Head Property UK&I

About the Role 

In this role, you are responsible for delivering underwriting expertise and leadership for the UK & Ireland Property Lines. As the overall responsible Property Portfolio leader for the country, you will work in close collaboration with the UK Market Unit Head as well as the Global Head of this line of business and other local/regional Stakeholders.  

You are responsible for defining the financial plan (top and bottom line) and achieving it for Property UK. You will have authority to make decisions for Property UK within Underwriting guidelines, strategy and appetite set by the Portfolio Owner in Global Underwriting. 

 In the UK, you will lead a team of highly motivated General Property professionals and promote Corporate Solutions' brand in the marketplace, be it at industry conferences, with Brokers and Clients, or with the media, if appropriate. 

Leadership & Management 

• Lead a team of UK Property underwriting specialists 

• Contribute to the recruiting and onboardings of new underwriters and facilitate local underwriting trainings 

• Actively develop UW talent base through recruitment, training, mentoring and skill development 

Business Development & Growth Strategy 

• Implement country-specific Line of Business strategy within the risk appetite set by Global Underwriting 

• Lead, support and execute on initiatives in the country, e.g. International Program Business, Lean Underwriting, etc. 

• Identify new business opportunities to grow revenue and profitability, jointly with Customer and Distribution Leaders and other stakeholders 

• Perform annual business planning together with the local teams 

Financial Plan 

• Assume overall responsibility for the UK Property line and its financial plan (GWP, NPE, other Financial KPIs) 

• Continuously improve the quality of deal underwriting, analysis, guidance, tactical execution and monitoring 

• Monitor costing accuracy and propose changes where necessary 

• Adhere to underwriting standards 

• Perform referrals to Products Global Line of Business for cases requiring higher underwriting authority 

Product Development & Innovation 

• Initiate ideas for new products, respectively adjust existing products to the needs of the country and enable roll-out 

• Enable cross-country UW knowledge transfer, including training and skill set development for the UWs 

External representation 

• Represent the Line of Business towards external partners, i.e. clients, brokers, industry associations/conferences/panels, regulators, etc. 

• Lead and/or participate in key discussions with corresponding production sources in the market 

Market Research & Analytics 

• Develop and distribute periodic market insight reports 

• Provide country access to market data and analytics; sources new data and assures regional market data is globally managed, maintained and improved 

 
About the Team 

You will report to the Head UK & Ireland CorSo. As a leader, you support talent development and are comfortable with enabling team members to take the next step in their career. You are positive towards navigating ambiguity and managing change. 

About You 

Underwriting expertise 

• Minimum 10 years relevant experience in underwriting of medium to large corporates including in a lead capacity 

• Deep technical and industry specialist underwriting skills 

• Ability to assess risks, coverages, terms and conditions of an insurance placement 

• Proficiency in the use of underwriting tools and ability to interpret and judge the results 

• Ability to deal with complexity and sometimes incomplete information 

• Ability to handle multiple deals in parallel without losing oversight 

• Portfolio management mindset 

Market-facing relationship building skills 

• Strong broker and client network 

• Building relationships with clients and brokers 

• Client centric 

• Communication, Presentation and Negotiating skills 

Leadership skills 

• Strong leadership and management skills, incl. project management 

• Ability to manage an underwriting team 

• Strong networking skills, excellent teammate including ability to foster cooperation with teams in different locations and business units 

• Ability to work in agile teams with data scientists and customer & distribution to incubate and launch new products 

Personal skills 

• Analytical skills including data science and actuarial skillsets to assess complex risks 

• Is willing to perform under time pressure during peak activity renewal periods while ensuring adherence to processes and guidelines 

• Setting priorities and allocating own resources by defining the appropriate level of detail 

• High level of independence, initiative, accountability 

• Excellent communication skills (oral and written) 

• Solution and result oriented 

• Pragmatic, “can do” mentality