Director, Excess Casualty E&S Underwriter

W. R. Berkley Corporation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 130,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, and vision benefits

401(k) and profit-sharing plans

Annual discretionary bonus

Job summary

A leading insurance provider in Chicago is seeking a Director, Excess Casualty E&S Underwriter to analyze potential and existing customers, focusing on risk assessment and underwriting. The successful candidate will build strong relationships with brokers and enhance their underwriting skills through training. A bachelor's degree in Insurance or a related field is required, alongside strong communication skills and flexibility. The role offers a competitive salary, benefits, and a hybrid work environment.

Qualifications

• Conceptualize and analyze financials at a college level.
• Manage multiple priorities and make independent judgments.
• Willing and eager to learn.

Responsibilities

• Gather and review information on customers' financial conditions.
• Assess risk, set rate, and coverage levels.
• Maintain effective relationships with peers and brokers.
• Evaluate risk characteristics of submissions.

Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills

Ability to analyze financials

Organization and flexibility

Team player

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Insurance or related field

Job description

Overview

Company Details From middle market to Fortune 500 companies, our Excess Casualty team is committed to providing excellent service and a consistent approach to meet the needs of our brokers and their customers. We Seek To Outperform Our Competitors With a Focus On Understanding Client’s Priorities And Developing Creative Risk Solutions To Meet Their Long-term Needs. Our Key Differentiators Include The Following – EXCLUSIVE WHOLESALE MARKET – We are committed to the wholesale brokerage community and continually build upon long established relationships with a passion for superior service for our appointed producers. OUR PROFESSIONALS – We attract and retain professionals with significant excess insurance experience, many over 25 years, with a culture that promotes integrity, excellence and respect. LONG-TERM APPROACH TO ACCOUNTS – We continually seek partners for the long term who share our values and our risk management discipline. Long-term relationships have been our management’s trademark in over 30 years of serving customers in the Excess & Surplus marketplace. Our team is dedicated to serving the varied casualty exposure needs of our brokers and their customers. By truly understanding your risk exposures in a constantly changing global environment, we can better work with you to keep risk placement recommendations current and responsive.

Responsibilities

Director, Excess Casualty E&S Underwriter is responsible for analyses of potential and existing customers by gathering and reviewing information on the companies’ financial condition, loss and exposure history, and other relevant information to determine underwriting acceptability. Duties will also entail assessing economic acceptability of the risks and other important criteria that may affect the type of insurance coverage provided and premiums charged. Under supervision, the person in this role will assess risk, set rate and coverage levels. The successful candidate with excellent experience while developing their critical underwriting skills, through both independent and on-the-job training (e.g., job shadowing, mentorship, etc.). It is expected that the person in this role will establish, support, and maintain effective relationships with peers, customers, and brokers/agents. The person will also focus on learning how to evaluate both new and renewal book of business from evaluation to the pricing of the risk.

Broker Management

• Understand the relationship between the brokerage community and underwriting; includes importance of managing the expectations of and communicating underwriting decisions, requirements, and philosophies to brokerage community.
• Maintain producer / agency contact log information in electronic databases.
• Participate in agency visitations with underwriters, claims representative or loss control representative to begin developing customer contacts.

Underwriting Duties

• Evaluate risk characteristics of submissions to determine business opportunities in accordance with guidelines and company philosophy.
• Review underwriting documents for accuracy prior to their release to brokers and/or company clients.
• Learn to analyze coverage and limit requests to determine terms to be offered. Prices business in accordance with company guidelines. Assesses risk quality and compliance within company guidelines and initiates appropriate loss prevention actions. Orders and screens miscellaneous reports needed in the rating and underwriting processes, such as loss history reports, credit checks, outside inspections, loss control, etc.

Pre-Underwriting Duties

• Assist with the input of preliminary underwriting information; gather third party reports and information on submissions, according to priority ranking by the underwriting team.
• Assist with pre-underwriting on renewals prior to the policy expiration date to determine whether notice of non-renewal or notice of a change in risk letters are required. Within guidelines.
• Assist with gathering prior claim history information on renewals and utilize judgment to assist in determining extent of pre-underwriting or non-renewal.

Underwriting Documents Processing

• Receive, accept and follow up for and evaluate additional information for submissions on hold status.
• Follow up with producer to collect accurate lost quotation information.
• Receive, accept and evaluate binder conditions.
• Other duties and special projects as assigned.

This position will be located in the West Loop office 4 days a week and 1 day remote.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with a major in Insurance or related field
• Must be able to conceptualize and analyze financials at a college level, as required by product line.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are a must.
• Must be able to manage multiple priorities and possess the ability to make independent judgments.
• Must be a team player, willing and eager to learn, organized, detailed and flexible.
• Position requires occasional travel, including overnight trips.

The Company is an equal opportunity employer.

Additional Company Details

The Company is an equal employment opportunity employer.

We do not accept any unsolicited resumes from external recruiting agencies or firms.

The company offers a competitive compensation plan and robust benefits package for full time regular employees including:

• Base Salary Range: $130,000.00 - $170,000.00
• Eligible to participate in annual discretionary bonus
• Benefits include Health, dental, vision, life, disability, wellness, paid time off, 401(k) and profit-sharing plans

The actual salary for this position will be determined by a number of factors, including the scope, complexity and location of the role; the skills, education, the credentials and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment.

Sponsorship not Offered for this Role