Assistant Vice President, Commercial Lines Underwriting

Western National Insurance Group / Umialik Insurance Company

$200K — $240K *
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years of leadership experience in property-and-casualty insurance, specifically in commercial lines underwriting.
  • Proven track record of leading underwriting teams and managing diverse commercial insurance portfolios.
  • In-depth knowledge of commercial insurance products and underwriting practices.
  • Exceptional leadership, coaching, and talent development skills.
  • Strong verbal and written communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills.
  • Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and address complex business challenges.
  • Familiarity with underwriting systems, pricing tools, and data analytics platforms.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and develop teams of commercial underwriting managers and underwriters to meet performance goals.
  • Develop and implement underwriting strategies that enhance the product portfolio and drive profitable growth.
  • Collaborate with product development, actuarial, claims, and sales teams to optimize underwriting performance.
  • Manage relationships with agencies and vendors to meet company standards and service expectations.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company guidelines in underwriting practices.
  • Monitor market trends and competitive conditions for strategic positioning.
  • Create and execute business plans focusing on retention, pricing, and growth.
  • Promote a collaborative culture across departments and locations.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans.
  • Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
  • 401(k) with 100% matching on first 6% contributed.
  • Wellbeing programs, including an onsite fitness studio.
  • Generous paid time off policy for holidays, vacation, and volunteer work.
  • 100% tuition reimbursement for job-relevant coursework.
  • Paid parental leave and short & long term incentive plans.
Full Job Description
Job Type

Full-time

Description

Does this opportunity interest you?
Western National is seeking an Assistant Vice President, Commercial Lines Underwriting to join our team!

The individual in this role will have the opportunity to provide strategic leadership for commercial underwriting operations across multiple teams or locations. This individual will shape underwriting strategy, develop high-performing teams, and partner across the organization to drive profitable growth while ensuring underwriting excellence, regulatory compliance, and exceptional customer experiences.

This role is based in our Seattle, Washington, office and is not eligible for remote work.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?
  • Leads, coaches, and develops commercial underwriting managers, team leads, and underwriters to achieve individual, team, and company performance goals while fostering engagement, accountability, and strong business performance.
  • Develops and implements underwriting strategies that balance risk and reward, strengthen the commercial product portfolio, and drive profitable growth.
  • Partners with product development, actuarial, claims, sales, and other cross-functional teams to optimize underwriting performance and improve business results.
  • Manages agency and vendor relationships to ensure alignment with company objectives, service expectations, and underwriting standards.
  • Monitors underwriting practices to ensure compliance with company guidelines, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices.
  • Evaluates market trends, competitive conditions, and emerging industry issues to maintain a strong competitive position.
  • Develops and executes regional business plans focused on retention, pricing, exposure management, and profitable new business growth.
  • Champions a collaborative "One Team, Better Together" culture across departments and locations.
  • Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer's expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer's issue is resolved.
  • Performs special projects and other duties as assigned.


Requirements

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?
  • Ten-plus years of leadership experience in the property-and-casualty insurance industry, with a strong focus on commercial lines underwriting.
  • Demonstrated experience leading underwriting teams and managing diverse commercial books of business.
  • Deep knowledge of commercial insurance products, underwriting guidelines, and underwriting best practices.
  • Strong leadership, coaching, and talent development skills.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication, negotiation, and decision-making abilities.
  • Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with cross-functional teams and solve complex business challenges.
  • Experience using underwriting systems, pricing tools, and data analytics platforms.

What will our ideal candidate have?
  • Bachelor's degree in business, insurance, finance, or a related field.
  • CPCU, CIC, CRM, or other relevant professional insurance designation.

Compensation overview

The hiring range for this role is $200,000-240,000, annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate, as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and/or may be considered for other positions.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:
  • Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more!
  • Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
  • 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
  • Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio
  • Paid Time Off - including holiday, vacation, and volunteer
  • 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (risk and insurance education)
  • Paid parental leave
  • Short & long term incentive plan

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

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