SME Commercial Underwriter - New Business

AXA UK; Bolton; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking company as a New Business Underwriter, where you'll play a pivotal role in supporting SME clients and developing strong relationships with brokers. This position offers a dynamic work environment focused on teamwork, development, and exceptional customer service. You'll have the opportunity to enhance your technical skills and grow your career while contributing to a supportive team culture. With a strong commitment to employee development and a focus on innovation, this role is perfect for those looking to make a significant impact in the insurance industry. Don't miss the chance to be part of a transformative journey at AXA UK!

Benefits

Competitive annual salary

Annual company & performance-based bonus

Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)

Life Assurance (up to 10 x annual salary)

25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays

Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave

AXA employee discounts

Gym benefits

Qualifications

• Experience in a P&C underwriting environment, with strong technical expertise.
• Ability to build strong broker relationships and monitor account performance.

Responsibilities

• Underwrite SME products profitably while developing broker relationships.
• Monitor book performance and take corrective actions as needed.

Skills

Technical Underwriting Expertise

Broker Relationship Management

Analytical Skills

Negotiation Skills

Commercial Awareness

Education

Experience in P&C Underwriting

Tools

Underwriting Tools

Job description

Description

At AXA Commercial, we support our business customers, large and small, by making it easy for them to do business with us in the way that suits them. Whether they insure with us via brokers, directly on the phone or online through comparison sites, we've got them covered. Building on our success, a key initiative for the future of AXA Commercial is enhancing our current teams with experienced, engaging, and forward-thinking Commercial Underwriters.

Due to team expansion, we currently have a number of roles available in our SME team. These roles provide a fantastic opportunity for you to build key foundations and shape the narrative, that will provide AXA the exposure and scope required for growth.

We're very proud of our focused SME unit following the successful launch of creating a single SME operating model, that has delivered effective and efficient work streams, giving choice. If you want to take on a new opportunity in a supportive environment, we’re looking for an experienced New Business Underwriter, where you’ll be part of a team where people, development and teamwork are a key focus.

We pride ourselves on not only our strong team engagement but forming long lasting relationships with our UK Brokers, based on integrity, honesty and transparency, as well as a great service with the end Customer being at the heart of everything we do.

What you’ll be doing:

• Deliver on trading team targets through profitable underwriting of our products for SME New Business, whilst developing key relationships and credibility with brokers and customers.
• You’ll be proactive, outgoing and confident in dealing with our strategic partners, retaining and maximising business through the delivery of exceptional customer service.
• Underwrite our products for SME customers profitably, accurately, consistently using the full range of appetite and tools available.
• Be an advocate for AXA contributing to meetings with brokers to secure clients, you’ll be an active and visible coach to executive leaders who are change sponsors.
• Monitor the overall performance of the book you’re responsible for and ensuring remedial action is taken to correct any performance issues.

What’s in it for you:

• We’ll equip you with the technical skills for tomorrow: It’s our job to support you in becoming an expert who has ownership over their work. We want you to be confident that you can make an impact by helping our customers. We ask ourselves what we can do today that will help us in the future. That’s why we offer continuous development to help our colleagues become experts in tomorrow.
• Build a career that’s as dynamic as the market you work in: We’re on a journey of transformation, so we’re investing in new technology that enables us to help our people and businesses thrive.
• Shape your career one decision at a time: We’ll support you to progress through the business and are committed to developing talent. We do this with training and tailored development plans.

At AXA we work smart, empowering our people to balance their time between home and the office in a way that works best for them, their team and our customers. You'll work at least 40% of your week away from home, moving to the majority of your working week from September 2025. Away from home means either attendance at one of our office locations, visiting clients or attending industry events.

We know that some candidates may be discouraged from applying if they don't meet every requirement. If you’re excited by this job and the prospect of working at AXA but you’re not sure you tick every box, we’d still encourage you to apply.

What you’ll bring:

• Keep an open mind: Keen to learn and challenge the status quo, able to approach tasks from different perspectives while focusing on helping colleagues and customers.
• Stay curious: You’ll be perceptive of what our customers and the market want, and bring that knowledge into your work, whilst making the most of AXA’s development opportunities.
• Be a team player: Able to use your unique skills and knowledge to collaborate with your colleagues, take accountability and discover new ways of doing things.
• Experience of working in a P&C underwriting environment be that with an insurer or a broker.
• High level of technical underwriting expertise. You’ll possess a strong trading capability, commercial awareness, and expert negotiation skills.
• Ability to build strong broker relationships and a sound understanding of the current commercial insurance market.
• Sound knowledge of legislative and regulatory requirements for insurance, including treating customers fairly.
• Developed analytical skills with proven experience of account monitoring and action planning.
• You’ll be pragmatic and a confident decision maker, with meticulous numerical reasoning skills.

As a precondition of employment for this role, you must be eligible and authorised to work in the United Kingdom.

This position has been defined as an Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD) role under the IDD regime which means that in addition to pre-employment screening checks, the successful candidate will be subject to background screening every 4 years with an annual declaration in interim years.

What we offer:

At AXA UK, we’re appreciative of the people who work for us and our rewards package is reviewed regularly to reflect that. You can expect to receive:

• Competitive annual salary
• Annual company & performance-based bonus
• Contributory pension scheme (up to 12% employer contributions)
• Life Assurance (up to 10 x annual salary)
• 25 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays
• Opportunity to buy up to 5 extra days leave or sell up to 3 days leave
• AXA employee discounts
• Gym benefits

To apply, click on the ‘apply for this job’ button, you’ll then need to log in or create a profile to submit your CV. We’re proud to be an Equal Opportunities Employer and don’t discriminate against employees or potential employees based on protected characteristics. If you have a long term condition or disability and require adjustments during the application or interview process, we’re proud to offer access to the AXA Accessibility Concierge. For our support, please send an email to [e-mail].

Who we are:

AXA Commercial protects businesses, from multinationals to micro start-ups, giving them the confidence to thrive. We’re currently making our biggest ever investment to develop the expertise and skills we need to be the best. We’re a vibrant community where everyone is supported to learn, develop, and take ownership of their work.