Head : Commercial Underwriting at Guardrisk

Role Purpose    

• Overall leadership withinin and management of specific insurance product offering with the GGI division. Stakeholder management with all sectors to ensure that the key goals of the division from a personnel,revenue and expense management are achieved.

Requirements    

• Matric
• FAIS compliant
• RE5 Short Term (Commercial and Personal Lines)
• Insurance Exams
• Computer Literacy,minimum MS Office suite
• At least 10 years’ experience in commercial underwriting or sales
• At least 5 years’ management and leadership experience of a team of specialist underwriters and / or portfolio managers
• Technical knowledge on the underwriting of Non-Motor and Motor Commercial risks
• Good marketing skills and strong established relationships with short term broker market

Duties & Responsibilities    

• Analyses quality and quantity of risks underwritten and prepare reports that review broker / intermediate books and profit / growth trends with recommended action plans
• Analyses regional underwriting performance, identifying problems within the portfolio and proposed action plans to address / rectify portfolio performance
• Monitors market conditions, competitive landscape and researches risk, environment and factors necessary to grow new business of identified accounts
• Knowledge of facultative placements
• Ensure all risks are written within our Treaty limits
• Ensure no declined risks are accepted or renewed
• Performs analysis of complex accounts by combining past experience, intuition and commercial / business acumen to fully understand the risk to enable strategic portfolio decisions to be made
• Ensures the portfolio achieve production, profitability and service objectives
• Quote, price and underwrite renewal policies and endorsements, primarily for complex or service sensitive accounts
• Monitors risk selection and pricing decisions for portfolio/s both on a book of business and at an individual account level
• Understands workflows during high volumes and identifies and / or streamlines existing processes or systems to maintain quality 
• standards and achievement of service level agreements
• Proactively identifies opportunities through detailed performance plans with actions, accountabilities and scheduled performance checkpoints to maximize profit and pipeline management of the portfolio/s
• Works with Sales to market organisational products and services to drive broker and company results, including products that may enhance an integrated financial customer offering
• Works with the Sales team to build solutions for brokers to increase portfolio profitability and growth by understanding the customer appetite for organisational products, reasons for policies not being taken up, reasons for service failures and competitor product offerings
• Works with Sales to communicate with brokers to establish the organisation as the provider of choice
• Communicates product, technology changes, industry trends, process inefficiencies and portfolio objectives against plan to the portfolio team
• Completes broker visits with portfolio Sales team when required to develop new accounts, service existing accounts, review broker performance, and enhance broker relationships
• Leads delivery of appropriate customer service levels. Follows up and ensures proper handling of escalated customer service requests
• Ensures that tools, training and support are in place to positively impact success for the brokers within the region
• Identifies and communicates training needs and opportunities. May assist in the development or training content as a subject matter expert
• Staff leadership, management within various divisions
• Ensure statutory and legislative knowledge is always current in order to resolve customer complaints, to advise the business on corrective solutions to mitigate risks and to improve the customer experience whilst complying with governance requirements
• Ensure adherence to organisational policies, practices, guides, mandates and procedures
• Maintain service, quality and desired outputs within a specific functional process through ensuring compliance to tactical policies, procedures and standards
• Establish productive operational relationships with key stakeholders in the various channels and administrative teams
• Develop work routines in line with operational plans / schedules in order to manage achievement of service delivery goals
• Share knowledge on, and participate in the creation of new standards, control systems and procedures to maintain service delivery
• Proactively ensure use of time, of resources, money, materials or equipment is in line with policies and procedures
• Comply with corporate governance policies, procedures and standards
• Operate within agreed mandates
• Align own behaviour with the organisation culture and values
• Share and transfer product, process and systems knowledge to colleagues
• Ensure achievement of own performance objectives
• Actively share information with other team members regarding successes, issues, trends and ideas
• Actively participate in own professional development and career path
• Actively promote a culture of learning and high performance culture amongst team members
• Actively promote a culture of learning and high performance culture amongst team members

Competencies    

• Business Acumen 
• Collaborative 
• Networking skills
• Client orientated