Manager, Home Office Underwriting

Coaction Global; Morristown (NJ); On-site; USD 103,000 - 167,000; Full time

Job summary

Coaction seeks a Manager, Home Office Underwriting – Audit, Governance & Strategic Support to strengthen underwriting practices across audit, governance, guidelines, and strategic initiatives. You will partner with Compliance, Legal, Actuarial, Claims and Data & Analytics to drive improvements and ensure documentation and controls support profitability.

The role emphasizes practical governance, technical underwriting judgment, and project leadership to translate observations into actionable

Qualifications

• 5+ years of Property & Casualty insurance experience, preferably including underwriting audit or home office underwriting roles.
• Strong understanding of underwriting authority, referrals, guidelines, risk appetite, pricing support, policy construction, and regulatory considerations.
• Ability to evaluate files, distinguish document gaps from core issues, and communicate findings clearly.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills for cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute underwriting audit activity including pre-audit planning, file review, fieldwork, reporting and follow-up.
• Review files for adherence to authority, appetite, guidelines, rate/form requirements and documentation standards.
• Evaluate underwriting judgment, risk selection, pricing support, policy construction and referral handling.
• Identify control gaps and opportunities to improve underwriting quality and operational consistency.
• Support governance standards and adoption of underwriting bulletins and referral processes.

Skills

Underwriting audit

Governance

Stakeholder communication

Project management

Analytical skills

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Insurance designation or certification such as CPCU, ARM, ARe, AU, RPLU, or actuarial credential preferred

Job description

At Coaction, we’re a unique mix of leaders, achievers, thinkers, and team players with a high-performance mindset and a diverse skillset. We bring our industry expertise together to continually push the boundaries of what insurance can be for our clients.

The Manager, Home Office Underwriting – Audit, Governance & Strategic Support will support the Home Office Underwriting function across underwriting audit, governance, referral discipline, guideline maintenance, operational controls, and strategic underwriting initiatives.

This role is broader than a traditional audit position. It will help ensure underwriting practices are technically sound, well documented, aligned with authority and appetite, and supported by practical processes that improve underwriting quality, consistency, and profitability.

The role will partner with Underwriting, Compliance, Legal, Actuarial, Claims, Risk, Ceded Reinsurance, and Data & Analytics to identify issues, recommend improvements, and help drive findings or initiatives through resolution.

The successful candidate will combine strong technical underwriting judgment, audit discipline, project management, and the ability to translate observations from file reviews, referrals, guidelines, and portfolio work into actionable improvements.

Key Responsibilities

• Underwriting Audit & Quality Review
• Plan and execute underwriting audit activity, including pre-audit planning, file review, fieldwork, reporting, and post-audit follow-up.
• Review underwriting files for adherence to authority, appetite, guidelines, rate and form requirements, documentation standards, and key underwriting controls.
• Evaluate underwriting judgment, risk selection, pricing support, policy construction, referral handling, and completeness of file documentation.
• Identify control gaps, process weaknesses, recurring issues, and opportunities to improve underwriting quality and operational consistency.
• Partner with Compliance, Legal, Regulatory, and business leaders on rate, form, and regulatory questions identified through reviews.
• Track audit findings, corrective actions, and open items through completion, including periodic reporting on overdue or unresolved items.

• Underwriting Governance, Authority & Referral Discipline
• Support maintenance and continuous improvement of underwriting authority frameworks, letters of authority, referral triggers, and approval workflows.
• Help ensure underwriting referrals contain appropriate analysis, rationale, documentation, and approval parameters before terms are released.
• Assist with development and implementation of governance standards that promote consistent technical underwriting discipline across business units.
• Partner with Home Office Underwriting leadership to identify when guidelines, authority levels, or referral criteria should be clarified, revised, or reinforced.
• Support internal communication, rollout, and adoption of underwriting bulletins, referral standards, process changes, and governance expectations.

