United Fire Group

AVP - Field Liability

United Fire Group$154K — $204K *
Finance & Insurance
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or industry designation (CPCU, AIC, SCLA, ARM) preferred.
  • 10+ years of experience in Property & Casualty (P&C) claims, with a focus on liability, general liability property damage, and auto physical damage.
  • 5+ years of progressive leadership experience managing field operations or litigation units.
  • Demonstrated track record in handling complex losses, litigation portfolios, and multi-state claims operations.

Responsibilities

  • Provide strategic leadership for liability claim units, including Litigation and General Liability.
  • Develop long-term goals and KPIs aligned with corporate objectives.
  • Lead and mentor geographically dispersed teams of Field Leaders and Litigation Managers.
  • Oversee high-severity liability and property damage claims, ensuring sound evaluations and strategies.
  • Develop guidelines and quality standards for liability and property damage teams.
  • Manage litigation strategy and counsel effectiveness, ensuring compliance with management guidelines.
  • Monitor performance metrics and lead operational improvements across regions.

Benefits

  • Annual incentive compensation
  • Medical, dental, vision & life insurance
  • Accident, critical illness & short-term disability insurance
  • Retirement plans with employer contributions
  • Generous time-off program
  • Employee well-being and financial security programs.
Full Job Description
The Assistant Vice President (AVP) - Field Liability provides strategic, technical, and operational leadership for the organization's liability-related field claims operations. This role oversees Litigation, Non-Litigation Liability, and General Liability. The AVP ensures consistent claim-handling quality, regulatory compliance, operational efficiency, and superior customer service across all field regions. This position plays a critical role in shaping claims strategy, partnering across the enterprise, developing leaders, and ensuring financially sound claim outcomes for a Property & Casualty organization.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Leadership & Strategic Direction
  • Provide strategic leadership for all field liability claim units, including Litigation, Non-Litigation Liability, and GL Property Damage.
  • Develop long-term department strategy, goals, and KPIs aligned with corporate objectives.
  • Lead and mentor a geographically dispersed team of Field Leaders, Litigation Managers, and Senior Adjusters.
  • Drive a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, responsiveness, and customer-centric service.

Claims Oversight & Technical Excellence
  • Oversee complex and high-severity liability, property damage, and auto physical damage claims, ensuring sound coverage evaluations, liability assessments, defense strategy, and settlement execution.
  • Provide technical oversight to ensure accurate reserving, timely investigations, and consistent application of claim-handling best practices.
  • Develop and maintain guidelines, workflows, and quality standards for all liability and property damage field teams.
  • Collaborate with legal teams to guide litigation strategy, settlement authority, discovery management, and reserve evaluation.
  • Build risk transfer strategy, in conjunction with Sr. Casualty officer, with appropriate pursuit of outgoing AI/CI.

Litigation & Legal Management
  • Oversee litigation management strategy, ensuring appropriate use of outside counsel and effective litigation
  • Ensuring appropriate selection of staff, panel, or non-panel counsel, leading to optimal claims outcomes.
  • Partner closely with internal and external legal teams on case strategy, trial readiness, and risk assessment.
  • Review litigation budgets, performance metrics, and counsel effectiveness; participate in file reviews and settlement conferences.
  • Ensure compliance with litigation management guidelines and implement improvements as needed.

Operational Management
  • Develop and manage departmental budgets, staffing models, and workload distribution.
  • Monitor performance metrics, quality audits, and claim outcomes, using analytics to identify trends and drive operational improvements.
  • Ensure consistent field execution across all regions, including regulatory adherence and service standards.
  • Lead catastrophe-related field liability responses, coordinating with internal teams and external vendors.

Vendor, Partner & Stakeholder Engagement
  • Manage relationships with Independent Adjusters, Appraisers, Defense Counsel, Reconstruction Experts, and other key vendors.
  • Evaluate vendor quality, negotiate service agreements, and ensure cost-effective, high-quality support for field operations.
  • Collaborate with Underwriting, Actuarial, Product, and Risk Management on loss trends, risk mitigation strategies, and portfolio insights.
  • Serve as a key contact for brokers, insureds, and external partners during complex or escalated matters.

Employee Development & Coaching
  • Strengthen technical and leadership capabilities across all field liability teams through coaching, training, and development initiatives.
  • Identify high-potential employees and support succession planning.
  • Promote an inclusive, collaborative, and performance-driven work environment.

Job Specifications:

Education:
  • Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or industry designation (CPCU, AIC, SCLA, ARM) strongly preferred.

Experience:
  • 10+ years of experience in P&C claims, including significant exposure to liability, GL PD, and auto physical damage.
  • 5+ years of progressive leadership experience managing field operations and/or litigation units.
  • Demonstrated track record in managing complex losses, litigation portfolios, and multi-state claims operations.

Working Conditions:
  • General office environment.
  • Travel required to support field regions, vendor meetings, on-site inspections, and industry events.

Pay Transparency Statement:

UFG Insurance is committed fair and equitable compensation practices. The estimated base salary range for this officer-level position is $154,858 - $204,236 annually. Actual compensation will be determined based on a variety of factors, including the scope and responsibilities of the role, individual qualifications and experience, internal equity, and market data.

In addition to base salary, UFG Insurance offers a comprehensive total rewards package that includes:
  • Annual incentive compensation
  • Medical, dental, vision & life insurance
  • Accident, critical illness & short-term disability insurance
  • Retirement plans with employer contributions
  • Generous time-off program
  • Programs designed to support the employee well-being and financial security.

Officer-level employees may also be eligible for additional compensation components, including performance-based incentives, long-term incentive plans, and participation in executive benefit programs.

This pay range disclosure is provided in accordance with applicable state and local pay transparency laws.

About United Fire Group

United Fire Group, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty insurance for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers commercial and personal insurance products, including auto, property, and casualty insurance, as well as other specialty insurance products. It also provides reinsurance for other insurers' property and casualty products. The company markets its products through a network of independent agencies.
Learn more about United Fire Group
Size
1,086 employees
Market Cap
$706.2 million
Industry
Net Income
-$112.7 million
Founded
1946
5 Year Trend
+1.4%
Revenue
$1 billion
NASDAQ

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