Life Actuarial Senior Manager

EY; California; On-site; USD 121,000 - 213,000; Full time

Job summary

EY is seeking a Life Actuarial Senior Manager to join our actuarial practice, operating across multiple African locations including Johannesburg and Cape Town. You will lead complex actuarial projects, oversee teams, and drive innovative AI-enabled solutions for life insurers and reinsurers.

The role emphasizes collaboration, client management, and continuous learning, offering exposure to both actuarial audits and consulting work within a dynamic, growth-focused environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years' life insurance actuarial consulting or corporate experience.
• FASSA qualification in life insurance.
• Experience with SAM, Solvency II and IFRS17 reporting.
• Proficiency in Python or R and exposure to AI frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Project Delivery: lead actuarial projects and manage teams.
• Innovation and AI: build AI-enabled actuarial frameworks and tools.
• Business development: support proposals and sales, grow actuarial services.
• Client management: act as primary client contact and manage expectations.
• Team leadership: coach and develop team members and share knowledge.

Skills

7+ years Life Insurance

FASSA

Financial reporting

IFRS17

SAM

Python

R

Data analytics

AI

Stakeholder communication

Critical thinking

Team player

Self-starter

Education

FASSA Certification (Life Insurance)

Tools

Python

R

Job description

We’re currently looking for a Life Actuarial Senior Manager to join our Actuarial practice in Johannesburg or Cape Town. Our team consists of more than 100 actuarial professionals across 5 locations in Africa – Johannesburg, Cape Town, Mauritius, Nairobi and Lagos.

Our actuarial consulting team offers a great opportunity to gain exposure across various technical actuarial areas and across a range of insurers in the South African and international market. This accelerates your learning curve, challenges your thinking and gives you the opportunity to gain depth in terms of the application of your technical actuarial skills.

We value teaming, proactivity as well as diversity and inclusion in our team. Our team thrives because of the growth mindset environment and collaborative team culture. You would get the opportunity to work with some of the most knowledgeable actuarial professionals in the industry and colleagues that are not only brilliant but also committed, dynamic and creative.

Through the combination of actuarial audit and consulting experience, our team members gain exceptional technical knowledge, moulding them into industry leaders and front runners on trending actuarial topics.

Your Key Responsibilities

Projects and Client Responsibilities

• Project Delivery: Leading the technical delivery of complex, multi-faceted client projects, including overseeing actuarial managers and managing teams of actuarial consultants. Projects may include
• 1st line life actuarial work including reserving, pricing and capital calculations
• Head of Actuarial Function work for life insurers and reinsurers
• Actuarial audits (IFRS17 and SAM) for life insurers/reinsurers
• Innovative and value-adding projects for insurers e.g. implementation of new regulations, future-state operating models, or improving models and processes
• Reviewing, enhancing or establishing ERM frameworks, ORSA, Risk Appetite or other risk components
• Performing due diligences on life insurance business
• Innovation and AI: Drive and develop the next generation of actuarial processes and tools by building frameworks that combine human expertise with AI capabilities, automation, and data-driven decisioning, utilise AI tools internally as "thinking partners" to accelerate delivery and drive efficiencies.
• Business Development: Driving and supporting go-to-market and sales initiatives, leading and contributing to proposals, and helping grow actuarial service offerings and our practice, including the development of intellectual property to support sales/client interactions.
• Client Management: Acting as primary client contact, building trusted relationships and managing expectations.
• Team Leadership: Coaching, mentoring and developing team members, continually learning and sharing your expertise with the wider actuarial team, contribute to reskilling the team to adapt to rapidly changing work methods driven by AI.

Most of your work will be project based for a once-off set period time or on a recurring basis, which enables you to work with different team members and subject matter experts, gaining invaluable experience and technical knowledge.

Skills And Attributes For Success

• 7+ years’ professional experience in the Life Insurance industry in an actuarial consulting or corporate insurance role
• FASSA, preferably with specialisation in life insurance
• Experience in financial reporting (SAM/Solvency II and IFRS17) and actuarial modelling
• Exposure to data analytics, coding (Python/R), and AI frameworks
• Strong communication skills, presence and confidence in reporting to and engagement with Senior Stakeholders, incl. Board, preferentially with such experience
• Critical thinker and solution-orientated approach, curious mind and keenness to learn, team player and proactive, self-starter.

About EY

Our values define who we are

• People who demonstrate integrity, respect, teaming and inclusiveness.
• People with energy, enthusiasm and the courage to lead.
• People who build relationships based on doing the right thing.

As a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, we hire and develop the most passionate people in their field to help build a better working world. This starts with a culture that believes in giving you the training, opportunities and creative freedom to make things better. So that whenever you join, however long you stay, the exceptional EY experience lasts a lifetime.

Shape the future with confidence.