SageSure is looking for an experienced Director of Catastrophe Risk R&D to lead research and development in natural hazard modeling, exposure assessment, and enhancing their internal catastrophe view of risk to shape how they evaluate, measure, and respond to catastrophe risk.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in catastrophe modeling, risk analytics, insurance/reinsurance, or related applied research fields.
- 3+ years of experience in leading analytical and technical teams with responsibility for research strategy.
- Deep understanding of natural hazards (hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, floods, SCS) and their impacts on the built environment.
- Proficiency with catastrophe models (RMS, AIR, etc.) and their underlying assumptions
- Experience with programming/data analysis tools (Python, R, SQL) and geospatial tools (GIS, QGIS, ArcGIS).
- Strong background in probabilistic risk modeling, statistics, and simulation techniques.
- Experience in building and evaluating Hurricane/ Cyclone risk models, incorporating scientific insights into modeling frameworks.
Responsibilities
- Define and drive the catastrophe risk research agenda, including model evaluation, development of proprietary views of risk, and enhancement of decision-support tools for underwriting and portfolio risk management.
- Evaluate and customize third-party catastrophe models (e.g., Moody’s RMS, Verisk), and development of in-house modeling capabilities.
- Incorporate climate and emerging scientific insights into the catastrophe modeling framework, including scenario analysis and long-term risk outlooks.
- Leverage exposure, claims, hazard, and socioeconomic data to identify risk trends and inform product development and reinsurance strategy.
- Partner with underwriting, actuarial, reinsurance, and technology teams to ensure R&D outputs meet business needs.
- Translate technical findings into strategic insights for senior leadership and external partners.
- Mentor and grow a team of catastrophe risk research analysts, fostering innovation, scientific rigor, and professional development.
Other
- Master’s or PhD in Earth Science, Atmospheric Science, Civil/Structural Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, or a related quantitative field.
- Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage complex research programs.
- Exceptional communication skills, capable of conveying technical information to executive and non-technical audiences.
- Strategic thinker with a proactive and collaborative approach to problem-solving.
- Prior experience in a senior cat modeling/R&D role within a global (re)insurer, broker, or model vendor
