Small Business Underwriting Team Lead
About The Position
The Commercial Lines Underwriting Team Lead is responsible for underwriting profitability, growth, and retention of new and renewal business within an assigned territory. The role monitors team productivity, prioritization, workload balance, and underwriting decisions, while exercising underwriting authority. It collaborates with Underwriting Operations and Territory Managers/Leaders to support territory plans and targeted financial results through virtual teaming. The Team Lead manages and develops underwriting staff, supports business development and underwriting acumen, and ensures sound risk selection and exposure control. The role also manages a personal book of business, oversees regional strategies, evaluates regional new and renewal business, and provides underwriting guidance to internal and external customers.
Requirements
- 5–8 years of underwriting experience.
- Bachelor’s degree in a related field and/or commensurate experience.
Responsibilities
- Monitor commercial lines staff performance against established goals and participate in developing branch strategy and business plans.
- Drive underwriting profitability, growth, and retention for new and renewal business through quality risk selection, exposure control, sound underwriting decisions, and effective workload management.
- Exercise underwriting authority and handle referrals that exceed team members’ authority limits.
- Ensure individual underwriting authority grants are established through a calibrated, objective, data-driven process.
- Collaborate with Underwriting Operations and Territory Managers/Leaders, and support business development practices aligned with field operations.
- Partner with the quality assurance underwriting function and use its findings to develop the team’s underwriting acumen and decision-making.
- Develop the business and underwriting acumen of team members through individual coaching, reviewing underwriting decisions, answering questions, and listening to phone calls.
- Manage talent responsibilities, including selection, performance management, coaching, development, employee-related issues, morale, and work environment.
- Manage priorities and workload distribution and remove barriers to progress.
- Complete personnel, salary administration, and reporting duties.
- Stay current on industry topics, trends, methods, and best practices through research, industry events, and networking, and share knowledge gained.
- Learn basic commercial insurance concepts and department workflows and processes, and lead and manage production and support staff.
- Provide underwriting insights that support product innovation, development, and maintenance.
- Manage personal book-of-business goals and oversee and implement regional strategies.
- Review and evaluate regional new and renewal business in light of company underwriting guidelines, competition, and geographic focus.
- Answer questions from underwriting team members and internal and external customers about specific premiums and processes.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
