Senior Underwriter

Pen Underwriting UK; Leeds; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday plus bank holidays

Defined contribution pension scheme

Life insurance

Critical illness cover

Discounted gym membership

Job summary

A leading underwriting firm in the UK is seeking a Senior Underwriter to join their Risk Managed Commercial team. In this role, you will manage and grow a diverse portfolio while developing new business opportunities. The position requires a CII/Dip CII qualification or equivalent, along with strong underwriting experience and negotiation skills. The company offers a competitive salary, a range of benefits including a defined pension scheme, and opportunities for career growth within a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• Underwriting experience in servicing accounts.
• Proven ability to handle claim queries effectively.
• Strong grasp of risk exposure and acceptance criteria.

Responsibilities

• Manage and grow a portfolio of renewal accounts.
• Develop new business opportunities with clients.
• Mentor and train junior team members.

Skills

Proactive communication

Negotiation skills

Risk assessment

Analytical skills

Detail orientation

Education

CII/Dip CII qualification or equivalent

A-Level education

Job description

Introduction

At Pen, we don’t just underwrite risk, we unlock possibility. We’re a dynamic underwriting and distribution business backed by the strength of Gallagher and powered by a belief that every challenge has a solution. With entrepreneurial energy, niche expertise, and a bold growth mindset, we’re transforming what it means to be an MGA in today’s insurance landscape. Whether you’re shaping new products, solving complex problems, or collaborating across teams, your ideas and initiative will help deliver smarter solutions for our clients—and move the industry forward. Here, agility meets stability. Creativity meets execution. And your career meets real opportunity. At Pen, we champion innovation, value accountability, and thrive on building something better together. If you’re looking to join a team that’s rewriting the future of underwriting, we’d love to hear from you.

Overview

Are you ready to take your underwriting career to the next level? Pen Underwriting is looking for a Senior Underwriter to join our Risk Managed Commercial team. This is your chance to work with a dynamic team, manage a diverse portfolio, and make a real impact in the insurance industry.

The role will focus on underwriting and servicing new, existing or both new and existing accounts.

You’ll have the opportunity to grow your expertise, mentor others, and contribute to our success.

How You’ll Make An Impact

• Manage and grow a portfolio of renewal accounts, working closely with clients to address rating and adjustment enquiries.
• Develop new business opportunities, ensuring excellent outcomes for clients, brokers, and insurers.
• Evaluating risks, handling technical claim cover requests, and liaising with brokers, insurers, and internal teams.
• Review and approve referrals from Underwriters and Assistant Underwriters.
• Operating within your delegated underwriting authority.
• Mentoring and training junior team members, sharing your expertise to help them grow.
• Developing a deep understanding of Pen’s coverage offerings.
• Analysing and interpreting data to compile statistics.

About You

• CII/Dip CII qualification or equivalent, with A-Level education or similar.
• Underwriting experience in servicing accounts, use specialist technical knowledge to handle claim queries, ensuring a connected service.
• Firm grasp of risk exposure, able to determine the acceptance criteria and risk classifications in a range of complex or unfamiliar situations.
• Experience in underwriting and servicing accounts, including handling claim queries.
• Proactive communicator with strong negotiation skills and a keen eye for detail.
• Strong trading and negotiation skills ensuring excellent outcomes for the customer, brokers, Pen and Insurers.
• Experience of planning and prioritising client renewals and seeking new business opportunities.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills.
• A positive, team-oriented attitude with a commitment to delivering excellent service.
• Eligibility to work in the UK.

Compensation And Benefits

On top of a competitive salary, great teams and exciting career opportunities, we also offer a wide range of benefits. Below are the minimum core benefits you’ll get, depending on your job level these benefits may improve:

• Minimum of 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays, and the option to ‘buy’ extra days
• Defined contribution pension scheme, which Gallagher will also contribute to
• Life insurance, which will pay 4x your basic annual salary, which you can top-up to 10x
• Income protection, we’ll cover up to 50% of your annual income, with options to top up
• Health cash plan or Private medical insurance

Other benefits include

• Three fully paid volunteering days per year
• Employee Stock Purchase plan, offering company shares at a discount
• Share incentive plan, HMRC approved, tax effective, stock purchase plan
• Critical illness cover
• Discounted gym membership, with over 3,000 gyms nationally
• Season ticket loan
• Access to a discounted voucher portal to save money on your weekly shop or next big purchase
• Emergency back-up family care
• And many more…

We value inclusion and diversity

Inclusion and diversity (I&D) is a core part of our business, and it’s embedded into the fabric of our organisation. For more than 95 years, Gallagher has led with a commitment to sustainability and to support the communities where we live and work.

Gallagher embraces our employees’ diverse identities, experiences and talents, allowing us to better serve our clients and communities. We see inclusion as a conscious commitment and diversity as a vital strength. By embracing diversity in all its forms, we live out The Gallagher Way to its fullest.

Gallagher is Disability Confident Committed. We have pledged to make sure our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible, in addition to supporting our existing employees with any long-term health conditions or disabilities.

We understand that applicants may have disabilities, if you do, you may find some parts of the recruitment process more challenging than others. Don’t worry, we’re here to help, however, we can only do this if you let us know.

Should you require reasonable adjustments to your application, please get in touch with [e-mail] . If you’d prefer to speak on the phone, please request a call back, leaving details, so we get in touch.

Our employing entity, Arthur J. Gallagher Services (UK) Limited, is proud to be accredited as a Living Wage employer with the Living Wage Foundation. We are committed to diversity and opportunity for all and are opposed to any form of less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender or gender identity, marital status, civil partnership status, parental status, race, ethnicity, colour, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, religion/ belief, age and those with caring responsibilities.

Gallagher believes that all persons are entitled to equal employment opportunity and prohibits any form of discrimination by its managers, employees, vendors or customers based on race, color, religion, creed, gender (including pregnancy status), sexual orientation, gender identity (which includes transgender and other gender non-conforming individuals), gender expression, hair expression, marital status, parental status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, genetic information, veteran or military status, citizenship status, or any other characteristic protected (herein referred to as “protected characteristics”) by applicable federal, state, or local laws.

Equal employment opportunity will be extended in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including, but not limited to, recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, demotion, compensation, benefits, layoff, and termination. In addition, Gallagher will make reasonable accommodations to known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified person with a disability, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of our business.