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Actuarial technician

Actuarial technician

Level 4 - Higher Technical Occupation

Supporting senior colleagues to help manage risks for clients. This will be through the use of actuarial techniques and building mathematical models

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Summary

This occupation is found in the Financial Sector working in organisations that deal in managing uncertainty and risk such as Pensions, Investments and Insurance businesses.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide analysis to assist with the management of uncertainty and risk to help clients, both internal and external, meet their objectives. Actuaries are problem solvers and strategic thinkers, who use their mathematical skills to help measure the probability and risk of future events. They use these skills to predict the financial impact of these events on a business and their clients.

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with clients, actuaries and other specialists within their organisation.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for managing their own workload and assisting in providing analytical support to qualified actuaries and their clients or internal stakeholders.

Actuarial teams build mathematical models to predict future financial outcomes; from setting car insurance premiums to helping people provide for retirement. This will include delivering insurance premium pricing for an insurance company. Actuarial teams are increasingly involved in assessing the current and potential impacts of climate change to help organisations plan for the future. The Actuarial Technician assists with providing client services and supporting the advice given by qualified actuaries.

Typically, an actuary will be responsible for working on pension schemes to assist key stakeholders in making financial decisions. They will undertake analysis to provide investment advice.

Green themes

Financial and Professional Business Services

Typical job titles include:

Actuarial technician

Keywords:

Concepts
Finance
Financial Mathematics
Financial Services
Insurance
Investment
Models
Numerical Techniques
Pensions
Regulatory
Risk

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1: Mathematics and statistics that underpin actuarial work.
K2: Actuarial techniques including relevant finance and financial mathematics, cashflow models, compound interest and discounting, annuities, basics of investments and associated risks.
K3: Actuarial processes and principles including the impact of the various actuarial concepts, models and approaches, for example: how changing the assumptions into a model affects the output.
K4: Approaches to software used by actuaries including how software, technology and tools can be used to provide answers and solutions to clients.
K5: Regulation and legislation related to the handling of data and information including GDPR.
K6: Cyber security principles, risks and vulnerabilities when working online.
K7: Awareness of the wider commercial actuarial landscape including the Financial Services Market, sustainability and climate change and its effects on the actuarial profession, and the need for the organisation to benefit financially from the services offered.
K8: Awareness of the regulatory environment relevant to the actuarial profession and the organisation such as anti-money laundering regulations and those relevant to their organisation.
K9: Awareness of actuarial professional standards and ethics including the Actuaries’ Code.
K10: Awareness of the importance of commercial sensitivity in their work.
K11: Approaches to providing external or internal service to agreed timescales and identifying stakeholder requirements.
K12: Approaches to collaborative working such as use of digital collaborative tools.
K13: Principles of maintaining internal documentation to ensure a clear and identifiable audit trail of decision making and analysis.
K14: Approaches to prioritisation of workloads.
K15: Principles of data analysis including approaches to obtaining, analysing, modelling and interpreting data to solve actuarial challenges.
K16: Data visualisation techniques for example producing graphs or charts appropriate to the audience.
K17: Approaches and techniques to problem solving.

S1: Obtain, analyse, model and interpret data to solve actuarial challenges and meet stakeholder objectives.
S2: Analyse and logically apply actuarial techniques to given requirements and understand actuarial principles and calculations.
S3: Plan and deliver actuarial tasks such as analysis and calculations within the required timescales.
S4: Adapt to new requests or unforeseen events to maintain delivery of actuarial tasks.
S5: Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships through providing a responsive service.
S6: Identify internal stakeholder requirements and manage expectations as necessary.
S7: Use digital applications and software to deliver data analysis, data visualisations and mathematical models to assist in actuarial tasks.
S8: Use digital technologies safely and securely to protect the organisation from risks such as cyber-threats and data breaches.
S9: Tailor communication techniques for different stakeholders.
S10: Maintain internal documentation to ensure a clear and identifiable audit trail of decision making and analysis.

B1: Collaborative mindset. Sharing information, effectively building on the ideas of others and proactively seeking work to support other members of the actuarial and non-actuarial team.
B2: Professional. A role model for positive behaviours both understanding and complying with the principles of the Actuaries’ Code.
B3: Problem solver. A logical thinker engaging with problems to solve them through a variety of techniques and approaches.
B4: Inclusive mindset - considers approaches to equality, diversity and inclusion both when working with stakeholders and within teams.

Duties

Duty D1

Identify and access source data to inform mathematical models.

Duty D2

Prepare data for use in mathematical models and ensure its quality and accuracy.

Duty D3

Create and use spreadsheets and models to convey data and findings to stakeholders.

Duty D4

Communicate the outputs from mathematical models to stakeholders in an accurate and clear way, using language appropriate to the audience.

Duty D5

Provide technical actuarial analytical support to the wider team.

Duty D6

Develop and test data and mathematical systems.

Duty D7

Use digital technologies to deliver organisational objectives.

Duty D8

Provide stakeholder support in response to queries from clients, third party stakeholders and other internal teams.

Duty D9

Maintain knowledge of current key trends in the actuarial profession to inform their capacity to give good advice and analysis.

Duty D10

Maintain internal and external documentation.

Occupational Progression

This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.

In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.

It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.

Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.

Technical Occupations

Levels 2-3

Higher Technical Occupations

Levels 4-5

Professional Occupations

Levels 6-7

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