Focus Group Leader – Political Risks & Trade Credit - Beazley Management Limited

Job description and person specification

Exciting opportunity to join Beazley’s MAP Risks division. We are looking for an Focus Group Leader - Political Risk & Trade Credit.

Who We Are

Beazley is a specialist insurance company with over 30 years’ experience helping people, communities and businesses to manage risk all around the world. Our mission is to provide beautifully designed insurance, innovating to give our clients the maximum benefit with minimum hassle.

Our products are wide ranging, from cyber & tech insurance to marine, healthcare, financial institutions and contingency; covering risks such as the weather, film production or protection from deadly weapons.

Our Culture

We employ over 1,500 people globally, hosting a wonderful diversity of cultures, experiences and backgrounds. We are proud of our family-feel culture at Beazley that empowers our staff to work from when and where they want, in an adult environment that’s big on collaboration, diversity of thought & personal accountability.

Our three core values inspire the way we work and how we treat our people & customers – 1) Be bold 2) Strive for better 3) Do the right thing. Upholding these values every day has enabled us to become an innovative and responsive organization in touch with the changing world around us – our ambitious L&D & Sustainability targets are testament to this.

We encourage internal career progression at Beazley, giving you all the tools you need to drive your own career here, such as iLearn (our own learning & development platform), LinkedIn Learning, our mentorship program and external qualification sponsorship. As a Beazley employee, you also get access to our fantastic array of benefits which include commuting reimbursement, free in-office lunch, six months parental leave and a lifestyle allowance, amongst many others.

Job Title:                     Focus Group Leader – US Political Risk & Trade Credit

Division:                      Political, Accident & Contingency (PAC)

Reports To:                 As per Beazley’s organisation chart

Key Relationships:     Brokers, own staff, underwriters, other staff, coverholders, external clients and suppliers       

Job Summary:            To direct and manage the US Political Risk & Trade Credit team within Political Risk. To deliver and execute the annual business plan, set and direct forecasts.

To underwrite a Political Risk & Trade Credit account within the Political Risk team and provide counsel and advice on Underwriting and market issues. Provide technical expertise in this business area and maintain and improve market reputation of the Beazley brand.

FLSA:                           Exempt

Key Responsibilities:

US Political Risk & Trade Credit Focus Group Leader

• Responsibility for management of the US Political Risk & Trade Credit team including business planning and underwriting.
• Develop and implement business strategies for the team in agreement with the head of the PAC team.
• Plan, direct, co-ordinate and maintain the team to achieve business objectives and target profitability.
• Monitor the portfolio and take corrective measures if necessary to ensure long-term profitability.
• Ensure that own and team activities comply with all relevant company, regulatory and legal requirements.
• Deliver team responsibilities as delegated by the head of the PAC team.
• Provide proactive oversight of all US Political Risk & Trade Credit underwriting and related functions within the Political Risk

Underwriting

• Develop and underwrite a profitable portfolio of Political Risks & Trade Credit business as part of the PAC team.
• Structure tailor-made solutions by considering the team underwriting parameters and underwriting policy and using underwriting knowledge and experience to win new business and retain existing.
• Monitor premiums, costs and claims ratios per contract and take corrective measures if necessary to ensure long term profitability at account level.
• Evaluate appropriate risk premium by considering the risk costs, reinsurance cessions, capital exposure as well as the Underwriting and general administration costs to ensure profitability, using rating models as applicable.
• Monitor peer underwriters in their daily work to ensure profitability as well as efficient and cost effective administration of the Political Risks & Trade Credit account.
• Monitor and supervise assistants in their daily work to ensure compliance with underwriting philosophy and policy and consistency within the team and PAC.
• Comply with Beazley’s underwriting control standards for business written through Lloyd’s, Beazley Insurance Company Inc or Beazley’s internal MGAs.
• Develop a good working relationship with the claims managers on this class of business.

Client Management

• Advise, assist and service clients on insurance and risk matters to ensure clients’ satisfaction.
• Foster positive relationships with clients to get a mutual understanding of both their and Beazley’s needs.
• Maintenance of good business relationships with brokers.
• Maintain awareness of overall Beazley product range and take advantages of opportunities to introduce other Beazley products to clients.

