Small Business Underwriting Team Lead

Westfield Insurance; Westfield Center (OH); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Westfield Insurance is seeking a Commercial Lines Underwriting Team Lead to drive profitability, growth, and retention of new and renewal business in the assigned territory. The role oversees underwriting teams, ensures sound decision-making, and aligns with the Underwriting Operations Team and Territory Leaders to achieve financial targets.

The role emphasizes talent development, performance management, and collaboration across regions while maintaining regulatory and industry standards in

Qualifications

• 5-8 years of underwriting experience.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field."

Responsibilities

• Monitors performance of commercial lines staff and participates in branch strategy and business plans.
• Underwriting profitability, growth, and retention of new and renewal business; exercises authority and makes sound decisions.
• Handles referrals exceeding authority limits of team members.
• Ensures authority grants for underwriters are established via data-driven processes.
• Collaborates with Underwriting Operations Team and Territory Leaders; drives best practices."],
• CoT_job_summary_short
• COMPANY NAME: Westfield InsuranceKEY POINTS: Underwriting leadership, profitability focus, team development, cross-functional collaboration

Skills

Directs work

Collaborates

Develops talent

Customer focus

Communicates effectively

Decision quality

Business insight

Nimble learning

Builds effective teams

Manages complexity

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Data Analysis and Reporting

KPI Tracking

Underwriting Strategy

Job description

Job Summary

The Commercial Lines Underwriting Team Lead is responsible for underwriting profitability, growth, and retention of new or renewal business within an assigned territory. The role monitors productivity, prioritization, balancing of workloads, and sound underwriting decisions of their team of underwriters. The role ensures alignment and collaboration with the Underwriting Operations Team and Territory Managers/Leaders, driving a culture of virtual teaming to ensure achievement of territory plans and targeted financial results.

Job Responsibilities

• Monitors performance of commercial lines staff in achieving established goals and participates in the development of branch strategy and business plans.
• Responsible for underwriting profitability growth and retention of new and renewal business, exercises underwriting authority, productivity, prioritization, balancing of workloads, and sound underwriting decisions of underwriters to achieve profit through quality risk selection and exposure control.
• Handles underwriting referrals exceeding the authority limits of their team members.
• Ensures individual authority grants for underwriters are established following a well-calibrated, objective, data-driven process.
• Collaborates with the Underwriting Operations Team and Territory Managers/Leaders, helping drive business development best practices in the underwriting environment, aligned to field operations.
• Partners with the QA underwriting function, utilizing findings to help develop underwriting acumen and decision making of the team.
• Works to increase the overall business and underwriting acumen of the team and its members through one-on-one interactions (e.g., reviewing underwriting decisions, answering questions, listening to phone calls).
• Performs talent management responsibilities including employee selection, performance management, coaching, and development, leading and navigating employee-related issues, employee morale and work environment.
• Manages priorities and workload distribution and removes barriers that impede progress.
• Completes all personnel, salary administration, and reporting duties.
• Remains current on industry topics, trends, methods (e.g., processes), best practices, etc.
• through research, industry events, networking, etc.
• , and shares knowledge gained with others.
• Learns basic concepts of commercial insurance and understand department workflow and processes as well as leads and manages production and support staff.
• Provides underwriting insights that support superior product innovation, development, and maintenance.
• Manages and achieves personal book of business goals and oversees and implements regional strategies.
• Reviews and evaluates regions new and renewal business based upon company underwriting guidelines, competition, and geographic focus.
• Fields questions from underwriting team members and internal and external customers seeking guidance on specific premiums and processes.

Job Qualifications

• 5-8 years of Underwriting experience.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field and/or commensurate experience.

Location

Hybrid – defined as working three or more days per week in the office if the employee’s residence is within 50 miles of Westfield Center, OH; or Remote – if the employee resides more than 50 miles from Westfield Center, OH.

Behavioral Competencies

• Directs work
• Collaborates
• Develops talent
• Customer focus
• Communicates effectively
• Ensures accountability
• Decision quality
• Business insight
• Nimble learning
• Builds effective teams
• Manages complexity

Technical Skills

• Property and Casualty Underwriting
• Compliance Management
• Risk Management
• Financial Controls
• Underwriting Strategy
• Customer Service Management
• Insurance Industry Knowledge
• Technical Documentation
• Commercial Lines Underwriting
• KPI Tracking
• Data Analysis and Reporting
• Account Management

This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed in this role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, skills, responsibilities, knowledge, etc. These may be subject to change and additional functions may be assigned as needed by management.