Martin Clarke has been chosen by the Treasury as the next government actuary following an open competition.
Clarke, a fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, will take up the £185,000 post later this year and serve for five years. He succeeds Trevor Llanwarne who has been in the role since 2008.
As government actuary, Clarke will be the principal actuarial adviser to Whitehall, leading the Government Actuary's Department and serving as its accounting officer.
The department provides actuarial analysis to inform policy, certify technical actuarial positions and deliver pension valuations for UK central government, associated bodies and the devolved administrations. It also provides advice on insurance, risk, modelling and long-term care as well as occupational pensions and long-term social care.
Commenting on the appointment, IFoA president David Hare said: 'Martin will bring a breadth of experience to the position. He has worked extensively in insurance, investment, pensions and risk.'
Clarke is currently executive director of financial risk at the Pension Protection Fund, a post he has held since 2006. As an executive member of the Board, he has led the investment, actuarial, risk and recoveries teams of PPF.
Hare added: 'Martin played a significant role in the success of the [PPF]... and as chairman for the last four years of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association he has helped lead the way in raising the profile of this important area.
'Martin's professional expertise and his evident ability to manage future risks today are crucially important attributes for this role at this time. The IFoA warmly congratulates him on his appointment.'
PPF chair Barbara Judge said Clarke had made an 'enormous contribution' to the success of the PPF, spearheading it investment strategy putting it on course for financial self-sufficiency.
'It's been a great pleasure to work with Martin and I am delighted that he has been appointed to such an important position in government. I am sure he will prove to be excellent in his new role as the government actuary,' she said.
Prior to working at the PPF, Clarke was at the Co-operative Financial Services for 28 years holding a variety of senior positions in their life and insurance business.
He holds an MA in mathematics from Cambridge University.