AVP Risk Strategist

Venerable; West Chester (Chester County); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Venerable seeks a Risk Strategist to serve as a subject matter expert on capital markets, including equities, fixed income, and derivatives. You will lead hedging and investing activities, drive strategic growth initiatives, and advise senior management on market-related challenges.

You will partner with cross-functional teams to design and monitor hedging strategies, manage vendor relationships, and attract quantitative talent to strengthen execution and decision-making across the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field (Master’s/PhD preferred).
• 7+ years of progressive experience in financial services with exposure to capital markets.
• Expert-level knowledge in derivatives trading, investment portfolios, risk management and related modeling.
• Entrepreneurial spirit with ability to drive change and manage multiple priorities.
• Strong quantitative/analytic reasoning with numerical methods (curve-fitting, optimization, interpolation).
• Ownership mindset to influence senior leadership and drive strategic decisions.
• Strong communication skills (verbal and written).
• Ability to focus on the big picture while managing details.
• Hands-on programming experience in C#, C++, Python, Java.
• Understanding of insurance products and capital market liabilities (VA) is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Partner with teams to understand and implement hedging and investing strategies for market risk mitigation.
• Drive strategic projects and contribute to growth initiatives including reinsurance deals and acquisitions.
• Communicate complex ideas to senior management and investors to align priorities.
• Promote best practices in quantitative analytics across teams.
• Develop quantitative tools infrastructure to support hedging and investing activities.
• Create decision frameworks for high-pressure environments.
• Manage relationships with banks and vendors for ongoing support.
• Attract, develop, and retain quantitative/actuarial talent for future needs.

Skills

Quantitative reasoning

Analytical thinking

Communication skills

Team leadership

Programming

Education

Bachelor's degree in quantitative field

Master's or PhD in quantitative field

Tools

C#

C++

Python

Java

Job description

This new Risk Strategist role will be regarded as subject matter expert with respect to capital markets activities that include equities, fixed income, and derivatives. In addition to providing leadership and strategic input into Venerable’s hedging and investing activities, the incumbent will lead projects that contribute to the company’s strategic growth initiatives. You will also provide creative vision and drive innovation and act as strategic advisor to senior management on capital markets-related challenges.

Primary responsibilities will be as follows:

• Partner with teams across the organization to understand, implement, monitor and explain complex hedging and investing strategies designed to mitigate market risks deriving primarily from insurance liabilities.
• Drive strategic projects and key participant in growth initiatives, including reinsurance deals and other business acquisitions.
• Exhibit thought leadership, influence and consensus building by effectively communicating to Senior management and/or investors and managing the expectations and priorities of multiple stakeholders.
• Act as a strong advocate to adopt best practices in terms of quantitative analytics needed within the team and across other teams.
• Contribute to infrastructure development of quantitative tools to conduct research and support hedging and investing activities across the organization. Serve as an innovator on theoretical valuation methodologies and models for various financial instruments.
• Create frameworks to help teams make sound decisions under pressure in a dynamic fast paced environment.
• Manage relationships with banks and/or vendors and maintain continuous dialogue to proactively identify areas of support and partnership.
• Attract, develop, and retain quantitative and/or actuarial talent with a vision to meet current and future needs of the company.

Key Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in a Quantitative field, preference towards advanced degrees (Master’s or PhD in a Quantitative field)
• 7+ years of progressive experience in the financial services industry with exposure to capital markets
• Expert level knowledge in a wide array of capabilities like derivatives trading, investment portfolios, risk management, derivatives modeling, strategy development & execution, technology, etc.
• Entrepreneurial spirit with the ability to seek out change, push forward abstract ideas, change focus quickly, balance multiple priorities, and see projects through to the end.
• Strong quantitative/analytic reasoning and problem-solving abilities. Understanding of how to apply numerical methods to business problems. Curve-fitting, Optimization, Root-Finding Algorithms, Interpolation, Statistics, etc.
• Ownership mindset with the ability to influence and drive change by building consensus among senior leadership for strategic decisions.
• Strong communication skills (verbal and writing) to convey complex ideas in a simple manner
• Ability to focus on “big picture” view while diving into details
• Strong computer programming experience in C#, C++, Python, Java, etc
• Understanding of insurance products and capital market liabilities embedded therein (particularly VA) would be beneficial

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Venerable Values:

Every position at Venerable has responsibility for living out the company’s values as described here:

We are Courageous - We think critically, ask “why?” and seek out creative solutions.

We are Curious - We take calculated risks, learn from out failures, and challenge traditional ways of thinking.

We are Connected - We are connected to each other, our customers and our community.

_ Please note: The use of AI tools (such as ChatGPT or similar platforms) during interviews is not permitted without the prior approval of Venerable, as the use of such tools may interfere with company confidentiality, misrepresent a candidate’s skills and experience or otherwise conflict with Venerable’s hiring policies. If you are selected for an interview and a reasonable accommodation is needed, please notify the Venerable Human Resources recruiter aligned to the open position in which you are interviewing for.

If Venerable, in its sole discretion, determines that AI is being used during an interview without prior approval, Venerable reserves the right to end the interview early and/or disqualify a candidate.