Vice President, Life Sciences Underwriting Manager

Berkley Life Sciences (a Berkley Company); Naperville (IL); On-site; USD 190,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance

401(k) and profit-sharing plans

Annual discretionary bonus

Paid time off

Job summary

Berkley Life Sciences, located in Naperville, Illinois, is seeking a strategic leader to manage and develop underwriting teams while driving profitable growth across products. The successful candidate will have a strong background in package lines, management experience, and expertise in the life sciences sector.

This role emphasizes relationship management with brokers and requires strong communication skills, along with a commitment to talent development and a focus on results.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in package lines including auto, property, workers compensation, and umbrella.
• Minimum of 5 years previous management experience.
• Life Science experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a strategic vision for profitable growth.
• Coach, mentor, and develop underwriting team.
• Manage senior-level relationships with key brokers.

Skills

Coaches and Motivates Others

Builds Effective Teams

Customer Focus & Teamwork

Innovation and Initiative

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Job description

Company Details

W.R. Berkley Corporation is a Fortune 500 Company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The Company is made up of dedicated and passionate people committed to delivering the highest quality insurance products and services to specialized markets worldwide.

Our culture is one of innovation, creativity and teamwork. Our team is highly motivated, passionate about our business, and deeply experienced in developing and delivering product and service solutions in the life science marketplace. You will join a highly respected team of experienced, successful professionals with deep expertise in this market as they build the company of the future.

At Berkley Life Sciences, we insure the future of life science innovators today. We do so by serving as a preferred market for the life science industry around the globe, offering a broad range of sophisticated property & casualty products and services designed to meet our customers’ individualized needs.

The company is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Berkley Life Sciences professionals cohesively respond to the unique challenges faced by our life science customers. We are looking for talented and dedicated professionals to join our team.

Company URL: https://berkleyls.com/

Responsibilities

This role, a key contributor within the Berkley Life Sciences organization, is responsible for developing and executing a strategic vision that enables the long-term profitable growth of all products within the organization. This role serves as a strategic connector between field underwriting teams, senior management, and external broker partners, ensuring alignment, consistency, and momentum across territories. This includes developing the annual operating plan objectives (top and bottom line) and long-term strategic plan along with a focus on tactical broker / producer development planning. Additionally, this position has direct management of other underwriting leaders as well as responsibility for the team and its results.

In strategic alliance with the SVP, Underwriting Officer

• Coach, mentor and develop team by establishing clear goals and providing regular feedback as well as training and career development opportunities; empower UW leaders to assume responsibility for their functions within the team.
• Provide leadership and direction to the team in order to meet the goals for new business, retention, rate and customer service. Act as a catalyst for field activity, encouraging travel and proactive business development.
• Build team confidence through training, coaching, and field presence.
• Distribution management and expansion. Identify, develop and grow a knowledgeable producer population with an appropriate split between retail and wholesale channels.
• Responsible for results of the team; review results with the CUO; proactively offer suggestions to improve performance and/or remove obstacles as necessary.
• Cycle management- devise strategies and protocols to grow profitably during all market cycles.
• Support the team to build strong relationships with brokers to ensure you meet or exceed financial goals including growth, profit, retention, and new business. Manage senior-level relationships with key brokers.
• Portfolio management to reflect an appropriate balance between segments and diversification of line of business.
• Stay current with all compliance, procedural and workflow changes.
• Work collaboratively and effectively with underwriting associate, operations, legal, home office underwriting and claims. Maintain and evolve the structural framework implemented across the underwriting teams.
• Engage in innovation initiatives, product launches, marketing campaigns and short-term projects as appropriate to contribute positively towards success of the overall team and company.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Minimum of 10 years of package lines including auto, property, workers compensation, umbrella and premises operations experience.
• Minimum of 5 years previous management experience
• Products liability claims made experience a plus.
• Life Science experience a plus

Technical Skills and Competencies

• Coaches and Motivates Others
• Builds Effective Teams
• Customer Focus & Teamwork
• Innovation and Initiative

Additional Qualifications

• Underwriting or field leadership experience. You have a proven track record of leading teams, making sound decisions, and driving results in underwriting or field management roles.
• Strong commitment to employee development. You lead with intention and care, building trust through consistent coaching, open dialogue, and follow‑through. You invest time in mentoring others, recognize potential, encourage growth through feedback and stretch opportunities, and consistently develop talent that delivers results.
• Strong sales acumen. You bring a confident, client-focused presence and a passion for winning business. You understand customer needs, build trust quickly, and consistently deliver results.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills. Your communication style is flexible to the situation. You communicate clearly and with a purpose.
• Calm under pressure. You have excellent organizational skills, integrity, and great follow-through on tasks. You are comfortable challenging norms while collaborating with colleagues at all levels of the organization looking for innovative improvements.
• You have a proven history of building and maintaining strong business relationships with insureds, agents & brokers.
• A strong customer service bias. You want to get to yes. You are known for your super responsiveness. You can say no and preserve your relationships.
• Ability to travel extensively ( up to 50% of the time including overnight travel ) and lead by example in the field.
• Advanced proficiency with the Microsoft suite of products

Benefits

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

• Base Salary Range: 190-250k Depending on Experience
• Eligible to participate in annual discretionary bonus
• Benefits include: Health, dental, vision, dental, 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, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment.

Additional Company Details

We do not accept unsolicited resumes from third party recruiting agencies or firms.