Claims Team Manager, Auto Bodily Injury

Zurich North America; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

Zurich North America is seeking a Senior Claims Leader to manage Auto Bodily Injury Handlers in a hybrid environment across North America. You will coach and develop teams, set performance expectations and drive service quality while aligning with Zurich's Best Practices.

Reporting to the Claims division, you will oversee exposure management, reserve setting, settlements and collaboration with Legal, SIU and Underwriting.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor with 5+ years in Claims or equivalent.
• Bachelor's degree with 6+ years in Claims or HS diploma with 8+ years.
• Customer service experience and knowledge of insurance statutes and procedures.
• Ability to travel up to 20%.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team of Auto Bodily Injury Claims Handlers.
• Coordinate teamwork and resource allocation for inventory and service delivery.
• Oversee low- to high-exposure auto bodily injury claims and settlements.
• Monitor quality, productivity and financial metrics.
• Ensure timely investigations, documentation and resolutions within authority.
• Review strategies, reserves and settlements; escalate material exposures.
• Conduct file and quality reviews to improve investigation, evaluation and negotiation.
• Use data to identify trends and drive action plans.
• Maintain customer relations and respond to escalations.
• Collaborate with Legal, SIU, Subrogation, and other functions.
• Manage expenses and ensure efficient resource use.
• Ensure compliance with licensing, regulations and internal controls.
• Lead change initiatives and support talent, process and technology improvements.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Customer service

Cross-functional collaboration

MS Office

Insurance regulatory knowledge

Insurance industry knowledge

Travel flexibility

Education

Juris Doctor

Bachelor's Degree

High School Diploma

Job description

At Zurich North America Claims we acknowledge that work life-balance and flexibility are a priority when it comes to choosing your next career move. Designed with our employees' needs in mind, the ZNA Claims hybrid work model emphasizes flexibility, allowing claims employees to conduct individual work in their preferred location, while facilitating in-person connections and collaborative activities when meaningful and valuable. While the model provides a high level of flexibility and autonomy, occasional circumstances requiring in-office attendance should be expected. The candidate selected for this opportunity should be able to report into [one of] the following North American Claims office[s]: Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Schaumburg, Illinois; Overland Park, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; or Gold River (Sacramento), California.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team of Auto Bodily Injury Claims Handlers, setting clear performance expectations and fostering accountability, engagement, inclusion and professional growth.
• Coordinate teamwork activities and resource allocation to support effective inventory management, service delivery and operational performance.
• Provide technical and operational oversight of low- to high-exposure, non-litigated auto bodily injury claims, including liability, causation, damages, coverage, reserve and settlement.
• Drive superior claim results by providing direction and technical guidance and by tracking and reporting key quality, service, productivity and financial metrics.
• Ensure claims are investigated, evaluated, reserved, documented and resolved timely and accurately in accordance with delegated authority; Zurich Claims Best Practices, customer instructions and legal and regulatory requirements.
• Review and approve claim strategies, evaluations, reserves and settlement recommendations within delegated authority, escalating significant exposures, emerging issues and matters outside authority as appropriate.
• Conduct regular file reviews, quality reviews and performance discussions to strengthen investigation, documentation, evaluation, negotiation and resolution practices.
• Use claim, service and productivity data to monitor results, identify trends and implement action plans addressing inventory, cycle time, reserve accuracy, quality, leakage, productivity and customer outcomes.
• Achieve customer satisfaction targets by building and maintaining strong relationships with internal colleagues, customers and brokers; providing proactive communication; responding to escalations; and resolving quality or service concerns.
• Partner across Claims, Legal, SIU, Subrogation, Vendor Management, Underwriting, Risk Engineering and other functions to address claim-specific and portfolio-level issues.
• Manage expenses by monitoring file assignments, staffing and other costs to ensure efficient resource use.
• Ensure compliance with state licensing requirements, unfair claims practices regulations, internal controls, audit standards and all other applicable legal and regulatory obligations.
• Lead change initiatives and support talent, process and technology improvements that advance Zurich's claim strategy and operating model.

Basic Qualifications

• Juris Doctor and 5 or more years of experience in the Claims area OR
• Bachelors' Degree and 6 or more years of experience in the Claims area OR
• High School Diploma or Equivalent and 8 or more years of experience in the Claims area AND
• Customer service experience
• Experience with Microsoft Office
• Experience collaborating across work groups
• Knowledge of insurance legal statutes and procedures
• Knowledge of the insurance industry, claims and the insurance legal and regulatory environment
• Travel 0-20%

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior direct people-management experience with demonstrated success setting expectations, coaching performance, developing talent and fostering an inclusive, accountable team environment
• Experience handling auto bodily injury claims involving liability, causation, damages and coverage
• Demonstrated judgment in evaluating exposure, setting reserves, establishing claim strategy, exercising settlement authority and escalating material risks
• Experience managing team performance through operational metrics, file-quality results and action plans addressing inventory, cycle time, reserve accuracy, leakage, productivity and customer outcomes
• Strong working knowledge of multi-jurisdictional auto liability laws, regulatory requirements, internal controls and claims governance
• Demonstrated ability to influence across functions and organizational levels, manage escalations and communicate clear recommendations to senior claims leadership
• Strong customer and broker relationship-management skills, including the ability to balance account expectations with sound claim handling, compliance and financial discipline
• Excellent communication, negotiation, decision-making and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to lead through complex or sensitive claims and personnel matters
• Demonstrated success leading process, technology or organizational change and translating broader claims strategy into executable team priorities

Your pay at Zurich is based on your role, location, skills, and experience. We follow local laws to ensure fair compensation. You may also be eligible for bonuses and merit increases. If your expectations are above the listed range, we still encourage you to apply-your unique background matters to us.

The pay range shown is a national average and may vary by location. The proposed salary range for this position is $100,200.00 - $164,100.00, with short-term incentive bonus eligibility set at 15%.

We offer competitive pay and comprehensive benefits for employees and their families. [Learn more about Total Rewards here.]

Zurich in North America does not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, age, disability, protected veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, pregnancy or other characteristics protected by applicable law. Equal Opportunity Employer disability/vets.

Zurich complies with 18 U.S. Code

Location(s): AM - Addison, AM - Atlanta, AM - Gold River, AM - Omaha, AM - Overland Park, AM - Schaumburg

Remote Working: Hybrid

Schedule: Full Time

Employment Sponsorship Offered: No

Hiring Manager Name: Drew Nicolls

Recruiter Name: Michael Gettinger

Job Level: 6M

Division: Claims

Internal Referral Bonus: $500.00

External Referral Bonus: $2,500.00