Head of Business Architecture - Life & Health Operations

Are you energised by transforming complexity into clarity? Do you thrive on building high-performing teams, driving accountability, and delivering outcomes that genuinely move the needle? If you are ready to shape the future of Life & Health Operations at a global scale, this is the role for you. 

About the Role 

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity at the heart of Swiss Re's L&H Operations. As Head Business Architecture L&H Operations, you will set the standard for how we execute across the full treaty life cycle — from onboarding through to claims payments. You will drive operational excellence with pace and discipline, strengthen governance and quality, and build the capabilities, mindset, and execution muscle that enable our global Operations teams to consistently deliver for clients, stakeholders, and the business. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Set the bar for operational rigor and accountability — create a sustainable, trusted, and resilient Operations function that is built to perform at the highest level 

• Drive process alignment, simplification, and continuous improvement — maintain a relentless focus on execution, measurable outcomes, and delivery against Operations KPIs 

• Identify, prioritise, and execute operational excellence opportunities — remove friction, accelerate delivery, and make it easier for teams to do their best work 

• Define standard Operations processes — lead the design, testing, execution, and rollout of end-to-end process and system enhancements 

• Own the Operations governance and quality assurance framework — embed consistent risk appetite, strong controls, and a proactive risk culture across global Operations teams 

• Build frameworks and operational discipline — ensure portfolio data is trusted, usable, and actionable for analytics and decision-making 

• Turn standardisation and automation opportunities into delivered improvements — enable scalable growth and stronger business performance 

• Build and energise a global community of Operations experts — establish clear roles, responsibilities, deliverables, and shared standards of excellence 

• Create compelling expert career paths — attract, develop, and retain outstanding Operations talent across the globe 

• Lead and deliver strategic projects and initiatives — drive clear ownership, strong stakeholder engagement, and close collaboration with regional teams, Market Units, COO, CUO, and other key partners 

About the Team 

You will lead a global team of 20+ talented colleagues across key Swiss Re locations, working at the very heart of L&H Operations. This team operates in close partnership with Market Units, Operational Excellence, Risk Management, COO, CUO, and wider Operations teams worldwide. Far from being a support function, this team is expected to be a genuine catalyst — driving sharper execution, stronger standards, and practical transformation that turns strategy into progress and progress into measurable business impact. If you are looking for a team where your leadership truly matters and your work leaves a visible mark on the business, this is it. 

About You 

You are an inspirational, hands-on leader who combines strategic thinking with a bias for action. You bring the courage to challenge constructively, the judgement to make pragmatic trade-offs, and the resilience to push important work through to completion. You communicate with impact, build credibility through delivery, and motivate diverse global teams to move with purpose, confidence, and urgency. 

We are looking for candidates who meet these requirements: 

• Proven track record of leading large, diverse global teams — with a demonstrated ability to create clarity, energy, and accountability that drives consistently strong outcomes 

• Strong project and change management expertise — with the ability to translate strategy into clear plans, decisive action, and delivering results that land with impact 

• Demonstrated success in operational excellence and process improvement — a consistent record of simplifying complexity, raising operational standards, and delivering tangible, measurable improvements at pace 

• Deep experience in governance and quality assurance frameworks — including risk management, controls design, and embedding a proactive risk culture across large, distributed teams 

• Excellent communication and senior stakeholder influencing skills — with the ability to build followership through transparency, credibility, and delivery across complex, matrixed organisations 

These are additional nice to haves: 

• Experience in Life & Health reinsurance or insurance operations, with familiarity of the treaty life cycle from onboarding through to claims 

• Exposure to data strategy, portfolio data management, or analytics enablement within an operations context 

• Experience designing and executing automation or digitalisation initiatives within an operations environment 

• Familiarity with COO/CUO operating models and working across Market Units in a global reinsurance or financial services setting 

• A college degree or equivalent professional qualification in a relevant discipline 

• Multilingual capabilities — excellent spoken and written English is essential; additional languages are a plus 

• A track record of building expert communities and creating career development frameworks that attract and retain top talent 
  
  

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

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. We cover both Property & Casualty and Life & Health. 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 15,000 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.

We may use AI-powered tools to support the review and evaluation of applications for this position. These tools provide additional insights to our recruitment teams, but all hiring decisions are carefully reviewed and made by people. To learn more about how we use AI in recruitment and how we handle your personal data, please review our Data Privacy Statement before applying.