Head of Research and Development

Job Description,

This role holds end to end accountability for underwriting and claims outcomes across PPS Life Solutions, with ownership of both experience and results. It ensures underwriting and claims criteria are fit for purpose, defensible, and aligned to product intent and the professional target market, driving corrective action where experience deviates from expectations. The incumbent will lead a team of medical, underwriting and claims subject matter experts and is responsible for governance, trend monitoring and resolving systemic issues. Ownership of reinsurance related matters is required, including senior reinsurer engagement and alignment on underwriting and claims decisions. The role also oversees TCF and internal arbitration governance, monitors industry trends, and guides the responsible use of AI and analytics to improve fairness, efficiency and member outcomes.

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Requirements,

Minimum Requirements

• Actuarial qualification (Fellow or nearFellow) from a recognised actuarial body (e.g. ASSA or equivalent).
• Relevant postgraduate qualification in actuarial science, mathematics, statistics, medical science or a related quantitative discipline.

Experience

• 10+ years senior experience within the life insurance industry.
• Underwriting governance
• Claims management and outcomes
• Product design and benefit structures
• Demonstrated accountability for claims and underwriting experience, including experience investigations and corrective actions.
• Experience chairing or leading senior governance forums (e.g. Claims Committees, Risk or Technical Committees).
• Strong exposure to TCF, internal arbitration and regulatory engagement.

Competencies

• Strong actuarial and analytical capability.
• Ability to translate actuarial and claims insights into operational and product changes.
• Sound judgment on complex, precedent-setting cases.
• Strong governance mindset with commercial pragmatism.
• Executive-level stakeholder management and influence.
• Is creative and innovative and always seeks opportunities for ongoing improvement of the relationship between PPS and its members.
• Acts with confidence and works independently and/or under own direction.
• Provides input into the formulation of marketing strategies and business plans.

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Duties and Responsibilities,

Tasks

• Chairing the PPS Claims Committee, with accountability for governance, agenda setting, decision quality and escalation management.
• Ensure effective engagement with reinsurance partners and, in collaboration with the Corporate Actuarial Function and the Head of Product Development and Pricing, maintain reinsurance treaties that are aligned with PPS underwriting intent, claims decisions and product experience, with clear ownership of all experience-related queries and escalations.
• Ensuring that underwriters have the requisite knowledge and access to information to be able to exercise sound, objective and consistent judgment in making underwriting decisions.
• Monitoring underwriting quality through regular audits.
• Ownership of underwriting outcomes, ensuring that underwriting intent delivers sustainable and defensible claims experience aligned to product design.
• Ensuring that claim assessors have the requisite knowledge, tools and access to information to be able to exercise sound, objective and consistent judgment in making claims decisions.
• Monitoring claims quality through regular audits.
• Ownership of claims outcomes, including trend analysis, escalation drivers and deviations from expected experience.
• Ensuring accuracy of medical and claims related collateral (Claim forms, Medical Questionnaires, Medical section of Application forms, Claims campaigns).
• The provision of Medical, Underwriting and Claims support to the specialist operational areas (Underwriting and Claims) and areas like Actuarial Valuations, Product Development, Technical Marketing and Sales through research, opinions or authorisations of specific cases.
• Coordinate Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) activities across the PPS Group by developing, maintaining and overseeing a consistent TCF dashboard that identifies actual and emerging risks in product design, underwriting, claims and related processes.
• Proactively analyse TCF insights arising from claims experience, underwriting decisions and arbitration outcomes, and translate these insights into concrete product and process remediation actions, ensuring that PPS member outcomes remain fair, competitive and aligned with member expectations and regulatory standards.
• Maintain the standing and credibility of the Office of the Internal Arbitrator with the Life Ombudsman, ensuring PPS remains a credible first port of call before external escalation.
• Ensure that systemic insights from arbitration outcomes are formally fed into underwriting, claims and product governance structures to drive continuous improvement and risk mitigation.

Stakeholder and Relationship Management

• Navigate and manage areas of overlapping accountability and shared ownershipacross the business with a high degree of maturity, judgment and influence, ensuring constructive stakeholder engagement, clear alignment of roles and responsibilities, and effective resolution of tension or ambiguity in the best interests of PPS, its members and its governance objectives.
• Represent PPS as a credible actuarial and technical thought leader, building constructive relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, including members, intermediaries, reinsurance partners and industry bodies.
• Maintain effective working relationships with reinsurance partners, industry forums (e.g. ASISA) and the Life Ombudsman, ensuring PPS’s interests, reputation and governance standing are upheld.
• Act as an ambassador for the PPS brand, promoting sound underwriting, fair claims outcomes and product integrity within the industry.

People Management

• Lead, develop and retain a high-performing multidisciplinary specialist team across medical, underwriting and claims disciplines.
• Build team capability through coaching, mentoring, succession planning and targeted development, ensuring depth of expertise and decision resilience.
• Drive performance management, talent planning and resourcing in collaboration with HR, including recruitment and succession for critical roles.
• Foster an engaged, ethical and inclusive team environment, managing employee relations matters appropriately and addressing conflict proactively and constructively.