Senior Financial Accountant

Do you want to be part of an international company that is making a difference in the world? Are you an accounting professional with experience working in the Life & Health reinsurance field?

The successful candidate in this role will assume responsibility for the end-to-end Financial Accounting & Reporting for the L&H Re Canadian Branch, collaborating with Finance and Actuarial teams in Toronto, Zurich, Bratislava and Bangalore. You will report directly to the Head of Reporting, and will have direct interaction with the Canadian CFO, as well as with other business leads. Your duties will be performed in compliance with Local / Group requirements and the internal control framework.

You will be accountable for producing accurate and timely technical and non-technical balances for regulatory reporting, including both inbound and ceded business. You will also be reviewing and analyzing actual results compared with expectations and prior periods. The role is expected to work closely with other functions and will also be involved in recurring and ad hoc capital planning. There will be opportunities to contribute to key projects within the Reinsurance environment, including new transactions, and migrations from legacy information systems to new platforms.

Specific responsibilities will include:

• Developing and maintaining financial analysis and reporting processes and tools, covering gross inward business and any related intercompany or external reinsurance.
• Analyzing and providing explanations for the Branch's financial results for Canadian statutory/IFRS and Swiss statutory bases, including investigation of unusual variances and obtaining appropriate analytical support.
• Performing automation and streamlining of processes to improve efficiency and documentation quality. You will need to be creative, decisive and challenge processes, procedures, and controls to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Finance team.
• Submission of quarterly and/or annual filings with regulators (e.g. OSFI) and other external partners such as industry associations
• Provide necessary support in Capital projections and capital reporting
• Ensuring that all reporting requirements are met in accordance with evolving Group and regulatory requirements.
• Working with other functions (Actuarial Management, Claims, Technical Accounting, Operations) as well as with Finance colleagues in Canada, Zurich, Bratislava, and Bangalore to resolve accounting and administration issues.
• Reviewing the technical (cashflows/IFRS17 financials) and non-technical (investment/expenses/cash) reconciliations and analysis performed by Central teams.
• Perform & document internal control processes and respond to internal and external audit inquiries.

About the Team

The L&H Finance Reinsurance team, within the overall Canadian Finance team, are responsible for the accounting and reporting of Life and Health (L&H) reinsurance technical balances (premiums, claims, commissions, reserves, together with intra-group reinsurance – "IGR" - thereon), and non-technical balances (e.g., investments, general expenses) for Swiss Reinsurance Corporation, L&H Canadian Branch (the "Branch"). The team works with various business partners in support of relevant transactions.   You will be joining a diverse and inclusive team of finance professionals that come from a variety of backgrounds and experience within the industry.  The team works well in a collaborative environment while fostering and developing independent thought.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in an Accounting/Finance related discipline; or 3-5 years related experience, in a reinsurance/insurance environment (preferable) or other complex industry.
• CPA, or equivalent (current or in the near future)
• Strong learning skills, detail oriented, analytical skills, and decision-making skills.
• Knowledge of insurance products, preferably in the reinsurance space. Exposure to capital reporting, as well as knowledge of reinsurance contracts is an asset.
• Strong technical computer skills, including Word, Excel (Pivot Tables, knowledge of INDEX/MATCH/XLOOKUP and SUMIFS formulas is an asset), PowerPoint, and business objects.
• Proven organizational and time management skills; ability to handle multiple priorities.
• Proven interpersonal skills, including working internally across departments.
• Effective written and oral communication skills.

The base salary hiring range for this existing position located in Toronto is CAD $90,000 to $105,000. The specific base salary offered for this or any given role will take into account a number of factors including but not limited to job location, scope of role, qualifications, complexity/specialization/scarcity of talent, experience, education, and employer budget.  At Swiss Re, we take a "total compensation approach" when making compensation decisions. This means that we consider all components of compensation in their totality (such as base pay, short-and long-term incentives, and benefits offered), in setting individual compensation range.