Agribusiness Lead Underwriter

Davita Inc.; Westfield Center (OH); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

A major leader in property and casualty insurance is seeking an Agribusiness Lead Underwriter to manage and service a profitable renewal book. This role involves leading underwriting decisions, developing agency strategies, and training new employees. The ideal candidate will have significant commercial underwriting experience and robust communication skills. It is a hybrid position requiring close teamwork with both internal and external partners.

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of Commercial Underwriting experience.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Responsibilities

• Leads underwriting for individual applications for commercial lines.
• Calculates risk and determines insurance premiums.
• Develops agency strategies to grow the business.

Skills

Risk Management

Compliance Management

Data Analysis

Financial Controls

Customer Service Management

Underwriting Strategy

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or related discipline

Job description

Job Summary

The Agribusiness Lead Underwriters, working under limited supervision, represents the company among a defined territory of agencies, with responsibility for the managing and servicing of a profitable renewal book of Commercial Lines business utilizing the highest level of technical underwriting ability. The role leads the monthly renewal strategy meeting, acts as an Account Steward for the customer and as a key point of contact for the agency, maintaining and implementing appropriate service strategies to deliver our customer service commitment to the customer. The role makes responsible decisions regarding risk acceptability and pricing. The role also provides agency service and maintain intra-company communications and are regarded as a peer leader, subject matter expert, and mentor for technical and sales skills, and may serve as a direct leader of the Underwriting Assistants.

Job Responsibilities

• Leads reviews and underwriting of individual applications (new and renewal business) for commercial lines and agribusiness, determining acceptability of risk in accordance with company guidelines and standards by reviewing the application and risk for exposure identification.
• Calculates possible risk and determines appropriate insurance premiums using actuarial information, other statistics, and own judgement, within own authority level, making necessary referrals in accordance with company policy.
• Sets accurate, realistic premium forecasts and business plans in a timely manner to enable management to set accurate budgets and performance targets.
• Utilizes strong relationships to build and maintain effective communication externally (between agents and company) and internally (within the company) regarding underwriting procedures and practices, growth goals and objectives, and agency relations.
• Stays current with branch underwriting strategies related to appetite and pricing increases and assists in strategy execution.
• Develops and executes an effective agency strategy to grow the business and participates in underwriting related continuing education.
• Notifies agencies of adverse underwriting decisions, underwriting requirements, status, and declinations and answers questions from agencies, policyholders or other external contacts and escalates issues to management as necessary.
• Keeps current on state/territory issues and regulations, industry activity and trends, and shares this information with team members.
• Engages in and provides subject matter expertise for departmental projects, initiatives, and special studies regarding underwriting procedures and practices.
• Assists in the training and development of new employees assigned to the unit and may serve as a mentor for other underwriters who are seeking development or as a work lead to interns, underwriting assistants or other lower-level underwriters.

Job Qualifications

• 5-8 years of Commercial Underwriting experience.
• Bachelor's degree in Business or related discipline and/or commensurate experience.

Locations

• Hybrid - defined as working three or more days per week in the office if the employee's residence is within 50 miles of Westfield Center, OH; or Remote - if the employee resides more than 50 miles from Westfield Center, OH.

Behavioral Competencies

• Collaborates
• Customer focus
• Communicates effectively
• Decision quality
• Nimble learning

Technical Skills

• Risk Management
• Compliance Management
• Data Analysis and Reporting
• Financial Controls
• Commercial Lines Underwriting
• Insurance Industry Knowledge
• Customer ServiceManagement
• Underwriting Strategy

This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed in this role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, skills, responsibilities, knowledge, etc. These may be subject to change and additional functions may be assigned as needed by management.

Founded in 1848, Westfield is a global leader in property and casualty insurance, delivering superior risk insights and innovative solutions to customers through a diverse portfolio of insurance products. Westfield underwrites commercial, personal, surety, and specialty lines of coverage through a network of leading independent agents and brokers in the United States and specialty products through Lloyd's of London Syndicate 1200. As a mutual insurance company with more than 3,000 employees, Westfield has revenues in excess of $4 billion and more than $10 billion in assets.