Underwriter: Technical

Safire Insurance Company ?; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Safire Insurance Company is seeking a Senior Technical Underwriter to support underwriting outcomes with senior technical judgement and specialist expertise. You will apply underwriting guidelines, mandates and risk controls to complex, unusual or high exposure risks and provide authoritative input across the underwriting function.

You will interpret complex policy wordings, approve or advise on complex underwriting decisions, and manage technical reviews with a focus on edge-of-appetite risks.

Qualifications

• Five+ years’ experience in short-term insurance, with underwriting at senior level.
• Experience in domestic, commercial and agricultural underwriting.
• Proven leadership/mentoring experience.
• Strong analytical and risk assessment capabilities.
• Demonstrated credibility within underwriting discipline.

Responsibilities

• Provide senior technical input and approval on highly complex or non-standard endorsements.
• Act as senior technical escalation point for complex broker or internal underwriting queries.
• Interpret complex policy wordings, clauses and coverage intent.
• Approve or advise on complex underwriting decisions within specialist mandate.
• Apply judgement on edge-of-appetite and emerging risks.
• Manage workload related to technical reviews, referrals and specialist input.
• Ensure technical decisions are documented and defensible.
• Perform or validate advanced risk analysis for complex or emerging risks.
• Review and approve surveys, risk requirements and exposure scenarios requiring specialist judgement.
• Support skills development and knowledge transfer within the department.
• Provide technical underwriting training to the department.

Skills

Technical underwriting knowledge

Policy wordings interpretation

Risk assessment & modelling

Analytical problem solving

Leadership / mentoring

Influence decisions by technical input

AI tools for research (Copilot/ChatGPT

Education

National Senior Certificate (Grade 12)

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business or related field

Job description

As a Technical Underwriter, you will support sound underwriting outcomes through senior technical judgement and specialist expertise, applying underwriting guidelines, mandates and risk controls to complex, unusual or high exposure risks, and providing authoritative technical input across the underwriting function.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide senior technical input and approval on highly complex or non-standard endorsements where specialist expertise is required.
• Act as a senior technical escalation point for complex broker or internal underwriting queries.
• Interpret complex policy wordings, clauses and coverage intent.
• Approve or advise on complex underwriting decisions within specialist mandate.
• Apply judgement on edge-of-appetite and emerging risks.
• Manage workload relating to technical reviews, referrals and specialist input across underwriting teams.
• Ensure technical decisions, interpretations and approvals are clearly documented and defensible.
• Perform or validate advanced risk analysis for complex, unusual or emerging risks.
• Challenge assumptions and methodologies used in underwriting assessments.
• Provide technical input were risks approach tolerance thresholds.
• Review and approve surveys, internal surveys, risk requirements and exposure scenarios requiring specialist judgement.
• Determine appropriateness of alternative controls and mitigations within mandate.
• Support skills development and knowledge transfer within the department.
• Provide technical underwriting / insurance training to the department as a whole.
• National Senior Certificate (Grade 12) and bachelor's degree in finance, Business or related field.
• Adherence to FSCA Fit & Proper requirements; (Honesty and integrity, Qualification, CPD, RE5).
• A minimum of five years’ experience in short term insurance, with at least five years’ underwriting specific experience and in-depth exposure to domestic, commercial and agricultural insurance underwriting at senior level.
• Demonstrated experience in technical underwriting and first-line people leadership or mentoring.
• Recognised technical credibility within the underwriting discipline.

Key Skills & Attributes:

• Strong technical underwriting knowledge across relevant product lines.
• High level of professional credibility within the underwriting function.
• Expert knowledge of underwriting principles, complex policy wordings, endorsements and coverage intent.
• Strong understanding of risk aggregation, exposure modelling and specialist mitigation approaches.
• Ability to interpret and advise on ambiguous or emerging risk scenarios.
• High-level analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Ability to influence underwriting decisions through technical authority rather than positional power.
• Competence with AI tools (e.g., Copilot, ChatGPT) for research, drafting and administrative support.