Head Contracts L&H North America (Toronto)

The Opportunity

The North America (US, Canada, English Caribbean) portfolio represents the largest and most complex region within Swiss Re’s L&H reinsurance portfolio.

The L&H Contracts Team Lead – North America is a senior leadership role with full regional accountability for the Contracts function across traditional reinsurance agreements. This role leads contract drafting discipline, governance rigor, and in-force contractual risk review within a high-volume, performance-driven underwriting environment.

You will serve as a business partner to Swiss Re L&H's North America Market Units and translate underwriting intent and legal advice into disciplined, repeatable contract execution that protects performance and long-term value. The role owns deviation discipline, negotiation consistency, contractual integrity, and contractual analysis across the region, while driving modernization through workflow tools and GenAI-enabled practices.

While strong legal and drafting expertise is essential, this role sits within the L&H Pricing & Portfolio Performance (PPP) function and partners closely with legal, underwriting, pricing, claims, portfolio management and risk functions to support Swiss Re's North America business. It is accountable for ensuring contracts reflect disciplined risk-taking and align with underwriting performance objectives.

Reporting to the Global Head of L&H Contracts, this role is a member of the global L&H Contracts Leadership Team and plays a visible role in shaping the evolution of the Contracts function.

About the Life & Health Contracts Function

The L&H Contracts function at Swiss Re drafts, reviews and advises on reinsurance agreements between Swiss Re and its clients. In close partnership with underwriting, pricing, claims, legal, and risk, the team:

• Structures and documents traditional reinsurance agreements
• Ensures contractual terms reflect underwriting intent
• Provides clear advice on wording implications and risk trade-offs
• Supports disciplined portfolio management through contracts analysis

Contracts plays a critical role in safeguarding Swiss Re’s risk position while enabling sustainable long-term profitability.

Your Mandate

1. Strengthen Commercial Discipline

• Ensure contracts reflect underwriting intent and disciplined risk-taking
• Act as a trusted partner to Client Markets and cross-functional stakeholders (Underwriting, Pricing, Claims, Legal), shaping deal structure and contract outcomes on key accounts
• Provide clear, decisive recommendations on wording and structural trade-offs, including hands-on involvement of key client accounts
• Lead interpretation, analysis, and restructuring of existing agreements

2. Strengthen Governance & Standardization

• Ensure consistent application of global contracting standards
• Own deviation governance, tracking, and transparency across the region
• Strengthen documentation rigor and decision traceability

3. Talent Management & Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop team of Contracts Specialists across the US and Canada
• Define clear roles, accountability, and career pathways for Contracts Specialists
• Represent North America within the global L&H Contracts Leadership Team

4. Accelerate Digital Workflow & GenAI Adoption

• Lead regional adoption of contracting workflow tools and GenAI-enabled practices, embedding AI into standard drafting and review workflows
• Ensure responsible use of GenAI is operationally embedded and scalable across the region

What Success Looks Like

Within 18–24 months:

• Contracts is recognized as a disciplined commercial and risk partner across North America
• Strong governance and deviation discipline across markets
• Broad adoption of digital workflow and GenAI tools

Your Profile

• 12–15+ years’ experience in Life & Health reinsurance or insurance contracting - must have Law degree
• Strong legal foundation or substantial experience drafting and negotiating reinsurance agreements
• Demonstrated commercial judgment and ability to articulate risk trade-offs
• Experience operating in a regulated, high-complexity reinsurance environment
• Experience leading multi-location teams
• Experience driving workflow modernization and technology-enabled change

You are:

• A high-accountability leader who drives performance and sets clear standards
• Decisive and comfortable owning difficult calls
• Commercially pragmatic while uncompromising on risk discipline
• Confident challenging stakeholders constructively
• Committed to developing talent and strengthening capabilities

Why This Role Is Compelling

• Full regional accountability across Swiss Re’s largest L&H portfolio
• Direct partnership with the North America leadership and the Global Head of L&H Contracts
• Mandate to strengthen commercial discipline and governance at scale
• Opportunity to shape the evolution of the Contracts function, including integration of workflow and GenAI

The base salary hiringrange for this existing position is CAD $170,000 - 204,000. 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.

Our company has a hybrid work model where the expectation is that you will be in the office three days per week.

About Swiss Re

Swiss Re is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. We anticipate and manage a wide variety of risks, from natural catastrophes and climate change to cybercrime. Combining experience with creative thinking and cutting-edge expertise, we create new opportunities and solutions for our clients. This is possible thanks to the collaboration of more than 14,000 employees across the world.

Our success depends on our ability to build an inclusive culture encouraging fresh perspectives and innovative thinking. We embrace a workplace where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive and develop professionally regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, skillset, thought or other characteristics. In our inclusive and flexible environment everyone can bring their authentic selves to work and their passion for sustainability.

If you are an experienced professional returning to the workforce after a career break, we encourage you to apply for open positions that match your skills and experience.

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