Vice President, Head of Commercial Property - Canada

Title:

Vice President, Head of Commercial Property - Canada

Company:

Everest Insurance Company of Canada

Job Category:

Underwriting

Job Description:

At Everest we hold ourselves accountable to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our people, our skills, and our ideas. We prioritize building a workforce that spans cultures, backgrounds, and experiences at every level. This is a priority we bring to life through the diverse representation of leaders and colleagues across Everest. We view this as a strength and believe that our work culture is significantly enhanced when diverse groups of people come together.

Reporting to the Head of Commercial & Specialty Lines, you will be a key member of Everest Insurance Company of Canada’s (‘EvCan’, ‘Company’) underwriting leadership team. Alongside your peers, you will foster a culture of underwriting excellence, entrepreneurship, transparency, collaboration, candor, and inclusiveness. You will lead and empower underwriting teams to execute on the Commercial Property department’s strategic objectives. You will be instrumental in maintaining excellent customer & distribution relationships and driving the profitable growth of EvCan’s Commercial Property portfolio.

OBJECTIVE:

• Develop and drive all aspects of EvCan’s Commercial Property strategies and business plans.

• Profitably scale existing Commercial Property portfolio, establishing relevance with customers, trading partners, and in the Canadian market.

• Build and lead a team of underwriters to execute on strategic objectives, including portfolio optimization and sustainable profitable growth through the underwriting cycle.

• Work with internal and external stakeholders to refine distribution and go-to-market strategies for EvCan’s Commercial Property products and services. Maintain and expand existing customer & broker relationships, developing new relationships where this is consistent with the objectives of the business plan.

• Ensure good governance and quality of underwriting is upheld by managing Commercial Property underwriting authorities and department audits. Contribute to the regular analysis and review of underwriting practices and procedures, updating and revising as necessary.

• Liaise with the Head of Claims on claims related issues and participate in account and portfolio reviews.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Commercial Property Vision & Strategy: Review, refine, develop, and drive EvCan’s Commercial Property vision and strategies. Scale and optimize existing products and portfolios to establish relevance with customers, trading partners, and the market. Evaluate opportunities to meaningfully enter new industry segments where EvCan doesn’t have a presence. Ensure all strategies will lead to a profitable and sustainable Canadian Commercial Property operation that supports EvCan’s broader vision for the future.

• Department Leadership: Drive department talent acquisition, development, and retention. Set clear expectations, empower & enable your team to execute, holding people accountable to their goals & objectives. Engage in coaching, mentorship, feedback loops, and skill & career development with your direct reports. Establish leadership and succession pipelines. Intentionally avoid bureaucracy, red-tape, opaqueness, and command-and-control management.

• Portfolio Management: Drive portfolio optimization and profitable growth through the cycle by managing all aspects of your portfolio – risk selection, accumulations/aggregation, limits deployment, class and line of business, pricing, terms & conditions, and diversification. Leveraging data & analytics to inform risk selection, underwriting, and portfolio decision making.

• Authority & Audit/Referral Management: Working with the Chief Underwriting Officer and Corporate Underwriting, establish and manage delegated authorities for all Commercial Property teammates. Establish referral thresholds, managing your team’s authority and the referral workflow. Manage and lead self and Corporate Underwriting audits ensuring satisfactory results. Ensure guidelines are current, relevant, and support the execution of your department strategies.

• Marketing and Distribution Relationships: Develop and maintain excellent business relationships with customers & trading partners, positioning EvCan as a Commercial Property insurer of choice in the Canadian market. Enhance EvCan’s brand through visibility & engagement with customers & brokers and at relevant industry conferences. Deliver best-in-class service.

• Process Optimization: Working with Everest Operations, IT, third-party vendors, and distribution partners, improve the operational efficiency of the department by leveraging process optimization and software solutions. Manage department expense ratio to plan and improve the employee experience by automating manual & administrative processes.

SKILLS REQUIREMENTS AND QUALIFICATIONS:

• A person that demonstrates high integrity, no ego, a natural curiosity and willingness to change, and that embodies the cultural values of Everest.

• Minimum fifteen (15) years of progressive commercial underwriting & management experience with a focus on large shared & layered property programs, preferably with lead market experience.

• Deep knowledge of P&C underwriting and the Canadian Commercial Property market.

• Established relationships with key Commercial Property brokers and customers across Canada.

• Demonstrated ability to profitably grow a Commercial Property portfolio through the insurance cycle.

• Ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders across the Company and geographies, creating alignment and support behind department priorities.

• Exceptional oral and written communication with the ability to effectively present key themes to customers, distribution partners, and senior leadership alike.

• A bias for action with a high sense of urgency, strong work ethic, and drive for results.

• Willingness to travel to key markets across Canada and occasionally to the United States.

Type:

Regular

Time Type:

Full time

Primary Location:

Toronto - Insurance Canada

Additional Locations:

N/A