• Guidelines, Appetite & Technical Underwriting Support
• Contribute to development, maintenance, and periodic refresh of underwriting guidelines, philosophies, risk appetites, and best practices.
• Assist in translating underwriting strategy into practical guidance that field underwriters can apply consistently.
• Identify areas where guidelines may be incomplete, outdated, inconsistent, or insufficiently tied to authority, risk appetite, or portfolio objectives.
• Support development of technical underwriting resources, checklists, and best-practice materials for priority lines, classes, or emerging topics.
• Help monitor adoption of underwriting standards and recommend training, communication, or process improvements where needed.

• Strategic Projects & Business Support
• Support Home Office Underwriting strategic projects, including portfolio review support, underwriting tool development, exposure or event assessments, due diligence, runoff reviews, and special audits.
• Assist with projects related to ceded reinsurance placements, underwriting guideline changes, business-unit reviews, or risk-related portfolio actions.
• Work with Data & Analytics partners to identify practical analytics, reporting, or workflow tools that improve underwriting effectiveness and decision-making.
• Help develop implementation plans for new processes, systems, guidelines, or governance changes, with focus on adoption and measurable follow-through.
• Provide ad hoc analytical, operational, and project support to Home Office Underwriting leadership as priorities evolve.

• Emerging Risk, AI & Best-Practice Review
• Support review of emerging underwriting risks, market developments, industry events, and new business practices that may require governance attention or updated guidance.
• Assist in evaluating the practical use of AI, automation, and external data in underwriting workflows, including appropriate documentation, controls, and human judgment.
• Help develop best-practice review criteria where expectations are not yet formal guideline requirements but may be important to underwriting quality and consistency.
• Share audit and review observations in a way that helps business units improve without turning every identified opportunity into a formal deficiency.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Partner effectively with Underwriting, Compliance, Legal, Actuarial, Claims, Risk, Ceded Reinsurance, Operations, and Data & Analytics.
• Communicate findings, recommendations, and project status clearly to business leaders and stakeholders.
• Drive follow-through on agreed actions while maintaining a practical, business-oriented approach to issue resolution.
• Balance audit discipline with constructive partnership and a focus on better underwriting outcomes.

Qualifications

Required

• 5+ years of Property & Casualty insurance experience, preferably including E&S, specialty, multiline underwriting, underwriting audit, quality assurance, or home office underwriting roles.
• Strong understanding of underwriting authority, referrals, guidelines, risk appetite, pricing support, policy construction, documentation standards, and regulatory considerations.
• Ability to evaluate underwriting files and distinguish between documentation gaps, process issues, control concerns, and substantive underwriting judgment issues.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present findings and recommendations clearly and constructively.
• Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple reviews, projects, and stakeholders at the same time.
• Self-directed, organized, and comfortable working independently while escalating issues appropriately.

Preferred

• Experience with MGU, E&S, delegated authority, specialty underwriting, or multiline underwriting environments.
• Familiarity with ISO, AAIS, NCCI, state workers compensation bureaus, E&S rules, rate and form requirements, and related compliance considerations.
• Experience supporting underwriting guideline development, letters of authority, referral workflows, portfolio reviews, or operational governance initiatives.
• Familiarity with underwriting systems, document management tools, audit tools, dashboarding, or analytics used to monitor underwriting performance and quality.
• Insurance designation or certification such as CPCU, ARM, ARe, AU, RPLU, or actuarial credential preferred.

Salary range specific to for this role: $103,000-$167,000 + discretionary incentive bonus + benefits depends on various factors including, without limitation, individual and organizational performance. The offered rate of compensation will be based on individual education, experience, and qualifications. In addition, employees are eligible for standard benefits package including paid time off, medical, dental and retirement.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Coaction is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. Coaction’s policy is not to discriminate against any applicant or employee based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law. Coaction also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories.

If your application is selected, you will receive an email directly from the Coaction Recruiting Team at [e-mail] asking you to contact a member of the Coaction Recruiting Team. Any other method of contact may be fraudulent.