Senior Underwriter – New Business

Benefact Group; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Pension up to 12%

Bonus 6–24% on-target

25 days annual leave

Private healthcare

Income protection

Life assurance

£200 charity grant annually

Volunteer day

Employee Assistance Programme

Study support

Virtual GP

Enhanced maternity/paternity pay

Job summary

Ecclesiastical Insurance, part of Benefact Group, is seeking a Senior New Business Underwriter for our Birmingham office to support growth. You will underwrite property and casualty opportunities, mentor colleagues, and collaborate with commercial partners, handling premiums from £5,000 to £250,000 and beyond.

You will contribute to underwriting excellence, coach peers, and maintain strong broker relationships while navigating market trends and guidelines in a dynamic team.

Qualifications

• Significant experience underwriting Property and Casualty risks.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret data and assess exposures.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-management skills with brokers and clients.
• Solid understanding of underwriting principles, legislation, and market trends.
• Ability to manage a busy caseload and work under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Develop, negotiate, and profitably underwrite new business within own authority and in line with Ecclesiastical strategy, delivering underwriting excellence through specialist knowledge and expertise.
• Act as a referral point for the team providing coaching, training and support for colleagues including supporting lesser experienced members of the team with their broker engagement and Underwriting development.
• Plan, prioritise and manage individual work to deliver agreed objectives and meet SLAs to deliver exceptional customer service and support Ecclesiastical's right first-time approach maintaining successful internal and external relationships.
• Build and maintain commercial relationships including commercial visits and activity.
• Identify areas for continuous improvement and simplification in our processes and ways of working including sharing of best practice and knowledge which would benefit the wider team.

Skills

Underwriting

Negotiation

Relationship management

Data interpretation

Mentoring coaching

Education

Dip CII

Job description

Working hours: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Duration: Permanent

Location: Birmingham

Job Ref: 205321

About The Role

Ecclesiastical Insurance, who are proudly part of Benefact Group are looking for a Senior New Business Underwriter to join our Birmingham office to support our ambitious growth plans. You will be working on property and casualty new business opportunities with premiums ranging from £5,000 to £250,000 and beyond.

As a Senior Underwriter you will also play a key part in mentoring and coaching team members, conducting audits, and collaborating with commercial partners. You'll work closely with various stakeholders and referral points within the business, contributing to a dynamic and high-performing new business underwriting team.

Why join us?

Join a collaborative and inclusive culture that's committed to making a difference and building a more sustainable future. Ranked amongst the UK's 15 Best Big Companies to Work For in 2025, we offer fantastic career and development opportunities within a rapidly growing, innovative Group - where all profits go to charity and good causes.

What you'll be doing

• Develop, negotiate, and profitably underwrite new business within own authority and in line with Ecclesiastical strategy, delivering underwriting excellence through specialist knowledge and expertise.
• Act as a referral point for the team providing coaching, training and support for colleagues including supporting lesser experienced members of the team with their broker engagement and Underwriting development.
• Plan, prioritise and manage individual work to deliver agreed objectives and meet SLAs to deliver exceptional customer service and support Ecclesiastical's right first-time approach maintaining successful internal and external relationships.
• Build and maintain commercial relationships including commercial visits and activity.
• Identify areas for continuous improvement and simplification in our processes and ways of working including sharing of best practice and knowledge which would benefit the wider team.

What you'll need to have

• Significant experience underwriting and trading Property and Casualty risks, ideally within commercial or specialty markets.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, assess exposures, and make sound underwriting decisions.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-management skills, with a confident and professional approach when dealing with brokers and clients.
• Solid understanding of underwriting principles, legislation, and market trends.
• Ability to manage a busy caseload, prioritise effectively, and work under pressure.

What makes you stand out

• Qualified Dip CII or commitment to achieve within an agreed timescale.
• Experience mentoring or supporting the development of other underwriters is highly desirable.
• Experience of conducting training and coaching.
• Experience of meeting end customers.
• Strong broker relationships.

What we offer

• A competitive salary - let's discuss it
• Hybrid working
• Group Personal Pension - up to 12% employer contribution
• Generous annual bonus scheme: on-target bonus between 6% - 24%
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, and a holiday buy and sell scheme
• An array of health and wellbeing benefits, including private healthcare, income protection and life assurance
• £200 annual personal grant to a charity of your choiceEncouraged to take at least one volunteering day per year
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Full study support to gain professional qualifications
• Access to virtual GP
• Enhanced maternity and paternity pay

Hear from the hiring manager

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a collaborative, supportive team that genuinely cares about the work we do and the people we work with. We're looking for someone who is hardworking, enthusiastic, and eager to make a real impact. You'll play an important role in helping drive our company's journey forward, contributing to a team culture built on trust, teamwork, and shared success. If you're passionate about growing your skills and being part of something meaningful, we'd love to hear from you.

About Us

Ecclesiastical Insurance offer insurance with award-winning service across a broad range of specialisms, including faith, charity, heritage, education, art and private client, real estate and schemes, across Ireland, Canada and the UK.

As a business, we've been trusted to protect some of the UK's best-loved and most iconic buildings for over a century, and we're not standing still. We're a forward thinking, energetic organisation entering new markets, with an ambition to double our size, because when we grow, we give back more.

Benefact Group is a unique international financial services Group made up of over 30 businesses. We are owned by a charity and have been the 3rd largest UK corporate donor over a decade*, having given away £250 million since 2014. We have ambitious plans to become the UK’s number one corporate donor, with strategic objectives in place to double the Group’s size.

We believe it's essential to attract, empower, grow and reward talented people, offering fantastic opportunities for career and personal development. Our giving ethos, 135-year history and the diversity of what we do, has enabled us to build a culture of kindness, great ambition, and of passionate people driven to do better and be better.

At Benefact Group, we are committed to creating an inclusive culture and building an environment where each and every one of us feels valued and respected. We are a community made up of people with a range of different backgrounds, abilities, perspectives, beliefs and interests and we value the strength this brings to us as a Group. We welcome applications from everyone.

If you need any additional support during the recruitment process, then please let us know.

• Directory of Social Change's UK Guides to Company Giving 2017-26