Senior Life Underwriter

Aviva plc; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Bonus opportunity (8% of salary)

Generous pension scheme

29 days holiday plus bank holidays

Aviva-funded Private Medical Benefit

Discount on Aviva products

Free Aviva shares opportunity

Supportive policies including parental leave

Flexible benefits

Paid volunteering days

Job summary

Aviva plc is looking for a Senior Life Underwriter located in Bristol or nearby. This role focuses on complex Protection cases requiring sound judgement while allowing the opportunity for personal development and coaching of junior staff.

You'll assess various insurance cases, use modern underwriting technology, and contribute to improving overall quality in insurance applications. Aviva offers a competitive salary, a bonus opportunity, generous holidays, and flexible working arrangements.

Qualifications

• Deep UK Life Insurance underwriting experience with strong technical expertise across Protection products.
• Curious mindset and appetite to embrace new ways of working.
• Proven ability to make confident, high-quality decisions on challenging cases.

Responsibilities

• Assess complex Life Insurance, Critical Illness, and Income Protection cases.
• Support less experienced underwriters through coaching and mentoring.
• Contribute to technical capability by sharing knowledge with colleagues.

Skills

Life Insurance underwriting experience

Coaching and mentoring

Analytical capability

Strong communication skills

Job description

Senior Life Underwriter

Location: Bristol, Leatherhead, Norwich, Sheffield or York – we consider homeworking if none of these locations is within a reasonable commute.

Competitive salary.

We invest in the future of underwriting with automation and AI-enabled insight. This role helps you stay at the forefront of how underwriting is evolving.

A bit about the job

Senior Underwriters focus on the most complex Protection cases — the ones that need human judgement. This opportunity lets you strengthen your technical credibility, build knowledge across a broad range of case types, and coach & mentor colleagues.

What you’ll be doing

• Assessing complex Life Insurance, Critical Illness and Income Protection cases, using sound judgement to deliver high-quality underwriting decisions across medical, financial and lifestyle risk factors.
• Using insights from underwriting tools and technology to inform decisions while retaining accountability for outcomes.
• Supporting less experienced underwriters through coaching, mentoring and day‑to‑day guidance.
• Contributing to technical capability by sharing knowledge and helping others grow.
• Working with colleagues and stakeholders to improve underwriting quality, consistency and customer outcomes.
• Contributing to continuous improvement in underwriting delivery and ways of working.

Skills and experience we’re looking for

• Deep UK Life Insurance underwriting experience with strong technical expertise across Protection products.
• A curious mindset and appetite to embrace new ways of working.
• Proven ability to make confident, high-quality decisions on challenging cases.
• Strong judgement and ability to assess risk holistically across medical, financial and lifestyle factors.
• Experience in coaching, mentoring or supporting the development of other underwriters.
• Strong analytical capability, balancing customer, commercial and risk considerations.
• Confidence working with stakeholders and contributing to improvements in underwriting practice.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain decisions clearly and credibly.

Why join Aviva?

Build a long-term career in an underwriting environment where expertise is valued, technology is embraced, and learning doesn’t stop.

• Focus on high-value cases that build your technical knowledge.
• Make high-value decisions that directly impact customers at critical moments.
• Work with technology that supports your judgement.
• Learn from experienced colleagues and contribute to the development of others.
• Build your career in a business with scale, stability and breadth of opportunity for long-term growth.
• Be part of a team where collaboration, development and customer outcomes matter.

What you’ll get for this role

• Competitive salary (depending on location, skills, experience and qualifications).
• Bonus opportunity – 8% of annual salary (actual amount depends on performance and Aviva’s).
• Generous pension scheme – e.g. if you put in 8%, Aviva adds 14%.
• 29 days holiday plus bank holidays; can buy or sell up to 5 days.
• Aviva-funded Private Medical Benefit to provide expert support.
• Up to 40% discount on Aviva products and other retailer discounts.
• Up to £1,200 of free Aviva shares per year through the Matching Share Plan and the Save As You Earn scheme.
• Brilliantly supportive policies including parental and carer’s leave.
• Flexible benefits to suit you, including sustainability options such as cycle to work.
• Make a difference, be part of Aviva Communities and use your 3 paid volunteering days to help others.
• We take your wellbeing seriously with lots of support and tools.

Aviva is for everyone

We’re inclusive and welcome everyone – we want applications from all backgrounds and experiences. Even if you don’t tick every box, we encourage you to apply. We also consider all forms of flexible working, including part time and job shares.

We flex locations, hours and working patterns to suit our customers, business and you. Most of our people are smart working – spending at least 50% of their time in our offices every week—combining the benefits of flexibility with time together with colleagues.