Vice President, ESL Programs

Crum & Forster Company Overview:

Crum & Forster (C&F), with a proud history dating to 1822, provides specialty and standard commercial lines insurance products through our admitted and surplus lines insurance companies. C&F enjoys a financial strength rating of "A" (Excellent) by AM Best and is proud of our superior customer service platform. Our claims and risk engineering services are recognized as among the best in the industry.

Our most valuable asset is our people: more than 2000 employees in locations throughout the United States. The company is increasingly winning recognition as a great place to work, earning several workplace and wellness awards, including the October 2023 Great Place to Work^® Award for our employee-first focus and our steadfast commitment to diversity, equity and Inclusion.

C&F is part of Fairfax Financial Holdings, a global, billion dollar organization.  For more information about Crum & Forster, please visit our website: www.cfins.com.

Vice President, ESL Programs

Since 2000, Crum & Forster’s Accident & Health division (A&H) has offered a diverse portfolio of specialty insurance and reinsurance products nationwide. We place a strong focus on product development and creative distribution methods, along with excellent client service and support.

In addition to our robust domestic portfolio, which spans both special risk and medical solutions, A&H works on an international basis through various partnerships. Our global capabilities provide our partners with even broader flexibility in underwriting solutions.

The qualities and capabilities of Crum & Forster Accident & Health demonstrate our philosophy of building meaningful, long-term partnerships and our dedication to providing alternative strategies in an ever-changing insurance market.

The A&H MBU takes a full-spectrum approach to designing and servicing a robust slate of products tailored to needs in Employer Stop Loss, Excess Medical, Life, and Ancillary and Supplemental benefits. Our diversified business model includes program partnerships as well as direct sales in Employer Stop Loss. At year-end 2022, the MBU recorded $687M in gross premium written.

Information about the Role, Line of Business and Team:

This position is responsible for the origination, program management, product development and underwriting of employer stop loss (ESL), Medical XS and ancillary insurance and reinsurance products within the Medical Business Unit (MBU).

Other responsibilities include portfolio management, financial planning, strategic development, participating in leadership activities, coordinating accounts and projects with actuaries, operations and shared services, and negotiating contractual terms and conditions.

The Vice President, Program Manager actively contributes as a technical expert in both underwriting activities and department-specific industry knowledge.  May lead and mentor a team of underwriters to build organizational value.  Collaboration with colleagues is critical to achieve divisional goals.

What you will do:

• Implement strategy to drive profitability, retention, and written premium goals of the MBU
• Evaluate portfolio performance based on profitability metrics, define strategic changes, and oversee execution of continuously improving portfolio in alignment with division or segment objectives
• Demonstrate understanding and proper use of underwriting tools as well as coordinate with actuarial in development, testing and maintenance
• Perform underwriting referral reviews and make independent decisions according to underwriting guidelines and within underwriting letter of authority while maintaining proper client correspondence and agreement documentation
• Develop and maintain underwriting rules, risk management principles and regulations to ensure compliance with all currently applicable corporate requirements and state and federal legislation
• Establish and manage data flows from client companies to ensure monitoring of results versus established targets and plans
• Develop annual business goals for assigned products and client partners
• Develop new business opportunities through business development activities that align to the organization’s strategic direction and coordinate with the Business Development team
• Establish an in-depth knowledge of department products and services and clearly articulate the department’s value proposition
• Evaluate renewal submissions, evaluate and perform initial underwriting of new business submissions, as well as schedule and perform underwriting reviews of client companies to provide technical and strategic feedback
• Maintain awareness of market trends, products, market participants and competitive practices, identify emerging threats to the department, analyze and evaluate new developments and trends in the market to identify business potential
• Drive product development with respect to distribution considerations, underwriting considerations, and compliance considerations
• Coordinate reinsurance support for programs, including negotiation of new business and renewal terms and conditions and execution of new and renewal reinsurance agreements
• Key participant in the development of strategic annual planning as well as drive training, initiatives and projects
• Manage multi-functional teams and projects to help achieve departmental goals
• Build a high performance culture by developing sales oriented, technically strong underwriters
• Other duties as assigned

What YOU will bring to C&F:

• Advanced knowledge of and ability to underwrite ESL at the case and portfolio levels
• Strong knowledge of underwriting philosophy, techniques, state and federal filing regulations and guidelines
• Diverse and deep insurance and reinsurance experience across multiple products and operational functions
• Strong grasp of underwriting reporting and financial concepts, as well as accounting principles (e.g. IFRS & Statutory reporting)
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills necessary to interact successfully with internal and external clients
• Strong problem solving skills
• Excellent organizational and time management skills with ability to multi-task with an emphasis on quality and customer service
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Flexible and open to an ever changing, fast-paced environment
• Demonstrates initiative to learn new skills and products and take on additional tasks or responsibility
• Strong presentation skills and a solutions and service orientation
• Strong risk management and math skills
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree from an Accredited institution required and advanced degree a plus
• Underwriting and industry designations applicable to area of specialization a plus
• 15+ years of overall experience
• 10+ years of stop loss underwriting experience required
• 5+ years’ experience with reinsurance structures, underwriting and contracts
• 2+ years of management experience
• Strong computer skills and Microsoft Office skills including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Knowledge of David Young System and/or Kevin Ugan System a plus
• Travel required

At C&F you will BELONG

We value inclusivity and diversity. We are committed to equal employment opportunity and welcome everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. If you require special accommodation, please let us know.

For California Residents Only:  Information collected and processed as part of your career profile and any job applications you choose to submit are subject to our privacy notices and policies, visit https://www.cfins.com/onlineprivacypolicy/ca/noticeatcollection/ for more information.

Crum & Forster is committed to ensuring a workplace free from discriminatory pay disparities and complying with applicable pay equity laws.  Salary ranges are available for all positions at this location, taking into account roles with a comparable level of responsibility and impact in the relevant labor market and these salary ranges are regularly reviewed and adjusted in accordance with prevailing market conditions. The annualized base pay for the advertised position, located in the specified area, ranges from a minimum of $130,700 to a maximum of $245,900. The actual compensation is determined by various factors, including but not limited to the market pay for the jobs at each level, the responsibilities and skills required for each job, and the employee’s contribution (performance) in that role. To be considered within market range, a salary is at or above the minimum of the range. You may also have the opportunity to participate in discretionary equity (stock) based compensation and/or performance-based variable pay programs.

• Flexible work arrangements.
• Competitive compensation package.  
• Generous 401K employer match.
• Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching.
• Generous Paid Time Off.
• Excellent benefits that go beyond health, dental & vision. Our Wellness programs focus on your family’s complete wellness, including your physical and mental wellbeing
• A core C&F principle is that you manage your career. To support your development, we have a wealth of ways for you to keep learning, including tuition reimbursement, industry related certifications and professional training available to you.
• A dynamic, ambitious, fun and exciting work environment.
• A spirit of social responsibility, matching donation program, volunteer opportunities, and an employee driven corporate giving.

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