Team Lead, Agribusiness Underwriter Job #9745

DGA Careers; Southwestern Ontario; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A client is seeking a Team Lead, Agribusiness Underwriter, to mentor and guide underwriters while managing underwriting tasks. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in agriculture and experience in leadership roles, ensuring compliance and optimizing team performance.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years of experience in agriculturally focused underwriting.
• Experience coaching, mentoring, and training others.

Responsibilities

• Coach and mentor team members to achieve goals.
• Manage compliance with quality and service standards.
• Support team in processing new business and renewals.

Skills

Leadership

Coaching

Communication

Collaboration

Education

Graduate diploma in business insurance

Tools

Guidewire

MS Office

Job description

Our client is seeking a Team Lead, Agribusiness Underwriter to join their growing team. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated, results-oriented professional with deep expertise in the agricultural industry. The ideal candidate will be an inspiring leader, capable of coaching, mentoring, and guiding underwriters to help them reach their full potential.

In this dual role position, you will divide your time between mentoring and training team members, as well as completing underwriting tasks. This includes issuing new business, renewing policies, and processing policy changes for complex agribusiness risks, all while ensuring compliance with company guidelines and operating within your underwriting authority.

This role reports directly to the Manager, Agribusiness Underwriting.

All levels of experience will be considered, but preferences will be given to those with five or more years of experience.

Responsibilities

1. Serve as a role model by coaching, mentoring, motivating, and developing staff to support the achievement of goals and objectives.
2. Demonstrate change leadership by embracing change and partnering with the manager to effectively implement it within the team.
3. Co-facilitate and actively participate in team meetings and training.
4. Contribute to testing system upgrades, projects, and committees.
5. Optimize staff potential by applying established performance development standards and supporting ongoing performance improvement initiatives.
6. Manage team compliance with quality and service standards using established audit procedures.
7. Act as the first point of escalation for issues that cannot be resolved within the expertise of the underwriting team.
8. Monitor work productivity; recommend and implement changes to workload distribution.
9. Serve as a subject matter expert to the underwriting team and brokers.
10. Act as liaison with other teams to ensure seamless completion of tasks throughout Kent & Essex.
11. Ensure a safe and healthy work environment by complying with health and safety policies, standard practices, and programs.
12. Identify high queue volumes and actively support the team in processing new business, renewals, and policy changes in accordance with underwriting authority and guidelines.
13. Support a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation within the team.
14. Engage in insurance industry events and marketing activities to strengthen broker relationships and foster team collaboration.

Qualifications

1. Minimum 5 years of experience in agriculturally focused underwriting or brokerage role.
2. Farm background (personal or professional) and/or graduate diploma within the business insurance program or related program would be an asset.
3. A general knowledge of building construction and residential properties is beneficial.
4. Experience coaching, mentoring, and training others to fulfill their potential.
5. Proficient at establishing and maintaining broker relations.
6. Previous leadership experience is an asset.
7. Demonstrated interpersonal skills and excellent oral and written communication skills.
8. Consistently a role model with professional behaviour, positive and passionate attitude.
9. Ability to work well independently and autonomously with minimal supervision, and collaboratively as part of a team.
10. Skilled in leading, coaching, and developing underwriters across varying levels of experience.
11. Experienced in initiating and guiding continuous improvement efforts to enhance process quality and service delivery.
12. Demonstrates strong decision-making skills with the ability to identify and select the most effective solutions or courses of action.
13. Proactive self-starter with exceptional organizational, time management, and project coordination abilities; adept at managing multiple initiatives simultaneously.
14. Fosters a positive team culture and maintains a constructive, collaborative work environment.
15. Experience with Guidewire would be an asset.
16. Proficient with various MS Office applications.
17. Demonstrates a high level of respect for confidentiality.