Primary Casualty Claims Manager

AXIS (AXIS Capital)•Short Hills, NJ

1d•$145,000 - $160,000•Hybrid

About The Position

AXIS is seeking a Primary Casualty Claims Manager to join the North America Claims team. The role leads a team responsible for primary casualty claims and supports disciplined, consistent claim outcomes across a complex portfolio. The manager will combine people leadership, technical claim oversight, portfolio management, and strong partnership with underwriting, actuarial, legal, finance, brokers, insureds, reinsurers, auditors, and external service providers. The Primary Casualty Claims Manager is accountable for the quality, timeliness, and effectiveness of claim handling within the assigned portfolio. The role establishes clear strategy on complex and high-exposure matters, promotes reserve adequacy and expense discipline, strengthens litigation and vendor management, develops claims talent, and provides meaningful portfolio insight to business partners and senior leadership.

Requirements

Typically 8 or more years of progressively responsible casualty claims experience, including significant experience with complex litigated claims; prior people-management or team-lead experience strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience handling primary general liability claims. Experience with construction, premises liability, products liability, serious bodily injury, wrongful death, or other high-severity casualty matters is advantageous.
Advanced knowledge of coverage analysis, liability and damages evaluation, reserving, negotiation, litigation, mediation, arbitration, and trial processes.
Proven ability to provide technical direction, apply authority controls, evaluate reserve adequacy, and make sound decisions under pressure.
Ability to lead and develop others, manage competing priorities, and hold internal and external partners accountable for results.
Strong analytical skills and comfort using claims data, metrics, and trend analysis to support portfolio management and decision-making.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, negotiation, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to communicate effectively with senior executives and parties with differing viewpoints.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate and influence across organizational levels and functions while maintaining independent judgment.
Bachelor’s degree required. Juris Doctor or other relevant advanced degree is preferred, or an equivalent combination of education and directly relevant experience.
Active adjuster licenses, or the ability to obtain and maintain required licenses, in accordance with AXIS and state requirements.
Ability to travel for team leadership, court proceedings, mediations, settlement activity, broker or insured engagement, and other business needs.

Nice To Haves

Juris Doctor or other relevant advanced degree is preferred

Responsibilities

Lead, coach, and develop a team of claims professionals, setting clear objectives and reinforcing accountability for quality, timeliness, customer service, and professional judgment.
Allocate claims based on complexity, exposure, jurisdiction, workload, and handler capability; monitor inventory, capacity, aging, and productivity.
Provide regular feedback, technical guidance, development plans, and career coaching; support succession planning and retention of strong talent.
Participate in recruiting, interviewing, onboarding, and training claims professionals and temporary or outsourced resources.
Promote an inclusive, collaborative, and high-performing environment aligned with AXIS values.
Oversee the investigation, analysis, evaluation, reserving, negotiation, and resolution of primary casualty claims within applicable authority and claims handling standards.
Review coverage, liability, causation, damages, venue, defense strategy, settlement posture, and litigation risk on complex, severe, disputed, or high-exposure matters.
Provide strategic direction and approval on claim plans, reserves, payments, settlements, counsel assignments, experts, mediations, and trial strategy within delegated authority.
Ensure reserves and sensitivities are timely, well supported, and responsive to material developments; escalate matters in accordance with authority and large-loss reporting requirements.
Maintain clear, contemporaneous, and audit-ready claim documentation, including the rationale for key decisions, changes in exposure, and resolution strategy.
Identify matters requiring escalation or collaboration with Specialty Complex Claims, Legal, Compliance, or other subject matter experts.
Formulate litigation and resolution strategies and direct defense counsel, coverage counsel, experts, investigators, and other service providers.
Monitor litigation milestones, trial dates, legal budgets, billing, staffing, and outcomes; challenge inefficiency and require specific plans to advance matters toward resolution.
Partner with Litigation Management and Vendor Management to manage legal spend, support panel governance, review provider performance, and improve value and service quality.
Participate in mediations, settlement conferences, trials, stewardship meetings, and claim reviews as appropriate.
Monitor portfolio performance through claims data, dashboards, key performance indicators, reserve movements, closing ratios, cycle times, aged inventory, legal spend, and other relevant measures.
Identify emerging liability, coverage, severity, jurisdictional, and litigation trends with individual-claim or portfolio impact; recommend responsive strategies and handling guidance.
Lead or participate in management reviews, audits, peer reviews, large-loss reporting, governance forums, and remediation initiatives.
Ensure compliance with claims handling guidelines, licensing requirements, delegated authorities, internal controls, regulatory obligations, and applicable service standards.
Drive process improvement, data quality, consistent work practices, and effective adoption of claims technology and management information.
Maintain appropriate oversight of TPA or contractor-handled claims where assigned, including authority, service, strategy, reporting, and performance expectations.
Build strong relationships with underwriting, actuarial, finance, legal, operations, brokers, insureds, reinsurers, auditors, and other internal and external partners.
Provide underwriting with claim insight, policy and coverage feedback, loss trends, renewal support, risk assessments, and lessons learned from the portfolio.
Communicate complex claim issues clearly and concisely to senior leaders and stakeholders, including recommended actions, alternatives, financial impact, and rationale.
Lead or contribute to presentations, stewardship discussions, market engagement, training, and cross-functional initiatives.