E&S Underwriting Clearance Manager

Zurich Insurance Group•Chicago, IL

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

Zurich E&S is hiring an Underwriting Clearance Manager to lead its central clearance team. The role is accountable for the team’s people, processes, and financial management. The team clears and registers submissions from wholesale brokers, performs basic submission triage, and provides customer service to Zurich E&S underwriters and wholesale brokers. The manager assesses direct reports’ performance, supports onboarding, and provides regular, actionable coaching and feedback. The manager recruits, trains, develops, manages, and motivates clearance specialists who perform pre-underwriting activities in support of underwriting teams. The position oversees workload capacity and productivity, maintains standardized procedures and training materials, supports process and system improvements, and investigates and reports clearance-process issues. Business travel may be required. The role is based on a hybrid schedule, with hiring preference for Schaumburg, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; or Atlanta, Georgia.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and at least 4 years of experience in insurance operations, underwriting, or a market-facing area; OR Zurich Certified Insurance Apprentice, including an associate degree, and at least 4 years of experience in one of those areas; OR high school diploma or equivalent and at least 6 years of experience in one of those areas.
Knowledge of the insurance industry and its legal and regulatory environment.

Nice To Haves

High school diploma or equivalent and at least 6 years of underwriting experience, including at least 2 years in a supervisory capacity.
Insurance operations experience.
People-management experience overseeing full-time and part-time remote employees, both exempt and non-exempt.
Strong analytical skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Adobe Reader, and other Microsoft Office products.
Superior communication, interpersonal, and process-management skills.
Ability to multitask, balance multiple priorities, work effectively as part of a team, and demonstrate integrity.
Experience working with insurance clearance systems and processes.
Microsoft Office experience.

Responsibilities

Recruit, train, develop, manage, and motivate clearance specialists who support underwriting teams.
Oversee pre-underwriting activities, including registering submissions, capturing submission information, entering information into databases, liaising with producers to ensure submissions are complete, and routing submissions.
Build and maintain effective business relationships with underwriters, underwriting assistants, internal partners, and external partners to deliver superior customer service.
Set clear goals and expectations, provide ongoing performance coaching and career guidance, and conduct performance reviews using Zurich’s performance management process.
Assess direct reports’ performance, support meaningful onboarding, recognize accomplishments, support development, and address performance improvement needs.
Monitor, manage, and oversee each team member’s workload capacity.
Maintain standardized procedures and associated training materials, and provide functional guidance or training to less experienced team members.
Track and monitor performance to achieve productivity metrics and improve process and workflow efficiency.
Support process-improvement actions, including system and process enhancements.
Maintain professional and technical knowledge through educational workshops, professional publications, personal networks, and Zurich training resources.
Travel for business as required.
Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and internal control requirements.
Investigate and report issues associated with the clearance process to drive continuous improvement.