Head of Underwriting Risk, Senior Director

What part will you play? If you’re looking for a place where you can make a meaningful difference, you’ve found it.

The work we do at Markel gives people the confidence to move forward and seize opportunities, and you’ll find your fit amongst our global community of optimists and problem-solvers. We’re always pushing each other to go further because we believe that when we realize our potential, we can help others reach theirs. Join us and play your part in something special! The Head of Underwriting Risk manages volatility for Markel in the US and Bermuda and is a member of the Office of the CUO US/Bermuda team. At Markel, we believe in a disciplined underwriting approach that balances opportunity with long-term sustainability. The Head of Underwriting Risk plays a critical leadership role in ensuring that our underwriting practices align with our enterprise risk appetite, supports profitable growth, and reflects our commitment to thoughtful risk selection. This role will lead the development and oversight of underwriting risk frameworks across Markel in the US/Bermuda partnering closely with underwriting, actuarial, finance, and ERM teams. The role collaborates with the Chief Underwriting Officer for US/Bermuda, US Wholesale and Specialty, and the Presidents within Programs & Solutions to measure, control, and mitigate these risks to keep volatility within specified parameters.

Key Responsibilities

Duties and Accountabilities

• Lead deterministic scenario analyses across all portfolios to assess the impact of macroeconomic, geopolitical, climate, litigation, and technological risks
• Monitor underwriting risk exposures across portfolios, identifying emerging, systemic and individual risk concentrations.  Develop and implement consistency in the underwriting approach to address these risks across US & Bermuda.
• Oversee stress testing, scenario analysis, and portfolio reviews to assess risk-adjusted performance
• Define and maintain underwriting risk appetite statements and tolerances, aligned with enterprise risk and capital frameworks in coordination with the CUO, US & Bermuda.
• Take actions to measure, control and mitigate these risks to ensure volatility remains within appetite
  • These actions may include modelling, scenarios, exclusions, aggregate limits and reinsurance
• Partner with Catastrophe Management, Risk Management/Loss Control, Underwriting, Actuarial, Product & Regulatory Services, Ceded Reinsurance, Finance, Operations and Corporate Teams to quantify potential impacts and inform underwriting strategy
• Promote a culture of risk awareness and reporting across Markel US & Bermuda’s underwriting divisions
• Continuously improve Markel’s best practices in underwriting risk management, using developments both within and outside the insurance industry

Skills, knowledge and experience

The successful candidate will:

• Demonstrate a high level of curiosity, a desire to think beyond the expected and an ability to challenge accepted norms
• Possess sufficient specialty insurance knowledge to assimilate the outputs from catastrophe models, scenarios analyses and understand the key features of Markel US/Bermuda products and reinsurance treaties
• Be able to work across departments, disciplines and territories with sufficient convening authority
• Have a track record of effective and persuasive communication in large and small groups and at all levels of an organization

Qualifications

- Minimum 15+ years of underwriting experience or strong analytics experience, with a strong technical background. 
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or professional certifications preferred.
- Strong analytical, strategic, and communication skills.
- Experience with expense management and performance metrics.
 

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US Work Authorization

US Work Authorization required. Markel does not provide visa sponsorship for this position, now or in the future.

Pay information:

Who we are: 

Markel Group (NYSE – MKL) a fortune 500 company with over 60 offices in 20+ countries, is a holding company for insurance, reinsurance, specialist advisory and investment operations around the world. 

 

We’re all about people | We win together | We strive for better 

 

We enjoy the everyday | We think further 

 

What’s in it for you