada, we put people first, our employees, our customers, and our communities. We’re proud of a culture built on care, inclusion, and collaboration, where your voice matters and your growth is supported. We’re not just about insurance; we’re about making a real difference by protecting what matters most.

The Opportunity

Join Aviva’s National Underwriting team as a Technical Lead in Policy Investigation. In this role, you’ll collaborate with the business to safeguard Aviva and its customers from fraud and financial crime. You will provide strategic leadership, technical expertise, and oversight for policy investigations, ensuring alignment with underwriting rules, regulatory requirements, and organizational standards. This is an opportunity to make a meaningful impact by driving integrity and excellence across our operations.

What you’ll do:

Alignment & Collaboration:

• Maintain consistent and ongoing communication with fellow Technical Leads to ensure alignment in investigative approach, strategic direction, and decision-making.
• Support the development and application of a structured engagement framework guiding when and how investigators/triage should conduct investigations & role accountabilities.

Strategic Case Support & Development:

• Provide 1:1 engagement with investigative staff to support case strategy development and coaching.
• Build and support team members in building a defendable case
• Empowered with delegated authority to guide and support case strategy development across the team.
• Ensure documented rationale for any investigation exceeding 90 days.
• Act as a strategic resource for internal and external fraud investigations, particularly from an underwriting lens.
• Serve as a go-to resource for technical guidance and investigative strategy.
• Handle complex underwriting based investigations as required

Oversight & Monitoring:

• Conduct monthly monitoring of case volumes, focusing on investigations with large loss claims (≥ $250K combined reserve), investigations open for 90+ days, and complex underwriting cases.
• Share development insights and emerging trends with the Senior Leader.
• Utilize Qlik tools for automated tracking and reporting.

Decision Panel & Investigative Governance:

• Participate in all decision panels to ensure consistency and quality in decision-making.
• Support investigators in preparation for decision panels, ensuring adherence to investigative guidelines.
• Provide real-time support during decision-making processes.
• Promote timely and efficient decisions to support operational effectiveness.

Training, Onboarding & Quality Assurance:

• Lead team-based new hire training and onboarding in alignment with L&D-developed onboarding menus.
• Deliver LOB-specific technical training aligned with policy wordings, underwriting rules, and regulatory requirements.
• Support development and implementation of a quality assurance framework (targeted for Q2 2026), including audit tools and evaluation criteria.

Policy, Compliance & Regulatory Alignment:

• Ensure investigative strategies and decisions align with policy wordings, underwriting rules, and regulatory frameworks.
• Monitor and manage litigation matters: action all SOC & litigation instances, lead litigation matters and ensure VCM updates with litigation plans, track litigation files monthly via Qlik and report progress/exposure to the Senior Leader.
• Attend court as directed and prepare Aviva witnesses for court appearances

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management:

• Maintain and strengthen relationships with internal and external business partners.
• Engage with external legal counsel on litigation files, ensuring appropriate investigative support and documentation.

Team Development & Engagement Framework:

• Identify and support development opportunities for investigative staff.
• Provide feedback to the Senior Leader on skill progression and growth.
• Lead threat book of work for the team identifying and developing strategy for Aviva response
• Drive forward large initiatives in the team to support the efficiencies and development of the function
• Build investigation strategy, gather and analyze facts, manage case file, and ensure proper documentation and collection of physical or electronic evidence
• Manage incoming intelligence from internal and external sources; assess Aviva’s exposure, ascertain risk and disseminate to key stakeholders
• Establish and lead investigation strategies, gather and analyze facts, manage case file, and ensure proper documentation and collection of physical or electronic evidence

• Identify fraud and FC detection gaps in existing processes and advance solutions

What you’ll bring:

• Post-secondary education or equivalent work experience
• CIP designation or working towards CIP
• Minimum 6-10+ years’ experience in insurance {claims, underwriting or operational} and/ investigative field of work
• Ability to lead and coach team members on best practices for investigations
• Develop approach to respond to threats
• Ability to risk assess areas of the business for fraud/ FC
• Strong understanding of claims and underwriting processes
• Superior analytical, problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Strong customer service and communication skills – ability to communicate diplomatically and empathetically
• Strong Reporting and Communication Skills
• Assertive and comfortable with challenge and ambiguity
• Investigative competency
• Technical knowledge of all insurance lines of business, including policies, claims, and related legislation
• Investigative strategies and requirements/legislation
• Ability to make confident and objective decisions in matters having high potential for legal precedent or legal dispute
• Assess quality assurance in the team and provide feedback
• Provincial or territorial insurance licensing, as required

What makes you stand out:

• Preferred professional qualification in fraud investigation, criminology or financial crime.
• Bilingualism is an asset

What you’ll get:

• The salary band for this position ranges from $95,000 to $120,000. Please note that individual salary is determined by factors such as job-related knowledge, skills and experience, as well as internal equity.
• Compelling rewards package including base compensation, eligibility for annual bonus, retirement savings, share plan, health benefits, personal wellness, and volunteer opportunities.
• Hybrid flexible work model.
• Outstanding career development opportunities.
• We’ll support your professional development education.
• Competitive vacation package with the option to purchase 5 extra days off per year.
• Employee-driven programs focused on gender, LGBTQ+, origins, diversity, and inclusion.
• Corporate wellness programs to support our employees’ physical and mental health.

This job advertisement is for an existing vacancy which has been posted both internally & externally.

Aviva Canada may use AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools to assist us throughout the recruitment process to screen, assess or select applicants for a position.

Aviva Canada welcomes applications from all qualified individuals and has a process in place to provide accommodations for persons with disabilities at all stages of the hiring process and during employment. If you require an accommodation during the interview or hiring process, please contact your Aviva Talent Acquisition Partner so that an appropriate accommodation can be arranged.