Senior Underwriting Consultant

Our client, a well-established Canadian life insurer, is looking for a senior underwriter who wants to own the biggest, most complex files on the desk and do it from anywhere in Canada.

Why you'll want this role

• Real authority. Sign off on individual files into the eight figures, with advisory authority on the organization's most complex cases.
• High-net-worth focus. Your desk is large-case and jumbo business: affluent individuals, business owners and corporately owned policies where medical and financial underwriting meet.
• Fully remote. Work from anywhere in Canada. No commute, no relocation, no mandatory office days.
• Influence, not just volume. Shape underwriting guidelines, risk selection strategy and modernization work, with visibility across the organization.
• Reinsurance in your hands. Decide when to go facultative and negotiate terms directly with reinsurers.
• Strong support around you. Work alongside in-house Medical Directors, Actuarial and Reinsurance specialists.

The role

You'll be the go-to expert for high-value, complex risk across advisor/MGA and direct channels. You will assess early mortality and critical illness morbidity, determine insurable interest and financial justification, and approve the right amount of coverage based on financial underwriting guidelines and each client's risk profile. You'll assess medical histories and test results against internal and reinsurance guidelines, and work closely with the Director of Underwriting, in-house Medical Directors and Actuarial, including negotiating reinsurance arrangements on independent broker business.

This is more than a traditional underwriting seat. Beyond assessing complex medical and financial risk, you'll help shape underwriting practice, contribute to strategic initiatives and process improvement, and provide expert guidance on the toughest risk decisions. You'll carry full accountability for the contracts you place in force within your authority, balancing sound risk management with business growth.

You'll collaborate with partners across underwriting, in-house Medical Directors, Actuarial, Reinsurance, Claims, Product, Operations, Technology, Data & Analytics and Distribution, a rare blend of technical depth, strategic influence and business partnership.

What you'll do

Underwrite high-value, complex cases

• Assess new business applications, policy changes and in-force business across multiple life and critical illness product lines and distribution channels, following established underwriting principles, directives and manuals.
• Assess medical, non-medical and lifestyle risk factors consistently with internal and reinsurance guidelines.
• Calculate underwriting decisions and mortality ratings based on your medical experience and training, informed by discussions with Medical Directors, Reinsurance and Actuarial.
• Underwrite large-case and high-net-worth files, including corporately owned policies, determining Fair Market Value and financial justification.
• Calculate age/amount requirements, auto/jumbo limits, and initial and ultimate face amounts in line with reinsurance treaties.
• Review Attending Physician Statements, labs, specialist reports and blood/urine specimen trends to assess life expectancy and mortality/morbidity risk.
• Adjudicate client risk factors and application data to determine the right mortality or morbidity risk, gathering information from multiple sources and partnering with internal specialists and external stakeholders on unique scenarios.
• Set ratings, exclusions, conditions and policy terms, using automated underwriting rules engines where applicable and drawing on internal Medical Directors, Reinsurance and Actuarial.
• Review reinsurance manuals with Medical Directors to ensure decisions align with current treaties, and resolve complex medical situations to build a complete risk picture.
• Document clear, concise, audit-ready risk assessments free of personal comments, update systems with detailed medical notes, and ensure MIB is properly reviewed and coded on each case.
• Stay current on medical developments and on financial, economic, geopolitical and travel factors that affect risk.

Lead complex case management and reinsurance

• Provide expert consultation on complex and escalated cases, building expertise across all products and channels.
• Review special underwriting requests and rating reconsiderations from MGAs and brokers, and negotiate terms within authority.
• Resolve escalated complaints and reconsideration requests.
• Decide when risk should be shared with a reinsurer, submit complete facultative packages, and negotiate competitive offers.
• Maintain strong reinsurer relationships, communicate accepted offers promptly and keep files updated.
• Negotiate competitive decisions based on material information gathered and sound judgment.
• Liaise with Actuarial on treaty terms, special quotes, illustrations, policy changes and sales/marketing requests.
• Take part in claims trend reviews, rescission investigations and similar reviews.

Shape underwriting excellence

• Research, develop and document innovative underwriting practices and competitive requirements, and contribute to product development.
• Implement approved improvements to underwriting content and rules.
• Analyze underwriting trends and quality of business, and share insights and recommendations with leadership.
• Support modernization, transformation and strategic initiatives.

Build capability and partnerships

• Act as a subject matter expert on underwriting practice, risk assessment and policy interpretation.
• Monitor service standards, identify training needs and coach junior underwriters and underwriting consultants.
• Design and deliver training for the underwriting team, MGAs and brokers, including presentations to advisors on industry trends and complex medical files.
• Give MGAs and brokers clear, well-reasoned explanations of underwriting decisions, and visit them as needed to educate on underwriting matters.
• Analyze quality of business by distributor and report findings to underwriting leadership.
• Partner with stakeholders across the organization to implement initiatives, support change and promote best practices.
• Develop training, tools and resources that strengthen underwriting effectiveness.
• Work with New Business to identify missing or additional requirements, action files to standard once updated, and ensure decisions, reinsurance, amendments, endorsements and special instructions are recorded accurately.
• Support governance activities, including coordinating internal MIB audits, and uphold the organization's code of business conduct, including privacy, conflict-of-interest and anti-money laundering requirements.

Authority

• Signing authority: eight figures per file (individual levels vary with experience).
• Advisory authority: guidance on the organization's most complex insurance cases.
• Approvals: obtain appropriate approvals based on judgment and signing limits, recommending cases above your personal limit for senior approval.
• Information access: full access to confidential customer, product and financial information, plus external research sources, to support sound decisions.

What you bring

• 7–15 years of progressive life underwriting experience, ideally including large-case, high-net-worth or advanced markets business.
• A university degree in Kinesiology, Health Science, Nursing or a related field.
• ALU II designation, with progress toward FALU preferred.
• Expert knowledge of medical impairments, and of financial underwriting and business numeracy.
• Deep knowledge of life insurance products, contracts, underwriting principles and sales concepts.
• Knowledge of facultative reinsurance and complex case management.
• Expertise with automated underwriting rules engines and digital underwriting tools.
• Expert analytical, negotiation and communication skills, plus strong presentation skills.
• The ability to influence stakeholders, work independently in a remote setting and manage competing priorities.
• Experience assessing complex medical and financial risks and making sound, defensible underwriting decisions.
• Experience using data and business insight to support decisions and continuous improvement.

Working arrangement

This is a fully remote role open to candidates anywhere in Canada. You'll have the tools and access to do your best work from home, with occasional travel to visit brokers and MGAs as required.

Why now

If you're ready to move beyond routine case volume and into a role with real authority, high-net-worth complexity and genuine influence on how underwriting evolves, without giving up the flexibility of fully remote work, this is it.