Life and Annuity Product/Industry Expert

EXL; United States; On-site; USD 180,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

EXL seeks a Life & Annuity Product/Industry Expert to serve as the senior domain authority for Life & Annuities across our TPA business. You will be the go-to expert on product and pricing, while also leading a team and owning key client relationships.

You will partner with product design, actuarial, and finance to interpret pricing assumptions and ensure accurate administration across platforms, with a strong focus on operational excellence and client impact.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in Life & Annuities insurance across product, pricing, actuarial or configuration roles.
• Deep expertise across L&A product types and pricing/features.
• Experience working with actuarial and finance on pricing assumptions, product economics, and reserving concepts.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end L&A administration operations.
• Experience serving multiple clients in a TPA/BPM/BPO, carrier, consulting, or insurance-technology environment.
• Proven track record of managing client relationships and senior stakeholders.
• People leadership: mentoring and directing a team.
• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative, actuarial, business, or related field.
• L&A product mechanics, riders and living benefits, and pricing levers.
• Financial concepts: profit testing, product economics, and reinsurance economics.
• Administration platform knowledge and UAT experience.
• Regulatory awareness for L&A products, illustrations, and non-forfeiture.
• Strong analytical, data, and documentation skills (Excel/modeling; SQL or reporting tools).
• Executive communication and influence across technical and business audiences.
• Problem-solving, judgment, and client-first mindset.
• Ability to delegate while remaining a credible hands-on expert.
• Collaboration across matrixed, multi-geography teams.

Responsibilities

• Act as the firm0s senior SME across Life & Annuity products and pricing, advising on mechanics and governance.
• Guide product pricing, illustration mechanics, and how features flow through administration and servicing.
• Keep ahead of market and regulatory developments and translate implications into actions.
• Partner with product design, actuarial, and finance on pricing assumptions and product economics.
• Lead, mentor, and direct a team of pricing analysts and SMEs; drive delivery and quality.
• Own senior relationships with carrier clients and support commercial engagements and pursuits.

Skills

L&A expertise

Pricing expertise

Executive communication

Client relationships

Mentoring / leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in quantitative field

Tools

ALIP

OIPA

FAST

LifePRO

SQL

Excel

Job description

We are seeking a Life and Annuity Product/Industry Expert to serve as the senior domain authority for Life & Annuities products across our TPA business. This role sits at the intersection of insurance product knowledge, actuarial and financial reasoning, and end-to-end policy administration operations.

The successful candidate will bring deep expertise across the full spectrum of L&A products, partner with product design, actuarial, and finance functions, and translate that expertise into administration platforms, servicing models, and commercial engagements that our carrier clients rely on. This is a senior individual-contributor-plus-leadership role: you will personally be the go-to expert on product and pricing while also managing a team, directing delivery, and owning key client relationships.

Key Responsibilities

1. L&A Product & Pricing Expertise (Domain Authority)

• Act as the firm's senior subject‑matter expert across Life & Annuity products, including Term, Whole Life, Universal Life (UL/IUL/VUL), Final Expense, and Group Life; and Fixed, Fixed‑Indexed (FIA), Variable (VA), RILA, and Immediate/Deferred annuities (SPIA/DIA).
• Provide deep guidance on product mechanics: cash value and non‑forfeiture, surrender charges, crediting strategies (caps, participation rates, spreads, index options), riders and living benefits (GLWB, GMWB, GMDB, LTC/accelerated benefits, waiver of premium), and payout/annuitization options.
• Advise carrier clients and internal teams on product pricing and repricing considerations, illustration mechanics, and how product features flow through administration and servicing.
• Maintain a forward view of market and regulatory developments affecting L&A products and pricing and translate implications into actionable recommendations.
• Partner with product design, actuarial, and finance teams to interpret pricing assumptions (mortality/morbidity, lapse, interest, expense) and ensure they are correctly reflected in administration and servicing.
• Contribute to and review profit testing, sensitivity analysis, and product economics (IRR, ROE, margins) at the level required to advise on feasibility and administrability.
• Ensure product configurations align with reserving and reporting requirements (STAT/GAAP) and with reinsurance treaty economics where applicable.
• Bridge actuarial intent and operational reality — flagging where product design creates servicing, compliance, or platform complexity, and proposing viable alternatives.

