VP, Wholesale Business Development

Sompo International•Alpharetta, GA

About The Position

Sompo North America is seeking a Vice President, Wholesale Business Development for its Insurance team. The preferred location is Alpharetta, Georgia. This strategic role has decision-making responsibility and strong influence, and leads efforts to raise the company’s profile, effectiveness, and reputation by extending wholesale agency relationships and advancing strategic initiatives and business development. The position supports Sompo North America’s financial and strategic goals by maximizing production with wholesale brokers and developing a regional business development plan supporting Property, Casualty, Financial, and Specialty Lines. The assigned region is the Southeast: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. The role requires understanding underwriting teams’ risk appetites and broker distribution strategies, identifying new business opportunities, and serving as an internal and external point of contact for E&S business in the Southeast. It also builds and manages wholesale broker relationships, supports marketing and broker education, tracks agency and broker activity and production, develops under-served territories, and communicates regional market intelligence to senior business development leadership.

Requirements

At least 10 years of industry experience involving responsibilities in underwriting, product development, risk management, distribution strategy, needs assessment, and client relationship management.
Highly visible and well known within the local wholesale broker community.
Deep understanding of the E&S market and wholesale broker distribution strategies.
Strong sales presentation and persuasion skills.
Knowledge of how independent agencies operate and how to call on them.
Comfort with negotiation and using a sales approach.
High sense of urgency and self-confidence.
Strong work ethic and positive attitude.
Passionate, energetic, self-motivated, and organized.
Ability to persevere in a growing, changing, and dynamic work environment.
Competitive while working as part of a team.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Responsibilities

Support Sompo North America’s financial and strategic goals by maximizing production with wholesale brokers.
Develop a regional Wholesale Business Development Plan that supports Sompo business units and Property, Casualty, Financial, and Specialty Lines products.
Understand each underwriting team’s risk appetite and broker distribution strategy in the assigned region.
Identify new business opportunities, including single risks, book rolls, and regional strategies.
Use discretion and independent judgment when communicating and presenting to trading partners; assess client needs and develop action plans to provide exceptional service, attract new business, and support territory portfolio and production.
Serve as a single point of contact internally and externally for E&S business in the Southeast region.
Build a strong wholesale broker distribution network and establish agency relationships.
Review and actively manage trading relationships to ensure they are mutually beneficial.
Assist in developing marketing plans, broker education, broker entertainment, and tools that support underwriter-broker connectivity and production.
Track agency and individual broker production and submissions to improve submission quality and KPIs.
Develop under-served territories.
Produce reports summarizing activities and results of existing and prospective agency relationships in the Southeast region.
Partner with other business development resources to maximize business development and cross-selling opportunities.
Attend industry events to increase visibility and raise Sompo’s E&S profile in the Southeast region.
Regularly communicate with the SVP Wholesale Business Development and others about local market conditions, competitors, broker strategy changes, and client trends.