Areas of focus for this role:

• Identifying expansion opportunities within the territory by partnering with brokers on new business development, producer planning, and target account strategies.
• Contributing to territory-level business planning by tracking production, visibility, and marketing trends and activities
• Supporting the negotiation and execution of indemnity, collateral, and other risk-mitigation arrangements on larger or more complex accounts
• Providing consultative underwriting guidance and training to newer underwriters on more complex risks, including financial analysis, contract review, backlog/WIP trends, and liquidity considerations
• Monitoring portfolio trends across the territory to identify concentration risk, emerging credit concerns, and close-out strategies
• Coordinating with internal business partners such as Claims, Legal, Finance, Compliance, and Operations on complex account matters and operational processing opportunities
• Maintaining awareness of regional market conditions, industry developments, and competitive dynamics that may affect underwriting strategy within the territory
• Assisting with remediation strategies for stressed or deteriorating accounts, including action planning, communication strategy, and monitoring requirements

The ideal candidate will have experience in the following areas:

• Significant experience in large commercial surety underwriting, including both new business and portfolio management of complex or high-exposure accounts.
• Demonstrated success in territory development and broker distribution management, with the ability to identify expansion opportunities, build producer plans, and develop target account strategies.
• Advanced ability to analyze complex financial statements, including interpretation of profitability, leverage, cash flow, working capital, liquidity, backlog, and work-in-progress trends.
• Experience evaluating credit quality and capacity of privately held and publicly traded companies, including identification of emerging deterioration and concentration risk.
• A CPA designation or experience in financial or credit underwriting is highly transferable to this role.
• Expertise in reviewing bond forms, indemnity agreements, collateral arrangements, and other risk-mitigation structures for larger or more complex accounts.
• Proven ability to structure, negotiate, and recommend underwriting terms that appropriately balance growth objectives with risk discipline.
• Experience monitoring and managing a territory or portfolio of surety business, including trend analysis, close-out strategies, and proactive identification of adverse developments.
• Strong marketing and relationship-management skills, with the ability to serve as a trusted partner to brokers and to influence new business opportunities in a competitive market.

Preferred work location for this role is the Chicagoland area but also open to considering a Minneapolis metropolitan area location.

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Job Description Summary
Do you thrive in an environment where you can put your critical thinking and communication skills to work every day? Do you appreciate being able to contribute individually as well as collaboratively? Our Surety Underwriting team values initiative, the ambition to grow and learn, a broad skill set that includes everything from marketing to finance to risk analysis and a solutions focused approach. We're technology savvy and highly motivated to grow our business with excellent career advancement opportunities. If you can see yourself as a member of our team, in a company that wants to grow in this space, then we want to know more about you!
Leads an underwriting team that includes surety territory managers and field underwriters that own the sales and underwriting relationships for a surety book of business. Establishes and maintains business relationships with agencies and/or brokers for the purpose of sales growth and distribution expansion. Primary focus of this role is on underwriting, agency / customer relationship management, employee engagement and expense management for a territory. Independently underwrites accounts based on authority level granted to the role and underwriting appetite.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Analyzes performance of portfolio as well as individual account performance and develops appropriate action to drive profitable growth based upon the analysis. Monitors risk selection, renewal retention and pricing decisions on a portfolio and an individual account level.
• Reviews and approves underwriting decisions of staff and ensures compliance to legal requirements and organizational, business and strategic objectives. Provides recommendations to leadership regarding underwriting strategy and opportunity. Measures and manages underwriting processing and quality. Actively manages and participates in agency management. May review complex or escalated business and make underwriting decisions based on the underwriting authority granted to the role, using company underwriting guidelines and standards.
• Determines priorities and workflow/service standards for the department. Monitors and manages performance measurements to ensure effectiveness of the department's service delivery process. Effectively aligns organizational structure to drive business results.
• Plans, develops and integrates territory sales plans to achieve top and bottom-line objectives. Translates strategic business plans into organizational direction. Creates financial and operational goals, budget and timelines to meet company standards. Directs associates and provides performance management, salary planning and administration, organizational planning, hiring and placement.
• Drives sales strategies to develop new business, improve retention and maintain profitability. Meets regularly with clients to enhance relationships and drive business results. Handles escalated customer service issues and requests.
• Provides input to leadership regarding strategic and business plans and helps identify operational opportunities and efficiency. Consults with agents and brokers to provide expertise, educate and identify business opportunities. Consults with team to develop experience, understanding and expertise in each situation to make the best possible decisions. Consults with Home Office leaders on accounts requiring higher level of authority.
• Communicates strategic direction and operational plans to internal associates and external partners. Communicates policies, procedures and financial budgets that result in attainment of business objectives. Ensures awareness of strategic corporate initiatives to maintain effectiveness in the field. Works in partnership with agencies to expand the program share amount in a shared surety account and understands the existing surety program in place.
• Develops and maintains strong business relationships with key groups and individuals within the commercial lines market. Develops effective internal and external collaborative partnerships across all customers and related functions, including: Claims, Marketing, IT, etc. to understand business developments and build a support network to help resolve business needs.
• Works in partnership with fellow leaders to manage the training of associates within the surety organization to ensure a high degree of competency and professionalism. Coaches territory managers and field underwriters on actively pursuing surety opportunities with agencies and/or brokers to develop and grow a profitable territory.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to AVP, Surety. Direct reports include surety territory managers, field underwriters and underwriting associates.

Typical Skills and Experiences:

Education: Undergraduate degree in business, insurance, or a related field preferred.

License/Certification/Designation: Actively pursuing of AFSB, CPCU or other insurance/finance related certification desired.

Experience: Ten years commercial or contract surety or related underwriting experience preferred. Significant business management and people leadership experience desired.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Requires knowledge of contract and/ or commercial surety operations products, procedures and practices. Expertise in surety lines of business, ratings, customer environment and markets. Expertise in underwriting risks, including utilizing relevant tools for underwriting. Requires extensive knowledge of surety underwriting best practices, field underwriting operations and day-to-day underwriting operational needs. Familiarity with other company products preferred.Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills in order to disseminate vision of senior leadership and to motivate a large agency force. Ability to set work priorities and to initiate, evaluate and recommend solutions to upper management. Must have the ability to perform duties with independent judgment and within underwriting authority and company underwriting standards. Demonstrated decision-making ability required in day-to-day operations where there may be unclear or competing priorities, including evaluating and recommending solutions to customer service issues, work processing issues, underwriting selection and rating problems, and best practices compliance. Strong drive for results. Competencies include: Building Organizational Talent, Optimizing Diversity, Selling the Vision, Leading Change, Driving Execution, Entrepreneurship.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager's leader and HR Business Partner.

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions:

Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not eligible).

Working Conditions: Extended and/or non-standard work hours may be required as well as extensive travel in the field. May require the ability to relocate. Must have a valid driver's license with satisfactory driving record in accordance with Nationwide standards.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range. Note on Compensation for Part-Time Roles: Please be aware that the salary ranges listed below reflect full-time compensation. Actual compensation may be prorated based on the number of hours worked relative to a full-time schedule.

The national salary range for Director, Business Development - Surety : $152,000.00-$269,000.00

The expected starting salary range for Director, Business Development - Surety : $152,000.00 - $228,000.00