Manager: Motor Underwriting

**Manager: Motor Underwriting**

What will make you successful in this role?

To manage Santam’s Commercial Motor business to ensure achievement of profitable growth targets which includes the following key accountabilities:
Profit and Growth:

- Ensure the attractiveness of the offerings we create to enable C&P to compete effectively in the market we operate in, ensuring that our covers and pricing are market-related and achieve our required rate of return
- Drive and manage the consistent achievement of C&P’s overall Commercial profitable growth targets (which may at times require compromise on one class of business to balance broader profitability)
- Make underwriting decisions that balances logic with relationships (particularly on risk reduction requirements)
- Understand profit and growth challenges and determine solutions to achieve underwriting profit (pricing, discounting, underwriting processes, segmentation and risk models)
- Meet with National and large Brokers to discuss complex underwriting issues and get their buy-in for the required underwriting actions and decisions

Underwriting Governance:

- Guidelines and Manuals
- Draft Underwriting Manuals
- Draft Underwriting Circulars
- Sign off technical policy and clause wording, underwriting manuals, rules & mandates
- Design operational processes for reinsurance placements
- Govern and report on compliance with Underwriting Guidelines
- Understand the impact of reinsurance programmes on business & discuss more adequate & efficient structures (optimum reinsurance & pooling solutions) with reinsurance department

Underwriting Advice and Referrals:

- Design, manage and optimise referral processes to Head Office Underwriting
- Make decisions on complex technical referrals
- Provide solutions on how to underwrite certain types of risks etc.
- Provide clarity on policy wording interpretation and indemnification at claims stage
- Provide risk solutions for systemic risks
- Identify risk management solutions

Act as a Subject Matter Expert:

- Prepare media releases on topics relevant to Commercial and Agri motor insurance.
- Present papers at relevant industry events
- Represent Santam at industry forums & working groups related to the class of business specialisation e.g. SAIA Motor Committee.
- Engage with and influence industry stakeholders such as road traffic regulators, RAF, Compulsory Third Party insurance in RSA etc. because of Santam’s dependency from a business perspective on the services provided by these stakeholders
- Training
- Create Training Manuals for Commercial and Agri motor sections
- Provide skills training on complex underwriting issues and ensure material is created and maintained.

People management:

- Create and build an effective Commercial Motor Underwriting team which provides consistent service delivery
- Develop and build specialist technical underwriting skills within the Motor Underwriting team.
- Manage talent and ensure succession for critical roles to sustain Santam’s technical expertise in Commercial and Agri Motor Insurance.
- Motivate and inspire staff to manage employee turnover and compete effectively in the war for talent.

Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree or relevant insurance related diploma: AIISA or FIISA or similar
- Recommendation: Management or Leadership qualification
- Must qualify for Santam’s Underwriting Level 1
- Proven track record of at least 15 years’ experience within a Commercial Underwriting environment
- Of which at least 10 years’ management of a Motor Underwriting team
- Specialist Motor Technical Underwriting expertise
- Knowledge of (and understanding of the impact of) the relevant legislation on the Motor business

Skills and Knowledge
- Commercial Underwriting
- Advanced MS Office
- All policy administration and quoting systems of Santam Commercial
- Management experience in Commercial Underwriting
- Excellent English communication & report-writing skills
- Presentation skills
- Establish interpersonal relationship, negotiating and networking skills
- Ability to influence
- Ability to work under pressure with appropriate prioritisation skills
- Results-orientated and deadline driven
- Good analytical skills and problem-solving abilities
- Skilled in leading and coaching staff
- Creativity and ability to innovate and find new solutions to new challenges
- Able to organise own and others workloads to achieve priorities and objectives
- Demonstrate capability to think of the organisation holistically

Competencies
- Collaboration
- Client focus
- Drives results
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Cultivates innovation
- Relating and networking
- Analysing and attention to detail
- Risk Management
- Underwriting
- Business Acumen

**Job Type**: Permanent