Chief Underwriting Officer - UC04BE

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Chief Underwriting Officer, Wholesale

Reporting to the Head of Navigators Wholesale, A Brand of The Hartford, the Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) for Wholesale will operate in a key senior leadership role holding the highest-level of underwriting authority within Wholesale.  Our Wholesale business primarily serves the Excess & Surplus lines (E&S) industry which is dynamic in nature and distinguishable through many unique and complex risks.  The CUO will directly manage multiple facets of the Wholesale business, as well as provide leadership for various projects of critical strategic importance, including oversight for rating and pricing strategy, referral underwriting authority, implementation of underwriting guidelines, loss control, quality, and training.  This position will facilitate, direct, and coordinate operational activities, systems, programs, and transformation relative to the day-to-day strategic operations of Navigators Wholesale.

This role has direct accountability for driving underwriting policy and performance, underwriting quality, appetite guidance and overall underwriting excellence for all businesses within Wholesale, including Excess Casualty, Primary Casualty, Inland Marine, Property and Specialty Auto. The CUO works in partnership with the P&L owners to ensure that growth and profitability are achieved consistent with the objectives outlined in the segment operating plans and line of business strategies.    Further it will maintain strong cross-functional partnership with many key areas including P&L owners, Global Specialty CUO, Office of the CUO, Claims, Actuarial, Human Resources, and Finance.   The CUO will also have accountability for the creation and driving of the industry strategy for Wholesale – which can have a significant bottom-line impact for The Hartford.  

Specific Responsibilities:

Underwriting Excellence: 

Overall underwriting responsibility for maintaining and ensuring the quality and integrity of underwriting decisions for Wholesale.   Establishes underwriting policy and oversees the referral process in support of field-based underwriting operations.  Facilitate the coordination and compilation of CAT exposures and reinsurance programs.  Provides direction and feedback on development and communication of underwriting policies.  Creates strategic and operating initiatives to drive top and bottom-line results.

• This position works with the OCUO and the Operations team to implement and monitor underwriting policy, develop and communicate new practices and processes, assist field personnel in understanding corporate policy and provide technical expertise and counsel to field staff.  Published underwriting content (Manual, bulletins, articles, etc) is implemented by this underwriting leader
• Coordinate with OCUO to establish and communicate underwriting guidance: From a broad view of the market, oversee the establishment and/or modification of underwriting policy, guidelines, and appetite.  Operate as subject matter expert providing direction to the segments/lines of business as well as insight and thought leadership to broader market segments and functional leaders (Actuarial, Claims, etc.).
• Coordinate with Actuarial, Finance, OCUO and other functions to develop reports, business intelligence and preparation of presentations to senior management.  Act as SME and central point of contact for various initiatives including cross sell, training, etc. for the Wholesale Team.
   

Operational Excellence

Overall responsibility for developing and executing strategic and tactical business plans, improving governance and operational control effectiveness and efficiency, increasing productivity and building and leading results-oriented teams.  Bring deep understanding of the Wholesale lines of business.  Able to translate that understanding to a clearly articulated strategy for internal teams and external audiences.  Analyze financial performance of each line. Identify trends in performance to set future strategy and develop recommendations for improvement as needed. Review countrywide results to evaluate execution in the field and recommend/implement corrective actions as needed to address identified issues.  Work closely with Field Leadership to garner full view and understanding of external marketplace trends, anticipate customer needs, and recommend pro-active actions for product, appetite and process with full external focus.

This role is responsible for business case development, project execution, and project delivery for a portfolio of initiatives that support our Wholesale strategy.  Pace and speed will be paramount as we prove out the next wave of leading-edge capabilities to be adopted or infused into our market-leading business model.

The role will require the ability to lead cross functional teams and leverage a combination of thought leadership, bias for action and a continuous improvement mindset to build and deliver strategic capabilities/assets that unlock new sources of growth and transform the business. 

Qualifications:

* Location of the position can be flexible in one of our Regional Offices, Hybrid work arrangement

• Bachelors required. MBA or other related graduate level degree preferred
• CPCU, preferred
• 20+ years insurance experience; both property and casualty experience are a plus
• Experience with P&L ownership
• 10+ years of underwriting within Specialty middle and large lines preferred
• Underwriting acumen and discipline. Technical knowledge and experience in more than one casualty line of business; depth of property experience also preferred
• Sound financial acumen. Understanding of P&L, knowledge and experience with setting and driving an operating plan
• Team player with outstanding inter-personal, negotiation skills and organizational skills.
• Excellent stakeholder/relationship management skills
• Able to role model behaviors and ethics

• Articulates expectations to connect all employees to the overall strategy.  Effectively communicates big picture and clear plan to execute

Compensation

The listed annualized base pay range is primarily based on analysis of similar positions in the external market. Actual base pay could vary and may be above or below the listed range based on factors including but not limited to performance, proficiency and demonstration of competencies required for the role. The base pay is just one component of The Hartford’s total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include short-term or annual bonuses, long-term incentives, and on-the-spot recognition. The annualized base pay range for this role is:

$236,000 - $354,000

Equal Opportunity Employer/Sex/Race/Color/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity or Expression/Religion/Age

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