Head of Data Engineering

Individually, we are people, but together we are Aviva. Individually, these are just words, but together they are our Values – Care, Commitment, Community, and Confidence.

At Aviva, we help customers build resilience and move forward with confidence. We foster an inclusive workplace where diverse perspectives are valued, innovation is encouraged, and employees are empowered to grow their careers while making a meaningful impact. As we continue to expand our U.S. Specialty platform, we are building a high-performing technology and data organization focused on delivering a modern data platform, analytical excellence, and strategic decision support.

The Opportunity

The Head of Data Engineering is a founding leader accountable for the enterprise data strategy and the design, build, and operation of the entire data ecosystem. Every underwriting decision, pricing model, claim outcome, regulatory filing, and dollar reported to our parent depends on this platform. This is not a caretaker position: the Head of Data Engineering defines the data agenda for the enterprise, owns it end to end, and is accountable for its outcomes at the executive level.
This leader builds with leverage rather than headcount: commanding an extended delivery organization drawn from Aviva group's global data capabilities, a strategic partnership with Snowflake, and contracted vendor teams — and owning its output as if it were their own.

What you’ll do

Enterprise Data Strategy and Architecture
•    Own the enterprise data strategy: how data is captured, modeled, governed, and distributed across every function and line of business.
•    Define and own the canonical data model — the single semantic authority for policy, claim, billing, and financial data — and enforce it across all vendor platforms, with authority to accept or reject integrations based on data quality and schema conformance.
•    Drive the data agenda at the executive level, setting priorities and holding the enterprise accountable to data standards no system or process is permitted to violate.
Data Platform Ownership and Delivery
•    Own the end-to-end data platform: event ingestion from the Kafka backbone, the Snowflake analytics hub, dbt transformation layers, and the semantic and reporting layers above them — from greenfield to production on the timeline the business demands.
•    Lead the Snowflake strategic partnership as the company's key data relationship, directing its professional services and engineering resources as an extension of the function.
•    Drive automated pipelines for bordereaux ingestion, validation, and reconciliation across MGA programs, TPA claims feeds, and reinsurer reporting, and own platform reliability, scalability, and cost as a production-grade operation.

Financial and Regulatory Data
•    Own the data architecture serving US GAAP, US Statutory, and IFRS 17 reporting from a single transaction-level foundation — one data spine, three frameworks, no re-keying.
•    Own the data underpinning statutory filings, NAIC reporting, AM Best submissions, and state examinations, and stand personally accountable for its accuracy, completeness, and auditability.
•    Drive the quarterly and annual data delivery to Aviva plc, owning the relationship with group finance and actuarial data consumers in London.

Governance, Analytics, and AI Enablement
•    Own the enterprise data governance framework — ownership, stewardship, lineage, quality, and access control — enforced in the architecture, and lead compliance with data-related regulatory obligations (NYDFS Part 500, state privacy statutes, Aviva group data policies) in partnership with compliance and security leadership.
•    Own the analytics estate and the data foundation for every AI capability the company deploys, defining what the company measures and delivering the single trusted version of performance to leadership, underwriting, actuarial, and finance.

Extended Team and Partner Leadership
•    Direct a leveraged delivery model: mobilize Aviva group data engineering capabilities, lead contracted vendor teams, own the commercial and performance management of every partner in the data estate, and define the standards and operating model of the function, shaping the case for internal hires as the platform grows.
•    Own the data relationship with Aviva Group, representing the US platform to group data, finance, and technology leadership in London — securing group resources where they accelerate the build and defending startup-speed autonomy where they do not.
Cross-Functional Leadership
• Collaborate with executive leaders across the organization.
• Drive alignment between data strategy and business objectives.
• Support enterprise initiatives and organizational priorities.
• Promote collaboration across underwriting, claims, finance, operations, and product functions.
• Contribute to enterprise decision-making and strategic planning processes.

What you’ll bring

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Data Engineering, Information Systems, or a related quantitative discipline.
• 10+ years of progressive experience in data engineering, data architecture, or enterprise data platform leadership, including accountability for production data platforms at scale.
• Deep hands-on expertise with the modern cloud data stack, including Snowflake, dbt, and event-streaming platforms such as Kafka.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise data platform builds, vendor delivery teams, and strategic data initiatives from greenfield to production.
• Strong understanding of US Excess and Surplus specialty insurance products and underwriting dynamics.
• Executive-level communication, presentation, and leadership skills.
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive business outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications
• Experience with P&C insurance data structures (policy, claims, billing, bordereaux) and multi-framework financial reporting (US GAAP, US Statutory, IFRS 17).
•    Snowflake, dbt, or cloud data platform certifications (e.g., SnowPro, AWS, Azure).
• Experience supporting executive leadership teams and board-level discussions.
• Advanced business education (MBA or equivalent) preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Competencies
• Enterprise Data Strategy and Architecture
• Cloud Data Platforms (Snowflake, dbt, Kafka)
• Canonical Data Modeling and Semantic Layer Design
• Data Governance, Lineage, and Quality Management
• Financial and Regulatory Data (US GAAP, Statutory, IFRS 17)
• Data Pipeline Engineering and Bordereaux Automation
• Analytics, BI, and AI Data Enablement
• Vendor and Partner Delivery Management

What You'll Gain

• Leadership responsibility for Aviva’s Data strategy
• Significant influence on enterprise growth, profitability, and business performance.
• Executive visibility and leadership development opportunities.
• Ownership of high-impact strategic initiatives.
• Opportunities to shape the future direction of Aviva Specialty.
• Competitive compensation and executive incentive opportunities.
• Long-term incentive eligibility.
• Flexible work arrangements.
• Comprehensive health, wellness, retirement, and financial wellbeing programs.
• An inclusive, innovative, and high-performing culture focused on growth and excellence.

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Travel Requirements: Up to 25% travel for executive leadership meetings, strategic planning sessions, broker and client engagements, industry conferences, and cross-functional business initiatives.

Physical Requirements: This position is primarily performed in an office or remote work environment and requires prolonged periods of computer use, analysis of complex business and technical data, communication with internal and external stakeholders, and participation in virtual and in-person meetings.

Salary Range: $200,000 – $275,000 plus annual incentive and long-term incentive eligibility