Chief Underwriting Officer, Casualty Primary & Excess

Chief Underwriting Officer - UC04BE

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Reporting to the Head of Casualty Wholesale, the Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO), Casualty will operate in a key senior leadership role holding the highest-level underwriting authority for Excess and Primary Casualty Wholesale. The CUO will directly manage multiple facets of the Excess and Primary line business, as well as provide leadership for various projects of critical strategic importance, including oversight for rating and pricing strategy, referral underwriting authority, establishment of underwriting guidelines, loss control, quality and training. This role has direct accountability for driving underwriting policy and performance, underwriting quality, appetite guidance and overall underwriting excellence for all Casualty products. The CUO works in partnership with the P&L owners to ensure that results 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, Claims, Actuarial, Treaty, Human Resources, Operations and Finance. Moreover, the external distribution and client base is critical in this position, and he/she will help drive the business for the unit.

Specific Responsibilities:

Underwriting Excellence: 

Overall underwriting strategy for maintaining and ensuring the quality and integrity of underwriting decisions for Casualty. Establishes underwriting policy and oversees the referral process in support of field-based underwriting operations. Provides direction and feedback on development and communication of underwriting policies. Creates strategic and operating initiatives to drive top and bottom-line results.

• Develops and Sets Underwriting Strategy to achieve sustained and profitable growth across diverse product offerings in various industry verticals within the unit.
• Collaborates with Business Function Partners to implement and monitor underwriting policy, develop and communicate new practices and processes, assist field personnel in understanding corporate policy and provide technical expertise.
• Establishes and Communicates Underwriting Guidance: From a broad view of the market, oversee the establishment and/or modification of underwriting policy, guidelines, and appetite.
• Leads and engages with the other Practice Leaders to drive training and development initiatives, including specialization strategies throughout the unit and future ready talent.  
   

P&L:  

Brings deep understanding of the Excess and Primary Casualty business. Able to translate that understanding to a clearly articulated strategy for internal teams and external audiences. Analyzes financial performance of the various industry verticals and products for all of Casualty. Identifies trends in performance to set future strategy and develop recommendations for improvement as needed. Reviews countrywide results to evaluate execution in the field and recommend/implement corrective actions as needed to address identified issues. Works closely with Field Leadership to garner full view and understanding of external marketplace trends, anticipates customer needs, and recommends pro-active actions for product, appetite and process with full external focus.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other insurance designation preferred
• Fifteen years of relevant underwriting experience
• Broad spectrum of product experience in the E&S and Primary space
• Proven record of success developing and implementing strategies for profitable growth
• Experience with successful P&L ownership; sound financial acumen
• 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
• Applies sound judgment, relevant information and good instincts to make, support and implement high quality, timely decisions

Location: Flexible Work Arrangements, Hybrid or Remote depending on location.

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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