Senior Director – Catastrophe Risk

Ryan Specialty

. Build, manage, and mentor a team of catastrophe modeling analysts and technical/automation developers .

Posted 9/22/2026full-timeUnited StatesSenior💰 $140,000 - $175,000 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive expertise in catastrophe modeling, portfolio risk analytics, and data engineering, with a strong focus on team leadership and technical mentorship. Proficient in translating complex modeling outputs into actionable underwriting guidance and managing cross-functional collaborations.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Catastrophe ModelingRMS and AIR ProficiencySQL ProgrammingPython and R AutomationAlternative Risk Transfer Pricing

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Catastrophe ModelingPortfolio Risk AnalyticsData EngineeringSQL ProgrammingPython ProgrammingR ProgrammingVBA AutomationExposure Data PreparationPML and AAL MetricsETL and Data Pipelines

Soft Skills

Team LeadershipMentoringExcellent CommunicationCross-Functional CollaborationReal-Time Event Response

Tools & Technologies

Azure DatabricksPySparkDelta LakeAlteryxGit

Industry Keywords

ReinsurancePortfolio ManagementAlternative Risk TransferParametric TriggersFacultative ReinsuranceTreaty ReinsuranceClimate-Adjusted RiskGeospatial Data HandlingModel BlendingSecondary Uncertainty

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AzureCloudETLPySparkPythonSDLCSQLVBA

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Build, manage, and mentor a team of catastrophe modeling analysts and technical/automation developers
Mentor and train portfolio modeling managers and establish consistent technical standards
Set the technical roadmap for catastrophe modeling, data engineering, and reporting tooling
Translate catastrophe modeling analytics into underwriting guidance and appetite decisions
Represent catastrophe risk analytics in executive and reinsurance discussions, including event response briefings
Build team fluency in parametric, facultative, and treaty reinsurance and multi-year contract structures
Maintain and grow pricing capabilities across ART structures
Apply catastrophe model output to structure and price ART instruments
Advise underwriting on catastrophe risk implications of trigger design, attachment points, and multi-year rate adequacy
Coordinate Analyze Re portfolio rollups and ensure accurate aggregation across books of business
Oversee delivery of portfolio and modeling outputs to external carriers and reinsurance partners
Lead research into secondary uncertainty, model blending, and climate-adjusted risk views
Evaluate emerging modeling science, vendor model updates, and academic/industry research
Own RMS and AIR vendor and platform strategy, including licensing, upgrades, and roadmap decisions
Oversee catastrophe modeling across multiple lines of business
Direct production of PML, AAL, exposed limits, EP curves, and tail-risk/TVaR metrics
Set standards for exposure data preparation, validation, and cleansing
Lead catastrophe event response and provide rapid exposure summaries and loss estimates
Direct ETL and data pipelines for exposure data ingestion and normalization
Oversee automated AIR/RMS workflow utilities and reporting assets using SQL, Python, R, and Excel/VBA
Champion Azure Databricks and cloud-based analytics using PySpark and Delta Lake
Ensure data quality controls, QA dashboards, and documentation/SOPs are followed

Requirements

What you’ll need

8+ years of progressive experience in catastrophe modeling, portfolio risk analytics, or cat-modeling-adjacent data engineering
Prior people leadership or team-lead experience managing modeling professionals or managers
Deep hands-on proficiency in RMS and/or AIR Touchstone, including exposure preparation, batch processing, results extraction, and interpretation of EP curves and loss tables
Strong SQL skills
Experience directing or building automation with Python, R, VBA, and/or Alteryx
Track record of translating catastrophe model output into underwriting or portfolio management decisions
Ability to lead teams through real-time catastrophe event response
Experience coordinating portfolio rollups and external deliverables to carriers or reinsurance partners
Experience partnering cross-functionally with Capital Management, Pricing, Reserving, or Data Engineering
Excellent communication skills and experience presenting technical analysis to underwriting and executive stakeholders
Experience pricing or modeling Alternative Risk Transfer structures, including parametric triggers, facultative and treaty reinsurance, and/or multi-year contracts
Preferred: Experience with Analyze Re or comparable portfolio roll-up/aggregation platforms
Preferred: Experience with Azure Databricks, PySpark, and Delta Lake/data lakehouse patterns
Preferred: Knowledge of reinsurance structures and portfolio risk metrics such as PML, AAL, and TVaR
Preferred: Familiarity with geospatial data handling and mapping, including geopandas, shapefiles, and spatial joins
Preferred: Experience with Git and SDLC practices
Preferred: Prior experience leading vendor evaluations for modeling platforms, peril models, or analytics infrastructure
Preferred: Background in or exposure to applied research within catastrophe modeling or a related quantitative discipline

Benefits

Comp & perks

Paid company holidays
Vacation days
Sick days
Personal days
Paid parental leave
Mental health services
Bonuses for full-time roles
Comprehensive benefits package
Reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities