Commercial Underwriting Specialist (JHB)

Santam; Sandton; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 800 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading insurance company in South Africa is seeking a Commercial Underwriting Specialist to provide advanced technical expertise and mentor a team. The role involves assessing complex risks and ensuring compliance with underwriting standards. Ideal candidates will have 6-8 years of commercial underwriting experience and relevant qualifications. This permanent position emphasizes teamwork and strategic contributions to client outcomes.

Qualifications

• 6-8 years of experience in Commercial Technical Underwriting.
• Completed RE1 / 5 certification is highly advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced technical underwriting expertise and mentor team members.
• Assess and approve complex risks to ensure compliance.
• Prepare and review operational and underwriting reports.

Skills

Analytical Thinking

Business acumen

Team Leadership

Coaching & Developing Others

Education

NQF Level 6 Qualification in Insurance Studies or equivalent

BCom

Job description

The role

An exciting permanent opportunity has become available within Santam Client Solutions for a Commercial Underwriting Specialist to join the team. The successful incumbent will be based at our offices in Alice Lane, Gauteng.

What will you do?

The Commercial Underwriting Specialist role will exist to provide advanced technical underwriting expertise and mentor the COE Underwriting role is responsible for coaching and developing team members, managing workflow and quality assurance, and handling complex or referred risks requiring specialist knowledge. Through effective technical guidance, operational oversight, and collaboration with internal stakeholders, the role enhances underwriting accuracy, team capability, service delivery, and overall operational efficiency, contributing directly to improved client outcomes and the achievement of Santam’s strategic objectives.

What will make you successful in this role?

• Coach and support Underwriting Consultants to ensure high-quality underwriting decisions and optimal team performance.
• Assess and approve complex or referred risks, ensuring compliance with Santam’s risk appetite and underwriting mandates.
• Assist in drafting technical policy wordings, underwriting manuals, and handling reinsurance.
• Prepare, review, and analyze operational and underwriting reports to monitor performance, quality, and risk exposure.
• Adhere to service-level agreements, and assist with efficient team operations.
• Stakeholder Collaboration & Escalation Management: Liaise with Contact centres, Claims, QA, Technical, HO, Assessors, and Forensics to resolve queries and escalations and ensure smooth business operations.

Qualification and Experience

• NQF Level 6 Qualification in Insurance Studies or equivalent
• BCom would be advantageous
• Completed RE1 / 5 certification is highly advantageous
• 6-8 years of experience in Commercial Technical Underwriting

Knowledge and skills

• Analytical Thinking
• Brand Knowledge
• Business acumen
• Decision making
• Strategic awareness
• Planning & Organising
• Process Orientation
• Performance focus
• Team Leadership
• Coaching & Developing Others

Personal Attributes

• Customer focus
• Drives results
• Cultivates innovation
• Being resilient
• Collaborates

Who are we

Santam is the market leader in the general insurance industry in Southern Africa. We are a large, diversified, expanding and transforming company and whilst based in South Africa, we are rapidly moving into a number of emerging markets, both in Africa and Asia.

Our success is rooted in our passion for our clients and everything we do is centered on our delivering client’s freedom from worry. We’re about people. People drive our business so it follows that we want to recruit the best people possible whether they work for us permanently or for a short time as temporary employees.

At Santam we are committed to transformation and embracing diversity. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, representative of the demographics of our society. In achieving our employment equity goals we give preference to applicants from the designated groups in alignment with the Divisions Employment Equity targets.