Lead Underwriter

Etude; United States; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Etude is seeking an experienced P&C underwriting manager to lead our underwriting function and drive disciplined, profitable growth across commercial lines in the US.

You will mentor a team, set guidelines, and collaborate with brokers to deliver high-quality risk assessment, pricing, and portfolio performance, with increasing ownership as the team scales.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of strong commercial P&C underwriting experience.
• Experience working directly with brokers and a strong understanding of the E&S distribution channel.
• Strong underwriting judgment across risk selection, pricing, coverage, and portfolio management.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical leadership and mentor the underwriting team.
• Coordinate day-to-day underwriting activity and ensure risks are evaluated per guidelines.
• Review complex submissions and provide guidance on underwriting decisions.
• Build and strengthen broker relationships to drive profitable new and renewal business.
• Bring E&S market expertise to the underwriting team.
• Partner with leadership on underwriting strategy, risk appetite, and controls.
• Monitor portfolio performance to identify trends and opportunities.

Skills

Commercial P&C underwriting

E&S distribution & brokers

Underwriting leadership

Risk assessment & pricing

Relationship building with brokers

Analytical decision-making

Education

Bachelor's degree in finance, business, risk management, or related field

CPCU/AU/AINS or equivalent (preferred)

Job description

About the business

Etude operates in insurance, commercial real estate, and industrials. Our insurance business covers more than 5,000 properties with billions of dollars in insured value. Our real estate business owns approximately $1B of commercial property alongside the Kinder Family Office. Our industrial business is developing a multibillion-dollar, 40-acre steelworks to secure the domestic supply chain for electrical infrastructure.

About the team

We are roughly a 100-person team. We hire high-agency people and give them autonomy, responsibility, and diverse problems to work on. We operate with the intensity of a small company where every person’s work is visible and believe responsiveness is a form of respect. If you’re looking for a place to sharpen your craft alongside people who take their work seriously, you’ll fit right in.

We are looking for an experienced P&C underwriting manager to join Etude Specialty Insurance and help lead the next stage of growth for our underwriting function.

Reporting to the President & Chief Insurance Officer, you will work closely with our underwriting team to drive disciplined, profitable growth, provide guidance on complex risks, strengthen underwriting standards, and build scalable processes and practices.

A key focus of this role is contributing Excess & Surplus (E&S) expertise to the team. You will help cultivate strong underwriting discipline and distribution relationships while bringing a rigorous commercial perspective to risk selection, pricing, and portfolio performance. This is a significant opportunity to grow with the business and take on expanding ownership of the underwriting function over time.

We’re particularly interested in candidates with broader commercial P&C underwriting experience and a strong wholesale broker background.

What You’ll Do

• Provide technical leadership and mentor the underwriting team through guidance, coaching, and support.
• Coordinate day-to-day underwriting activity and ensure risks are evaluated consistently and in line with our underwriting guidelines and risk appetite.
• Review complex and higher-risk submissions and provide guidance on underwriting decisions.
• Build and strengthen relationships with brokers, serving as a key underwriting partner and helping drive profitable new and renewal business.
• Bring E&S market expertise and valuable broker perspectives to the broader underwriting team.
• Partner closely with our President & Chief Insurance Officer on underwriting strategy, risk appetite, guidelines, processes, and controls.
• Monitor underwriting and portfolio performance to identify trends, emerging risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Establish and maintain high standards for underwriting quality, productivity, and service excellence.
• Work cross-functionally with actuarial, claims, product, operations, and other teams to support profitable growth.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on underwriting processes and best practices as Etude Specialty Insurance continues to scale.
• Take on increasing ownership of the underwriting function as the team and business scale.

About You

• 5+ years of strong commercial P&C underwriting experience.
• Experience working directly with brokers and a strong understanding of the E&S distribution channel.
• Strong underwriting judgment across risk selection, pricing, coverage, and portfolio management.
• Experience evaluating complex risks and making sound, commercially informed underwriting decisions.
• Ability to develop strong, productive relationships with brokers and other external partners.
• Strong commercial judgment with the ability to balance underwriting discipline with profitable growth.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Strong analytical and decision-making skills.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment and helping build processes as the business grows
• Bachelor’s degree in finance, business, risk management, or a related field preferred.
• Experience in E&S underwriting or as a wholesale broker preferred
• Professional designations such as CPCU, AU, AINS, or equivalent are a plus.

If you don’t have all the qualifications listed, don’t worry! We understand everyone’s career path is unique and still encourage you to apply if you feel this role is aligned with your career trajectory.

Employment at Etude is contingent upon a satisfactory verification of a general and criminal background check.