Senior Underwriter, Business Insurance

Travelers; England; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Pension plan

Holiday entitlement 25 days +

Wellness programme

Volunteer rewards

Job summary

Travelers is seeking an Underwriter in the UK to manage a diverse book of business across property and casualty products. You will underwrite, negotiate, and bind risk while maintaining profitable growth and retention.

The role requires proactive portfolio management, broker relationships, and collaboration with sales and product teams. You will analyse risks, identify opportunities to expand offerings, and mentor junior staff while travelling for meetings as needed.

Qualifications

• Strong analytical and critical thinking to underwrite, market products, and assess risk within risk appetite.
• Excellent negotiation and communication skills, especially with brokers.
• Ability to work with diverse teams and mentor others while contributing to strategic goals.

Responsibilities

• Manage profitability, growth and retention of an assigned book of business across products.
• Underwrite and negotiate moderate to complex risks to minimize risk and maximize profitability, including MTAs.
• Proactively manage portfolio to achieve KPIs and pursue new business and retention.
• Identify and capture opportunities to write additional lines of business based on product knowledge and risk characteristics.
• Utilise technology platforms to quote and bind risk efficiently.
• Lead Underwriting Reviews for policies or portfolios and manage action points.
• Develop relationships with brokers to market Travelers’ products and maintain risk appetite.
• Support and mentor junior team members and collaborate with other teams as needed.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Negotiation

Communication

Underwriting knowledge

Education

A Levels or equivalent

Job description

Who Are We?

Taking care of our customers, our communities and each other. That’s the Travelers Promise. By honoring this commitment, we have maintained our reputation as one of the best property casualty insurers in the industry for over 170 years. Join us to discover a culture that is rooted in innovation and thrives on collaboration. Imagine loving what you do and where you do it.

Job Category

Underwriting

Target Openings

1

What Is the Opportunity?

Business Insurance helps companies in the UK and Ireland identify, prepare for and mitigate risks by offering a broad array of industry-specific, combined property and casualty insurance solutions to customers. This includes SME solutions traded directly, Commercial Accounts traded via brokers, and Corporate Solutions to FTSE 350 Risk Managed companies. You will proactively manage the submissions, quotes and binds for new business/or renewals to deliver against target quote and conversion ratios. You will strategically partner with brokers to provide insurance solutions to customers. You will analyse and evaluate risk to achieve business goals within an assigned portfolio. You are decisive, detail-oriented, and know how to build relationships internally and externally and negotiate terms to drive results. Your ability to independently assess moderately complex risks, negotiate terms, and sell our products in challenging markets will contribute to the sustainable profitability and success of Travelers.

What Will You Do?

• Manage the profitability, growth, and retention of an assigned book of business primarily comprised of moderate to complex accounts across all our products.
• Underwrite and skillfully negotiate moderate to complex risks to minimise risk and maximise profitability, including Mid Term Adjustments (MTAs).
• Proactively manage your portfolio, ensuring key performance indicators are consistently achieved and you actively target new business and retention.
• Identify and take corrective action based on individual risk characteristics identified through Portfolio Management to actively manage your portfolio of risks.
• Identify and capture opportunities to write additional lines of business using knowledge of products, risk characteristics and appetite.
• Proactively utilise various technology platforms to quote and bind risk efficiently.
• Prepare, lead and present Underwriting Reviews for individual policies or portfolios/schemes and manage action points.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with internal partners within the business unit and across the enterprise to identify cross-selling opportunities.
• Foster and maintain relationships with brokers by phone, email or other communication channels to market and sell Travelers products with a goal of writing and retaining accounts consistent with our risk appetite. Must be able to travel to meetings.
• Develop and execute retention plans and support the new business teams to win business that align with the team’s sales plans to drive success working in partnership with the sales team.
• Train and mentor less experienced underwriters.
• Support and collaboration for more junior members of the team, including referrals.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What Will Our Ideal Candidate Have?

• A Levels or similar qualification.
• Knowledge: Deep knowledge of products, the regulatory environment, and the local insurance market.
• Analytical/Critical thinking: Strong critical thinking skills with the ability to underwrite, market products, identify financial challenges, and analyse available information to make decisions in alignment with our risk appetite.
• Communication/Influence: Excellent communication skills with the ability to successfully negotiate in difficult situations with brokers.
• Inclusion: Ability to work with people from different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, races, etc. and views those differences as assets to be leveraged to accomplish business goals and objectives.
• Leadership: Experience coaching and mentoring others.
• Industry / Competitor Analysis: Review competitor press releases and industry trade press for helpful insights, linking key themes together and identifying applicability to team strategies.
• Project Management: Participate in and/or lead projects that involves complex analysis and implementation of non-complex, routine business and regulatory changes relating to the enhancement, maintenance or introduction of new products.

What is a Must Have?

• Strong experience of underwriting, product knowledge, financial analysis, or risk assessment experience.

What Is in It for You?

• Private Medical Insurance: On commencement of employment, you are eligible for single cover provided by Travelers, with the option to add cover for your dependents, at your expense through payroll deduction.
• Retirement: Travelers will make a core contribution of a percentage of salary to your Pension Plan. Additionally, if you decide to contribute to the plan, you will receive an increased company contribution.
• Holiday Entitlement: Start your career at Travelers with a minimum of 25 days holiday entitlement annually, plus the opportunity to purchase additional days to allow for up to a total of 35 holidays per year.
• Wellness Programme: The Travelers wellness programme is comprised of tools, discounts and resources that empower you to achieve your wellness goals and caregiving needs. In addition, our mental health programme provides access to free professional counseling services and other resources that support your daily life needs.
• Volunteer Encouragement: We have a deep commitment to the communities we serve and encourage our employees to get involved. Travelers has a Matching Gift and Volunteer Rewards programme that enables you to give back to the charity of your choice.

Employment Practices

Travelers is an equal opportunity employer. We value the unique abilities and talents each individual brings to our organization and recognize that we benefit in numerous ways from our differences.