Director, Research & Development, Corporate Underwriting

Northbridge Financial Corporation; Toronto; Hybrid; CAD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work

Salary & benefits

Employee share plan

Pension & RRSP

Insurance discounts

Education assistance

Leadership training

Volunteer days

Job summary

Northbridge Insurance is seeking a Director of Research & Development in Corporate Underwriting to shape growth through market opportunity assessment and strategic leadership. You will drive an innovation pipeline, evaluate opportunities, and guide cross-functional teams from concept to execution while leveraging deep underwriting expertise.

You will lead strategic initiatives, mentor leaders, and work with risk, analytics, and distribution teams to accelerate results in a collaborative,

Qualifications

• Post-secondary education and/or equivalent professional experience.
• CIP and/or FCIP designation preferred.
• Advanced commercial underwriting experience with risk assessment, pricing, profitability, and growth strategies.

Responsibilities

• Provide dedicated research capacity and strategic leadership for Corporate Underwriting.
• Identify market opportunities and advance innovative underwriting solutions.
• Lead development and maintenance of an innovation pipeline and evaluate strategic opportunities.
• Collaborate across underwriting, operations, claims, risk services, actuarial, and technology teams to drive alignment and results.
• Coach and develop team members, including the Project Manager, fostering a high-performance culture.

Skills

Strategic thinking

Team leadership

Influence & alignment

Facilitation

Market insights

Initiative leadership

Ambiguity management

Collaboration & innovation

Partnerships

Execution

Education

Post-secondary education

CIP/FCIP preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

What it’s like to be a Northbridge Director, Research & Development, Corporate Underwriting

As a Director, Research & Development, Corporate Underwriting, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future growth of our business. You will provide dedicated research capacity and strategic leadership for Corporate Underwriting by identifying market opportunities, assessing emerging trends, and advancing innovative solutions that support profitable growth. In this role, you will lead the development and maintenance of an innovation pipeline, evaluate strategic opportunities through market, underwriting, operational, and financial analysis, and provide recommendations that influence key business decisions. Working closely with Line Directors and senior leaders, you will lead cross-functional initiative teams to advance prioritized opportunities from concept through execution and transition into business ownership. You will also bring strong commercial underwriting expertise and market insight to assess emerging risks, evaluate new market segments, and support strategic growth initiatives. As a trusted advisor, you will collaborate across underwriting, operations, claims, risk services, actuarial, reinsurance, technology, analytics, training, and distribution teams to drive alignment, remove barriers, and accelerate results. As a people leader, you will coach and develop team members, including the Project Manager, while fostering a high-performance culture focused on accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement. We want your talent!

If you are great at:

• Strategic thinking and opportunity assessment
• Leading and developing high-performing teams
• Influencing and building alignment across diverse stakeholder groups
• Facilitating discussions and driving consensus
• Translating research and market insights into actionable business recommendations
• Leading initiatives through influence in a matrixed environment
• Managing ambiguity and advancing early-stage opportunities
• Collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Building strong partnerships across business functions
• Driving execution and maintaining momentum on strategic priorities

And you have:

• Post-secondary education and/or equivalent professional experience
• CIP and/or FCIP designation preferred
• Advanced commercial underwriting experience with expertise in risk assessment, pricing, profitability, and growth strategies
• Minimum 10 years of commercial property and casualty insurance experience, including mid-market to large business
• Minimum 5 years of leadership experience
• Advanced expertise in commercial underwriting, pricing principles, profitability drivers, portfolio management, and risk assessment
• Strong knowledge of policy contracts, underwriting guidelines, and regulatory requirements
• Experience assessing strategic growth opportunities and developing business cases
• Experience leading strategic initiatives and influencing outcomes across cross-functional teams
• Strong understanding of insurance functions including Claims, Risk Management, Premium Accounting, and related disciplines
• An established industry network with the ability to leverage broker, partner, and market insights
• Experience evaluating portfolio performance and identifying profitable growth opportunities
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications
• Strong project governance, prioritization, reporting, and resource management capabilities

We really mean it when we say we put you first. Here are a few ways how:

• Hybrid work! We have a flexible hybrid model that allows you to work from home up to 2 days per week, with added flexibility for when you really need it.
• We offer competitive salaries and support your financial health through our employee share purchase plan, pension plans, RRSP, discounts on staff insurance, and more!
• We help you prioritize your well-being from day one through flexible health benefits, early leave days, wellness programs, rewards, and recognition programs.
• We are invested in helping you grow in your career through education assistance to complete your CIP, FCIP, CRM or other courses desired, internal mobility, Leadership training and mentoring programs.
• NBFC cares about the community and supports the causes you believe in with donation matching and team volunteer days.
• We’re committed to pay transparency and fairness.

The base salary range for this position is $150,000 – $170,000, which reflects the expected base pay for the position. The actual base salary offered may vary depending on your experience, skills, and alignment with the role. We also want to be transparent about the family you join.

Who we are:

We’re Northbridge Insurance. We’re proud to work with Canada’s most trusted commercial broker networks. We have a reputation for being one of Canada’s leading commercial insurance providers. By continually striving to challenge the status quo, and by focusing on helping our customers, we’ve been able to build our reputation as one of Canada’s largest commercial insurance providers.

At Northbridge Financial we embrace and celebrate you and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all! No matter who you are or what makes you unique, we welcome you. Please let us know how we can assist or accommodate you during the selection process.

Northbridge Financial Corporation is a leading commercial property and casualty insurance company that’s been helping protect Canadian businesses for more than 90years. We’re 100% Canadian! We offer a wide range of creative solutions to our customers through our Northbridge Insurance, TruShield Insurance and Federated Insurance brands where we strive to create a fair and friendly culture. By continually striving to challenge the status quo, and by focusing on helping our customers, we’ve been able to build our reputation as one of Canada’s largest commercial insurance providers.