Oliver Wyman Actuarial - Senior HC Business Partner - NY/Chicago

About the role

As a Senior Human Capital Business Partner embedded within Oliver Wyman Actuarial’s Property & Casualty and Life practices, you will serve as a senior strategic advisor to practice leadership and act as a key conduit between the practices and the Human Capital team. In close partnership with the Director of HC, you will translate firm-wide HC strategy, talent priorities, and people initiatives into practice-level action while ensuring business realities inform HC decision-making. You will be a trusted thought partner and change agent, helping marry the firm-wide HC vision with business priorities to enable growth, strengthen engagement, and sustain Oliver Wyman Actuarial’s distinctive culture.

This role combines strategic Human Capital business partnership, tactical involvement in the delivery of key HC programs and processes, and support for continuous improvement and operational excellence within the Oliver Wyman Actuarial HC function. As the business continues to evolve and pursue significant growth opportunities, you will play a critical role in helping navigate change, strengthen leadership capabilities, and ensure colleagues remain highly engaged and motivated. You will have a true seat at the table with practice leadership and will be expected to offer leaders constructive guidance, build deep trust and credibility, and influence decisions across a broad range of talent and organizational topics, in full alignment with our overarching HC vision and strategy. You will partner closely with colleagues across functions including Talent Development, Compensation, Mobility, Employee Relations, Finance, and Recruiting to deliver an excellent colleague experience.

This is a hybrid role requiring a presence in the office three days per week; there is no option to be fully remote.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Human Capital Partnership
  • Serve as the go-to Human Capital partner to the Property & Casualty and Life practice leadership teams.
  • Act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, translating business strategy into people priorities and actionable plans aligned with the firm-wide HC strategy.
  • Contribute a strategic Human Capital perspective to practice leadership discussions and influence business decisions.
  • Build strong relationships and credibility across all levels of the organization, influencing leaders through data, business understanding, HR expertise, judgment, and trust.
  • Partner with leadership to anticipate organizational challenges and proactively develop solutions, collaborating with HC functions such as Talent Development to bring these solutions to life.
• Change Management and Business Transformation
  • Lead and support complex organizational and people-related change initiatives, including change management plans, stakeholder engagement, and communications.
  • Help leaders navigate transformation while maintaining colleague engagement, productivity, and culture.
  • Identify organizational risks and opportunities tied to business change and recommend practical solutions in partnership with the Director of HC.
  • Ensure Human Capital is appropriately represented and engaged in significant business decisions and transformation efforts.
• Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning
  • Support workforce planning, leadership development, and people/culture initiatives that advance business aims, leveraging Talent Development frameworks and processes.
  • Advise leaders on people management, leadership, team effectiveness, talent decisions, and organizational dynamics.
  • Identify capability and skill gaps and work with Talent Development, Recruiting, and other partners to develop targeted solutions.
  • Foster a culture of continuous development, accountability, and high performance.
  • In partnership with Talent Development, facilitate talent reviews to identify, develop, and retain high-potential colleagues and craft succession plans for critical roles.
  • Maintain awareness of market trends and talent dynamics affecting consulting and actuarial talent populations.
  • Leverage workforce analytics/dashboards and other talent data to identify trends, inform decisions, and develop actionable recommendations for business leaders.
  • Partner with Recruiting to align hiring plans with business priorities and future talent needs.
• Performance Management
  • Partner closely with Talent Development to ensure performance management approaches remain fit for purpose and support business objectives, delivering seamless mid-year and year-end processes.
  • Coach leaders through performance-related decisions involving both high-performing and underperforming colleagues.
  • Collaborate with Employee Relations and other specialist teams on complex performance matters.
• Colleague Engagement and Culture
  • Analyze annual engagement survey results and ongoing pulse survey feedback to identify key themes and opportunities, in partnership with Talent Development.
  • Monitor engagement trends, retention risks, and other organizational health indicators (e.g., hiring, performance, promotion, mobility).
  • Facilitate action planning with business leaders to address engagement opportunities and improve colleague experience, belonging, and retention.
• Employee Relations
  • Partner closely with Employee Relations specialists on sensitive colleague matters and investigations.
  • Advise leaders through complex people situations while ensuring appropriate risk management and compliance.
  • Support resolution of employee concerns in a fair, thoughtful, and business-aligned manner.
  • Participate in investigations and sensitive employee matters as appropriate.
• HC Effectiveness and Continuous Improvement
  • Support efforts to continuously improve and streamline Human Capital processes and ways of working, driving consistency and reducing administrative burden on the business.
  • Lead by example in the thoughtful use of AI in HC and drive AI adoption within HC and the business.
  • Strengthen collaborations with Global Mobility, Compensation, and other functions to clarify roles, responsibilities, and process steps.
  • Contribute to the continued evolution of a high-performing, efficient, and impactful Human Capital function.
  • Provide oversight, coaching, and/or direct management support to Human Capital Coordinators and other shared HC support colleagues.

Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources experience.
• Minimum 5 years of Human Resources Business Partner or comparable business-facing Human Capital experience.
• Experience supporting senior leaders and leadership teams in complex organizational environments and leading/supporting significant change initiatives.
• Professional services experience required; consulting industry experience strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with the actuarial, insurance, or reinsurance talent market preferred.
• Demonstrated success influencing senior stakeholders and building trusted advisor relationships.
• Experience utilizing people analytics and workforce data to drive decision-making.
• Experience handling complex employee relations matters and sensitive people issues.
• Experience working within matrixed organizations and partnering across multiple functions.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or comparable Human Resources certification a plus.

Skills and Attributes

• Strategic thinker with strong commercial and business acumen.
• Trusted advisor capable of influencing senior leaders through credibility and relationships.
• Excellent change management and organizational effectiveness capabilities.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; high degree of data literacy and comfort interpreting workforce analytics.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Low-ego, highly collaborative, values-driven approach consistent with Oliver Wyman’s culture.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and ability to navigate ambiguity.
• Comfortable challenging constructively while maintaining trust and partnership.
• Self-directed, proactive, and capable of operating independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Passion for building strong cultures, developing leaders, and creating exceptional colleague experiences.

Pay

The applicable base salary range for this role is $150,000 to $225,000. The base pay offered will be determined on factors such as experience, skills, training, location, certifications, education, and any applicable minimum wage requirements. Decisions will be determined on a case-by-case basis. In addition to the base salary, this position may be eligible for performance-based incentives.

Benefits

• Health and welfare benefits
• Tuition assistance
• 401K savings and other retirement programs
• Employee assistance programs