3. End-to-End Operations Understanding

• Bring a working command of the full L&A administration lifecycle: new business and underwriting support, policy issuance, in‑force servicing, premium billing and collections, commissions, claims (death, surrender, annuitization), disbursements, reinsurance administration, correspondence, and regulatory reporting.
• Ensure product and pricing logic is accurately configured and tested across administration platforms (e.g., ALIP, OIPA, wmA, FAST, LifePRO, or equivalent).
• Partner with operations and technology teams on product setup, conversions/migrations, UAT, and defect resolution, ensuring accuracy of calculations and downstream financial impact.
• Identify process improvement, automation, and quality opportunities across the operating model.

4. Client & Stakeholder Management

• Own senior relationships with carrier clients, acting as the trusted product/pricing advisor and escalation point.
• Support commercial engagements — solutioning, deal shaping, and pricing of administration services — and contribute product/domain credibility in pursuits, transitions, and QBRs.
• Manage a broad stakeholder map across client actuarial, product, IT, compliance, and operations teams, as well as internal delivery, transition, and technology functions.
• Communicate complex product, pricing, and financial concepts clearly to both technical and executive audiences, and drive alignment where interests differ.

5. Team Leadership & Delivery Direction

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of pricing analysts and product/domain SMEs; set direction, delegate effectively, and hold the team accountable for quality and timeliness.
• Plan and prioritize workload across multiple clients and initiatives, balancing depth of expertise with delivery commitments.
• Establish standards, playbooks, and reusable assets that raise the team's consistency and scalability.
• Coach team members on both technical depth and stakeholder skills, building a bench of future domain leaders.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• 15+ years of experience in Life & Annuities insurance, with a substantial portion in product, pricing, actuarial, or product‑configuration/administration roles.
• Demonstrable deep expertise across L&A product types and their pricing/features.
• Proven ability to work fluently with actuarial and finance teams on pricing assumptions, product economics, and reserving/reporting concepts.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end L&A administration operations and how product/pricing decisions flow through them.
• Experience in a TPA, BPM/BPO, carrier, consulting, or insurance‑technology environment serving multiple clients.
• Track record of managing client relationships and senior stakeholders, ideally including commercial/solutioning exposure.
• People‑leadership experience: managing, mentoring, and directing a team.
• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative, actuarial, business, or related field.
• L&A product mechanics, riders/living benefits, and pricing levers.
• Key financial concepts: profit testing, product economics, assumptions, STAT/GAAP reserving basics, reinsurance economics.
• Administration platform knowledge (ALIP, OIPA, wmA, FAST, LifePRO, or similar) and product configuration/UAT.
• Regulatory and compliance awareness relevant to L&A products, illustrations, and non‑forfeiture.
• Strong analytical, data, and documentation skills (Excel/modeling; SQL or reporting tools a plus).
• Executive communication and influence across technical and business audiences.
• Sound judgment and structured problem-solving under ambiguity.
• Ownership, accountability, and a client‑first, quality‑first mindset.
• Ability to delegate and direct while remaining a credible hands‑on expert.
• Collaboration across matrixed, multi‑geography teams.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• FLMI, or equivalent insurance certifications.
• Experience with product transitions, block migrations, or new client onboarding.
• Exposure to analytics/AI-enabled operations and digital transformation in insurance.
• Experience supporting pre‑sales and commercial pricing of TPA/administration services.

The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $180,000 - $275,000 per year.

For more information on benefits and what we offer please visit us at https://www.exlservice.com/us-careers-and-benefits

The posted range is the hiring range for this role — a subset of the broader range available to employees over time — and reflects base salary across our national hiring scale.

Final offers are based on several factors, including the candidate's skills and experience, internal pay equity, work location, market conditions for the role, and the specific scope and responsibilities of the position.

The top of the range is reserved for candidates who notably exceed the requirements; the lower end applies to those with less experience or fewer preferred qualifications. For positions based in higher-cost zones (e.g., California, New York, New Jersey), actual compensation may exceed the posted range; your recruiter will share specifics during the process.