AVP, Portfolio Leader

Aon; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 110,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

NFP, an Aon company, is seeking an AVP, Portfolio Leader in the Chicago area to drive regional carrier engagement and portfolio strategy. You will lead matrixed teams, build executive updates, and enable brokers with critical carrier insights to support profitable growth and client value.

Ideal candidates have a decade or more in commercial insurance, strong leadership, and the ability to manage complex opportunities across regions and programs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent; advanced degree or professional designation is a plus.
• Minimum of ten years of commercial insurance, brokerage, carrier management, broking, underwriting, portfolio management, or related experience.
• Experience using data and market intelligence to shape strategy, improve execution, or identify growth opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Own and coordinate regional carrier relationship plans and engage leadership at multiple levels.
• Develop regional portfolio strategies to support profitable growth and client value.
• Enable brokers and account teams with carrier intelligence and portfolio insights.
• Navigate carrier operations, approvals, and escalation paths across regions.
• Lead with influence across a matrixed organization, driving accountability and governance.

Skills

P&C distribution

Carrier relationship management

Consultative problem solving

Data visualization

CRM

Microsoft 365 tools

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree

Professional designation

Tools

CRM

Microsoft 365

Job description

AVP, Portfolio Leader

Who We Are:

NFP, an Aon company, is a multiple Best Places to Work award winner in Business Insurance. We are an organization of consultative advisors and problem solvers. We help companies and individuals around the globe address their most significant risk, workforce, wealth management and retirement challenges through custom solutions and a people-first approach. To learn more, please visit: https://www.NFP.com.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• 1. Carrier Engagement and Relationship Strategy Own and coordinate regional carrier relationship plans in alignment with National Carrier Management priorities and enterprise strategy. Build productive, multi-level relationships with carrier leaders and connect the appropriate regional, broking, industry, risk practice, and specialty resources. Plan and facilitate carrier meetings, appetite reviews, book analyses, growth discussions, and follow-up actions; maintain a consistent and unified message to carrier partners. Curate and distribute current carrier appetite guides, underwriting updates, contact information, market access guidance, and other relevant intelligence. Identify gaps in carrier connectivity or capability and create practical plans to improve engagement, access, and utilization.
• 1. Portfolio Strategy and Opportunity Identification Analyze the P&C portfolio using internal data, carrier feedback, and market intelligence to identify actionable opportunities and risks. Develop regional portfolio strategies that support profitable growth, retention, margin improvement, client value, and effective market utilization. Identify and advance opportunities involving market consolidation, direct-market access, preferred wholesalers, panels, programs, industry and risk practices, cross-sell, up-sell. Translate portfolio insights into prioritized opportunity pipelines with clear owners, next steps, and measures of progress. Monitor results and communicate trends, barriers, opportunities, and recommended actions to regional and national leadership.
• 1. Broking Enablement and Practice Connectivity Enable producers, account teams, and broking leaders with carrier intelligence, relationship access, portfolio insights, and enterprise resources. Partner early with broking leaders to align portfolio and carrier strategy before placement activity begins, particularly for priority opportunities and complex issues. Connect teams to industry and risk practice expertise, specialty capabilities, programs, wholesalers, MGAs/MGUs, London and Aon resources, and other relevant solutions. Promote consistent use of approved broking strategies, tools, knowledge repositories, and portfolio initiatives across assigned regions.
• 1. Carrier Operations Navigation and Escalation Serve as the liaison between regions and National Carrier Management for carrier-related operational needs, including appointments, producer or office codes, portal access, market access, and related support. Help offices identify the correct process, owner, and escalation path; coordinate follow-through when issues span regional, national, carrier, or operational teams. Maintain transparency into recurring access or operational barriers and recommend scalable process, communication, or training improvements. The Portfolio Manager facilitates and navigates support but does not replace the teams accountable for completing operational transactions.
• 1. Leadership, Governance, and Communication Influence across a matrixed organization without relying on direct authority; establish trust through responsiveness, sound judgment, and follow-through. Create clear priorities, operating cadences, dashboards, and executive updates that make progress and accountability visible. Partner closely with regional P&C leadership, National Carrier Management, national and regional broking leadership, industry and risk practice teams, operations, analytics, and other enterprise partners. Demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, confidentiality, and regulatory and compliance awareness. Contribute to the development of portfolio management talent, common practices, tools, and national consistency.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Deep knowledge of commercial P&C distribution, carrier structures, broker operating fundamentals, and the placement lifecycle. Strong portfolio management, carrier relationship management, and consultative problem-solving capabilities. Ability to analyze quantitative and qualitative information, recognize patterns, prioritize opportunities, and convert insights into action. Ability to lead through influence across regional, national, and cross-functional teams in a matrixed environment. Operational judgment sufficient to navigate appointments, codes, market access, portals, and support pathways without assuming transaction ownership. Comfort with data visualization, dashboards, CRM and agency management information, knowledge repositories, and Microsoft 365 tools.

Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and proven experience required; advanced degree or professional designation is a plus. Minimum of ten years of commercial insurance, brokerage, carrier management, broking, underwriting, portfolio management, or related experience. Experience using data and market intelligence to shape strategy, improve execution, or identify growth opportunities. Broad exposure to commercial P&C products, carrier capabilities, distribution channels, specialty resources, and brokerage operations. Prior people leadership or team development experience preferred for leadership-level assignments.

Licenses and Other Requirements

Property & Casualty license required or obtained within 90 days of employment, subject to applicable company and regulatory requirements. Travel as needed to support carrier, team, and business relationships, generally less than 20%. Work arrangement and in-office expectations will follow the requirements applicable to the assigned position and location.

What We Offer:

We're proud to offer a competitive salary, PTO & paid holidays, 401(k) with match, exclusive discount programs, health & wellness programs, and more. Our PeopleFirst culture focuses on building and nurturing lifelong relationships with our employees because, at the end of the day, we exist to be there for others. The base salary range for this position is $110,000 to $125,000. The base salary offered will be determined by factors including, but not limited to, experience, credentials, education, certifications, skill level required for the position, the scope of the position, and geographic location. Actual base salary offered will be determined on a case-by-case basis. In addition to the base salary, this position may be eligible for performance-based incentives.