Senior Underwriter

The role

Key responsibilities

• Lead, develop and performance-manage underwriters and set standards for underwriting decision quality.
• Own underwriting policy, risk appetite and pricing strategy across warranty products.
• Review and authorise risks outside standard authority and refer them to insurer or reinsurer partners where required.
• Monitor loss ratios, claims trends and portfolio performance; work with Pricing, Actuarial and Data teams on risk models and rating factors.
• Maintain relationships with insurer and reinsurer panels, brokers and other external partners.
• Develop underwriting guidelines, referral criteria, training and quality-assurance processes.
• Report portfolio health and underwriting performance to senior leadership with recommendations.
• Identify new product, risk-segment and process-improvement opportunities.

Essential experience and qualifications

• Significant insurance underwriting management experience; motor, warranty or general insurance backgrounds are welcome.
• Strong technical knowledge of risk assessment, pricing and policy wording.
• Proven experience leading and performance-managing an underwriting team.
• Commercial acumen, analytical skills and experience using claims and portfolio data in underwriting decisions.
• Senior data analyst experience or equivalent, with strong Excel and SQL and/or Power BI skills.
• Strong stakeholder-management and communication skills, including engagement with insurer or reinsurer partners and senior leaders.
• Relevant professional qualification such as Cert CII, Dip CII or ACII, or working towards one.

Desirable experience

• Motor warranty, extended warranty or automotive insurance experience.
• Experience with reinsurers, insurer panels or MGA arrangements.
• Familiarity with pricing or actuarial techniques and data-driven underwriting tools such as Power BI or SQL.
• A relevant degree, or accountancy experience or qualification such as ACCA, CIMA, ACA or AAT.

Salary and benefits

• Salary is £55,000–£75,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Benefits include 22 days' holiday plus bank holidays, pension, healthcare support, employee warranty discounts, an interest-free loan after six months, staff incentives and social events.

Schedule

• Full-time, permanent position, Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:00. One day of work from home is offered.

Location

• The role is based in the Blackburn office; the description also specifies one day of work from home.