Brokerage Life Underwriter

BUI; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Disability coverage

Retirement plan with company match

Job summary

BUI is seeking an experienced Life Insurance Underwriter to join our in-house underwriting team. This role leverages classic underwriting expertise across multiple leading carriers to advocate for advisors and their clients.

You will evaluate cases in a brokered, multi-carrier environment, negotiate outcomes, and mentor others while maintaining high standards of accuracy and integrity in financial underwriting.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of individual life insurance underwriting experience; fully underwritten cases preferred.
• Experience in traditional life insurance carrier underwriting is strongly preferred.
• Experience in a multi-carrier brokerage/IMO/BGA environment is highly valued.
• Ability to interpret APS, records, labs and underwriting evidence clearly and concisely.
• Proven negotiation skills with carrier underwriters and advisors.

Responsibilities

• Review medical, financial, occupational and avocational information before formal applications.
• Assess underwriting classifications and identify challenges early in the process.
• Recommend carriers and markets most favorable for a given risk.
• Negotiate and improve offers with carrier underwriters as appropriate.
• Develop strategies for complex cases and communicate decisions to advisors.

Skills

Underwriting

Life insurance

Negotiation

Communication

Financial underwriting

Job description

BUI is seeking an experienced Life Insurance Underwriter to join our in-house underwriting team. This is a unique opportunity for an underwriter who has been classically trained in fully underwritten individual life insurance and wants to use that expertise to advocate for financial advisors and their clients.

The ideal candidate began their career underwriting life insurance for a traditional insurance carrier and has also gained experience within a brokerage agency, BGA, IMO, independent distribution organization, or similar multi-carrier environment.

Unlike a traditional carrier underwriting role, you will not be limited to one company's underwriting philosophy. You'll evaluate cases across multiple leading life insurance carriers, identify the most appropriate market, negotiate underwriting decisions, and help advisors achieve the best reasonable outcome for their clients.

You’ll work alongside an experienced underwriting team and have the resources and autonomy to creatively solve complex underwriting challenges.

What You’ll Do

Preliminary & Informal Underwriting

• Review medical, financial, occupational and avocational information before a formal application is submitted.
• Assess anticipated underwriting classifications and identify potential challenges early in the process.
• Recommend the carrier or carriers most likely to view a particular risk favorably.
• Help advisors establish realistic underwriting expectations before presenting solutions to their clients.
• Evaluate impaired-risk and complex cases and develop a strategy for successfully bringing them to market.
• Independently review medical records, laboratory results, prescription histories, financial information and other underwriting evidence.
• Evaluate carrier underwriting decisions and determine whether the resulting offer is appropriate based on the underlying risk.
• Identify favorable factors, additional evidence or alternative interpretations that may support an improved underwriting decision.
• Work directly with carrier underwriters to negotiate and improve offers when appropriate.
• Develop strategies for postponed, declined or highly rated cases, including identifying what additional medical or financial information may improve future consideration.
• Develop and maintain in-depth knowledge of the underwriting philosophies, guidelines and niches of multiple leading life insurance carriers.
• Identify carrier-specific opportunities for medical impairments, financial risks, foreign travel/residency, occupations, avocations and other underwriting considerations.
• Compare underwriting approaches across carriers to determine the appropriate market for complex risks.
• Maintain strong working relationships with carrier underwriting teams.
• Serve as an underwriting resource to financial advisors and BUI teammates.
• Clearly explain underwriting decisions and expectations to professionals who may not have an underwriting background.
• Participate in advisor meetings and educational presentations when underwriting expertise can help solve a case or strengthen an advisor relationship.
• Help BUI place more business by combining sound underwriting judgment with creative case strategy and persistent advocacy.

Who We're Looking For

We are particularly interested in candidates who have experience on both sides of the underwriting process: making underwriting decisions for an insurance carrier and advocating for cases within the independent brokerage market.

The ideal candidate will have:

• 5+ years of individual life insurance underwriting experience, with significant experience in fully underwritten life insurance.
• Formal underwriting experience with a traditional life insurance carrier strongly preferred.
• BGA, brokerage, IMO or other multi-carrier life insurance experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating complex medical and impaired risks.
• Experience with financial underwriting, including larger face amounts and business or estate-planning cases.
• Experience interpreting APS records, laboratory results, prescription histories and other medical underwriting evidence.
• Demonstrated ability to independently assess risk and recommend an appropriate underwriting classification.
• Experience working directly with carrier underwriters and negotiating underwriting outcomes.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex underwriting decisions to financial professionals.
• A proactive, persistent and solution-oriented approach to difficult cases.
• Strong organization, judgment and personal accountability.
• FALU, FLMI, CLU, ALU or other relevant industry designations are highly valued.

Candidates with meaningful individual-life underwriting authority at a traditional carrier are especially encouraged to apply.

About BUI

BUI is a premier wholesale distributor of life insurance, long-term care insurance and annuities. We work exclusively with financial professionals, including financial advisors, career agents, CPAs, employee benefits advisors and property & casualty agents, helping them deliver sophisticated wealth protection and transfer solutions to their clients.

For more than 50 years, underwriting expertise has been central to BUI’s value proposition. Our advisors rely on us not simply to process insurance applications, but to understand complex risks, identify the appropriate market and advocate for their clients throughout the underwriting process.

Through relationships with leading insurance carriers, advanced technology and an experienced team of insurance and advanced-planning professionals, BUI serves as an extension of the financial advisor’s team.

Why Join BUI?

At BUI, we believe in:

Client-First Thinking – Every recommendation prioritizes the client’s best interests.

Exceeding Expectations – We set high standards and consistently deliver exceptional service.

Accountability & Autonomy – Experienced professionals are trusted to exercise judgment, take ownership and deliver results.

Professionalism & Collaboration – Our underwriters work closely with advisors, carrier underwriters and BUI teammates to solve problems.

Structured & Organized Execution – Our methodical approach creates consistency while still allowing creativity on difficult cases.

What We Offer

100% Employer-Paid Employee Health Insurance, plus employer-paid short- and long-term disability coverage

Numerous Additional Voluntary Benefit Plans

Retirement Plan with Generous Company Match and Day-One Vesting

Ongoing professional development and industry education

Ready to Join BUI?

If you are an experienced life insurance underwriter who enjoys solving difficult cases and would like to use your carrier underwriting knowledge to advocate for advisors and their clients across multiple insurance companies, we’d like to hear from you.