Crum & Forster (C&F), with a proud history dating to 1822, provides specialty and standard commercial lines insurance products through our admitted and surplus lines insurance companies. C&F enjoys a financial strength rating of "A+"(Superior) by AM Best and is proud of our superior customer service platform. Our claims and risk engineering services are recognized as among the best in the industry.

Our most valuable asset is our people: more than 2000 employees in locations throughout the United States. The company is increasingly winning recognition as a great place to work, earning several workplace and wellness awards, including the 2024 Great Place to Work^® Award for our employee-first focus and our steadfast commitment to diversity, equity and Inclusion.

C&F is part of Fairfax Financial Holdings, a global, billion dollar organization.  For more information about Crum & Forster, please visit our website: www.cfins.com.

Crum & Forster has an exciting opportunity for the position of Regional Vice President of Underwriting joining a team of high quality leaders to lead the Midwest region’s Middle Market Solutions group comprising of a host of industry segments. This division is one of high focus in the organization with significant growth plans. We seek a dynamic business leader who has the skills, drive and focus to grow this business to a significantly higher level while increasing profit. This role will develop and grow the book of business building on the already growing strong underwriter talent base in the Midwest region, and be responsible for expanding Crum & Forster’s P&C book in the target industry segments (including manufacturing, retail, wholesale distribution, hospitality, real estate, and financial institutions) in the region, with the appropriate broker partners, with due focus on profitability.

This is a hybrid role that can be placed in either Chicago IL or Kansas City, MO.

Responsibilities:

• Drive achievement of the regional multiyear growth and profit objectives
• Set strategic direction and vision for the region in collaboration with the national leaders
• Identify and pursue new opportunities
• Build a high performance culture driven by selecting, training and developing sales oriented, technically strong underwriters with middle market commercial expertise
• Create a productive working environment with innovation and personal growth
• Develop bench strength for key positions in the region
• Develop underwriting strategy optimizing sales, profitability and risk management
• Develop and maintain highly effective business relationships with agents and brokers and other external clients in order to attract, develop, grow and retain profitable business for the profit center
• Cultivate strategic partnerships internally including, Sales, Marketing, Operations, IT, Claims, Actuarial & Finance
• Collaborate with other leaders on initiatives around product development, processes, underwriting policy and strategy
• Recommend and implement changes to improve productivity, profitability and growth
• Apply expertise to develop and analyze key metrics of underwriter results to identify areas of improvement and development opportunities
• Review segments’ new business, growth results and trends to recommend and implement action plans to produce profitable underwriting results
• Leads innovation and execution of new solutions to market challenges

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience with 15+ years of experience and 5+ in management.
• Ability to plan, lead and get work done through others
• In depth knowledge of standard lines commercial products
• Advanced analytical skills to interpret business information drawn from multiple sources to make critical decisions
• Ability to adapt, learn quickly, and respond effectively to challenges
• Successful track record of developing underwriters who apply a high level of underwriting skill, build agent/broker relationships and make the right business decisions
• Excellent analytical, problem solving, presentation, collaboration, negotiation, oral and written communication skills required
• Deep understanding and appreciation for business, analytics and technology
• Translates vision and strategy into actionable plans
• Ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts by finding acceptable solutions to business problems
• Extensive knowledge of competitor products and capabilities as well as marketplace dynamics and market trends
• Strong mentoring, coaching, relationship building, planning and organizational skills
• Travel required

At C&F you will BELONG

We value inclusivity and diversity. We are committed to equal employment opportunity and welcome everyone regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, or Veteran status. If you require special accommodation, please let us know.

For California Residents Only:  Information collected and processed as part of your career profile and any job applications you choose to submit are subject to our privacy notices and policies, visit https://www.cfins.com/onlineprivacypolicy/ca/noticeatcollection/ for more information.

Crum & Forster is committed to ensuring a workplace free from discriminatory pay disparities and complying with applicable pay equity laws.  Salary ranges are available for all positions at this location, taking into account roles with a comparable level of responsibility and impact in the relevant labor market and these salary ranges are regularly reviewed and adjusted in accordance with prevailing market conditions. The annualized base pay for the advertised position, located in the specified area, ranges from a minimum of $160,700 to a maximum of $235,700. The actual compensation is determined by various factors, including but not limited to the market pay for the jobs at each level, the responsibilities and skills required for each job, and the employee’s contribution (performance) in that role. To be considered within market range, a salary is at or above the minimum of the range. You may also have the opportunity to participate in discretionary equity (stock) based compensation and/or performance-based variable pay programs.

• Flexible work arrangements.
• Competitive compensation package.  
• Generous 401K employer match.
• Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching.
• Generous Paid Time Off.
• Excellent benefits that go beyond health, dental & vision. Our Wellness programs focus on your family’s complete wellness, including your physical and mental wellbeing
• A core C&F principle is that you manage your career. To support your development, we have a wealth of ways for you to keep learning, including tuition reimbursement, industry related certifications and professional training available to you.
• A dynamic, ambitious, fun and exciting work environment.
• A spirit of social responsibility, matching donation program, volunteer opportunities, and an employee driven corporate giving.

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