Director, Commercial Lines Underwriting Operations

Gore Mutual Insurance Company; Toronto; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Director of Commercial Lines Underwriting Operations to lead a dynamic team in driving profitable growth. This pivotal role involves overseeing day-to-day operations, fostering strong broker relationships, and ensuring underwriting integrity. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in commercial underwriting and a proven track record in leadership and management. Join a forward-thinking firm that values innovation and collaboration, and help shape the future of the commercial insurance landscape. This is a unique opportunity to make a significant impact in a hybrid work environment that promotes both in-office synergy and flexibility.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of Commercial Underwriting experience required.
• 3-5 years of people leadership and management experience needed.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Commercial Underwriting team to execute the business strategy.
• Foster strong broker relationships to drive profitable growth.

Skills

Commercial Underwriting

Leadership

Communication

Critical Thinking

Problem Solving

Collaboration

Curiosity

Growth Mindset

Initiative

Relationship Development

Education

Post Secondary Education (Degree or Diploma)

CIP

FCIP

CRM

Job description

Director, Commercial Lines Underwriting Operations

Next Horizon is here. Fueled by investments in talent and technology, our bold strategy to transform is nearly complete.

At Gore Mutual, we’ve always set ourselves apart as a modern mutual that does good. Now, we’re proudly building on that legacy to transform our company—and our industry—for the better.

The Director, Commercial Underwriting Operations, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the commercial insurance team, including execution of the commercial lines business plan and strategic initiatives to deliver profitable growth. They lead a team of Commercial Lines Managers who in turn manage team leaders and underwriters who are collectively responsible for developing successful broker relationships and managing a profitable Commercial Insurance portfolio. They will maintain the underwriting integrity of the Commercial Insurance portfolio with the assistance of the Product & Pricing and Corporate Underwriting Directors.

Day to Day Team Operations

• Providing leadership and guidance to ensure the Commercial Underwriting team is executing on the Commercial Strategy.
• Fostering a solution-oriented culture.
• Scheduling, recruitment, coaching, adherence to service levels, work distribution, underwriting referrals, accommodation decisions and workflow management.
• Creative problem solving, analytical, strategic, project management skills.
• Collaboration with the Commercial Leadership team to share and leverage learnings, market and broker insight and challenge status quo to meet Gore’s Next Horizon strategy aspirations.

Broker Engagement

Responsible to set the standard for the Commercial Insurance team, lead and foster strong relationships with our broker and MGA partners:

• Ensure our broker and MGA relationships are value creating and enabling profitable growth.
• Ensure Gore meets the needs and expectations of brokers and MGA’s while managing our underwriting integrity.
• Assist in the development a strong pipeline of new business opportunities with our strategic partners, including assessment of large deals and leading negotiations.
• Senior referral contact for considering and managing accommodation requests.
• Maintain responsibility for and be seen as the Senior Commercial Insurance leader within the operations team. As such the role is accountable to collaborate with the Business Development team to support strong broker and MGA relationships.

People Management & Development

• Demonstrating and providing exceptional leadership and communication to set the tone for the Commercial Underwriting team.
• Developing a high-performing, solutions-oriented culture that delivers superior results.
• Establishing and fostering strong collaboration and communication capabilities across the team to support the Commercial Insurance team’s success.
• One on one coaching and career development conversations with Managers and setting the standard for the Commercial Insurance team.
• Establishing and managing development plans and performance improvement plans.
• Identifying training needs and working with the Director, Corporate Underwriting to build and deliver the training required to support the team’s needs.
• Providing leadership and guidance to ensure the Commercial Underwriting team is executing on the Commercial strategy, including any changes in appetite, guidelines and products.
• Provide underwriting subject matter expertise in the research, strategy development and creation of new product development, and strategy.
• Build and support a culture that contributes to a robust Commercial strategy execution and product enhancement.

Operational Excellence

• Updating, maintaining and driving operational efficiency through a combination of leveraging workflow, processes, technology and third-party service provider relationships to meet and exceed current Commercial Insurance processing needs.
• Working closely with and collaborate with other leaders across the organization to understand and isolate processing needs and issues and resolve the issues with market leading solutions.
• Identify non-tech dependent opportunities to provide operational efficiency.
• Identify and manage workflows within the team, in accordance with our broker segmentation model, to ensure the Commercial Underwriting team can continue to meet or exceed Service Level Agreements as the business unit grows.

What will you need to succeed?

• 10+ years of Commercial Underwriting experience
• 3-5 years of prior people leadership experience
• 3-5 years of Management experience in profit and loss responsibility
• Leadership: Leading a project team to successfully meet deadlines and achieve goals.
• Communication: Clearly presenting ideas during meetings and effectively listening to team members' feedback.
• Critical Thinking: Analyzing data to identify trends and make informed decisions.
• Problem Solving: Developing innovative solutions to overcome unexpected challenges.
• Collaboration: Working with cross-functional teams to achieve common objectives.
• Curiosity: Continuously seeking out new knowledge and staying updated with industry trends.
• Challenging the Status Quo: Proposing and implementing new processes to improve efficiency.
• Growth Mindset: Embracing feedback and using it to improve performance.
• Initiative: Taking proactive steps to start new projects or improve existing ones.
• Relationship Development: Building and maintaining strong professional relationships with clients and colleagues.
• Solutions Focused: Identifying and implementing effective solutions to meet client needs.

Education

• Completed Post Secondary Education (Degree or Diploma)
• Required to have CIP and preferably FCIP and CRM

Location

We’re a hybrid team that thrives on the energy and value of in-office collaboration. Our Underwriting team has two in-person anchor days a week, meeting primarily in our Cambridge head office with meetings in Toronto as needed.