Head of P&C Commercial Lines

Our client is one of the world’s leading insurance brand and the P&C Commercial Lines division is over €2 billion GWP, and is expected to grow about 5% p.a. in the next few years. The portfolio covers a large range of countries, from Latin America, to the Gulf, Africa and SE Asia – ie some of the fastest growing insurance markets in the world. The scope of the successful candidate includes the mid/large commercial as well as SME segment plus the oversight of P&C reinsurance activities from a business perspective.

The Head of P&C Commercial Lines leads the development of the Commercial Lines businesses through:

• Strengthening technical excellence for a robust underwriting process,
• Supporting local and regional initiatives to meet local entities’ profitable growth objectives,
• Challenging local action plans and portfolio management process,
• Ensuring adequate governance (guidelines) and control are implemented,
• Sharing best practice techniques and supporting local capability building
• Managing a team of 7 staff

The Head of P&C Commercial Lines will:

• Provide to all the entities timely and accurate service for new product development, pricing, underwriting, claims handling*, distribution and other servicing initiatives.
• Promote a data-driven culture in the entities for better underwriting decisions, and foster pricing excellence in Commercial Lines (in coordination with the team of pricing actuaries).
• Build relationships with local heads of P&C or Commercial Lines and CEOs, be seen as an international expert. Frequent travel to entities will be necessary as well as the ongoing remote interactions with the local teams and stakeholders.
• Assess capabilities in the entities and then design and implement action plans to increase those capabilities; participate to Group In-depth Reviews or divisional reviews.
• Build sustainable relationships with key stakeholders in the entities and strengthen the P&C Commercial Lines community to share experiences, approaches and knowledge.
• Collaborate with local teams on selected initiatives and priorities.
• Work closely with the divisional reinsurance manager to optimize the division’s P&C reinsurance strategy.
• Build and develop a strong P&C Commercial Lines team at division level.

Background and Experience:

• 10 Years + Experience in P&C Commercial Lines underwriting, ideally in several lines of business and several geographies
• Currently working at Senior level
• Have been involved in underwriting, pricing, distribution, reinsurance, product development.

Technical and professional skills:

• Fluent in Spoken & Written English (Spanish and French will be appreciated)
• Knowledge of how to balance underwriting risk with the necessity of providing commercially sound decisions
• In depth understanding of Commercial Lines business and the ability to interpret risk surveys / loss prevention reports and financial information
• Comprehensive knowledge of Commercial Lines insurance products and their features

Please note our client is happy to sponsor non-EU professionals and for the right candidate, some relocation assistance will also be provided. Total package (base + bonus) will be in the region of €150,000 – 200,000. Our client is also keen to recruit people intent on forging a long term career within a group that offers excellent career mobility across the world. It is also worth noting that permanent residency in Spain is available after 5 years.