Claims Manager - Primary Casualty

AXIS (AXIS Capital)•Short Hills, NJ

About The Position

AXIS is seeking a Claims Manager - Primary Casualty Claims to join our North America Claims team and report to the Head of Primary Casualty Claims. The successful candidate will lead and develop a team of claims professionals handling a diverse portfolio of Primary Casualty claims. The role requires strong technical judgment, disciplined claim execution, effective people leadership, and close partnership with underwriting and other internal stakeholders.

Requirements

7-10+ years of progressively responsible casualty claims experience, including leadership or material team oversight experience.
Primary Casualty claims experience is required.
Demonstrated leadership, organizational, and people-management capability, including experience supervising directly handled and TPA-managed claims.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate and resolve complex and disputed casualty claims and to influence outcomes across multiple organizational levels.
Strong knowledge of Primary Casualty coverage, claim investigation, litigation, trial, arbitration, mediation, reserving, negotiation, and settlement practices.
Ability to balance immediate file strategy with broader portfolio, underwriting, customer, operational, and reputational considerations.
Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to present complex claim issues and recommendations clearly to senior management and business partners.
Strong analytical, investigative, negotiation, decision-making, and execution skills, with the ability to drive timely results.
Consistent exercise of independent judgment in coverage, liability, damages, reserving, litigation strategy, and settlement evaluation.
Bachelor’s degree required.
Complex casualty coverage analysis and claim strategy.
General Liability, Commercial Auto, and Garagekeepers coverage and claim-handling experience.
Experience managing litigated claims, defense counsel, mediations, trials, and significant settlement negotiations.
Confidence in evaluation, reserving, authority recommendations, and written claim documentation.
Excellent writing, editing, negotiation, and presentation skills.
Experience providing direction, authority, and technical coaching to claims professionals and TPAs.
Working knowledge of claims KPIs, data, metrics, and portfolio reporting.
Valid adjuster licenses as required by state law, with additional licenses obtained and maintained as needed.

Nice To Haves

JD or relevant advanced degree is a plus.

Responsibilities

Overseeing the investigation, coverage analysis, liability and damages evaluation, reserving, and resolution of Primary Casualty claims in accordance with claims best practices and applicable authority.
Providing technical direction, training, and guidance to direct reports and TPA or contractor adjusters, including strategy on complex, high-exposure, litigated, and coverage-sensitive matters.
Reviewing General Liability, Commercial Auto, Garagekeepers, and other assigned casualty claims to confirm timely investigation, defensible evaluations, appropriate reserves, and clear resolution strategies.
Ensuring prompt coverage analysis, issuance of appropriate coverage communications, and escalation of material coverage issues, including recommendations for coverage counsel where warranted.
Formulating claim and litigation strategies and directing outside counsel through key events, including pleadings, discovery, expert work, dispositive motions, mediation, trial, and appeal.
Driving early resolution and effective settlement strategies while protecting the interests of AXIS and its insureds and maintaining appropriate reserve discipline.
Managing defense, expert, and other claim-related expenses in partnership with Litigation Management and Vendor Management, including effective use of approved counsel and vendors.
Leading, coaching, and developing claims professionals through regular feedback, workload oversight, technical development, performance management, and succession planning.
Recruiting, retaining, and developing strong talent and promoting consistent claim practices, accountability, collaboration, and sound decision-making across the team.
Developing and maintaining productive relationships with insureds, brokers, underwriters, reinsurers, actuaries, auditors, counsel, TPAs, and other internal and external partners.
Partnering with Underwriting on policy interpretation, claim trends, account-specific concerns, risk assessments, and information requests while maintaining appropriate claim independence.
Monitoring portfolio trends, emerging exposures, severity drivers, and operational issues, and implementing strategies to improve claim outcomes and consistency.
Maintaining accurate claim documentation and line-of-business metrics and delivering clear, timely reporting to senior management and business partners.
Leading and participating in large-loss reviews, stewardship meetings, claim audits, audit closeouts, and presentations concerning claim trends and portfolio performance.
Collaborating with Specialty Complex Claims, Legal, Compliance, Human Resources, and other functions on significant coverage disputes, claim-handling issues, and matters with broader organizational impact.
Performing other duties as assigned.