Staff

• Ensure that own staff have terms of reference setting out their responsibilities and reporting lines.
• Ensure that people are recruited, deployed and developed to anticipate and meet current and future needs.
• Encourage, motivate and manage direct reports.
• Ensure that all employees have the knowledge and the skills necessary to perform effectively in their given roles and responsibilities.
• Review employees’ performance and conduct biannual performance appraisals.
• Discipline, within Beazley Group guidelines, members of staff contravening regulations per staff handbook or underwriting guidelines as required.

General

• Leverage networking opportunities within the business to develop standardised underwriting policy and best practice within Beazley.
• Develop best practice and disseminate business and class knowledge within the Political Risks & Trade Credit and PAC team.
• Work with peers within Political Risk and PAC to maximise business opportunities and profitability within the department.  This will include but not be limited to sharing market information, marketing sources and cross selling opportunities.
• Share and gather knowledge within the Beazley Group to ensure dissemination of best practice and maximise business opportunities and profitability within the Group.
• Production of presentations and marketing literature as required.
• Production of business plans/research documents for the Political Risks & Trade Credit account as required.

It is important that within all your interactions both internally and externally you adhere to Beazley’s core values - Being Bold, Striving for Better, and Doing the Right Thing – as they contribute to an internal environment of teamwork and promote a positive brand image and experience to our external customers. We also expect Beazley employees to:

• Comply with Beazley procedures, policies and regulations including the code of conduct which incorporates the PRA and FCA Conduct.  Undertake training on Beazley policies and procedures as delivered by your line manager, the Culture & People or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) either directly, via e-learning or the learning management system.
• Display business ethics that uphold the interests of all our customers.
• Ensure all interactions with customers are focused on delivering a fair outcome, including having the right products for their needs.
• Comply with any specific responsibilities necessary for your role as outlined by your line manager, the Culture & People or assurance teams (compliance, risk, internal audit) and ensure you keep up to date with developments in these areas. This may include, amongst others, Beazley’s underwriting control standards, Beazley’s claims control standards, other Beazley standards and customer relationship management.
• Carry out additional responsibilities as individually notified, either through your objectives or through the learning management system. These may include membership of any Beazley committees or working groups.

Personal Specification:

Education and Qualifications

• Minimum Bachelor’s Degree education

Skills and Abilities

• General commercial and financial knowledge
• Possess underwriting ability
• Accurate and numerate
• Computer skills – good working knowledge of MS Office, advanced Excel skills
• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail
• Able to communicate effectively with others, both verbally and in writing
• Motivational skills, team worker as well as able to work on own initiative
• Ability to manage time, meet deadlines and prioritise
• Good people management skills

Knowledge and Experience

• Extensive experience of Political Risks & Trade Credit underwriting
• Thorough knowledge of underwriting policy, philosophy and practice
• Advanced knowledge of underwriting processes and systems
• Client service experience

Aptitude and Disposition

• Results focused, self-motivated, flexible and enthusiastic
• Professional approach to interact successfully with managers / colleagues / external suppliers

Competencies

• Achievement drive
• Analytical thinking
• Strategic thinking
• Service focus
• Team working
• Developing people
• Team leadership
• Conceptual thinking
• Forward thinking

The rewards: 

• The opportunity to connect and build long-lasting professional relationships while advancing your career with a growing, dynamic organization
• Attractive base compensation and discretionary performance related annual bonus
• Competitively priced medical, dental and vision insurance
• Company paid life, and short- and long-term disability insurance
• 401(k) plan with 5% company match and immediate vesting
• 22 days annual PTO (full-time, prorated for 1st calendar year of employment), plus paid public holidays with the ability to flex the religious bank holidays to suit your religious beliefs. Additional PTO purchase is available up to a maximum of 5 days per calendar year.
• Up to $700 reimbursement towards home office setup
• Free in-office lunch, travel reimbursement for travel to office, and monthly lifestyle allowance in support of your wellbeing
• The opportunity to save for, and purchase, shares of Beazley stock
• Six months fully paid parental leave, regardless of how you come to parenthood
• Company paid sabbatical up to 12 weeks after 10 years of continued service
• Support with exam/study leave and fees for relevant qualifications related to furthering education
• Up to 2.5 days matched paid leave for volunteering at a charity of your choice and 5 days paid leave to provide or arrange care for a dependent with a long term care need annually
• Smart working policy and flexible working culture, trusting our employees to do what works best for them, their role and the needs of the business

Salary for this role will be tailored to the successful individual’s location and experience. The expected compensation range for this position is 85k - 100k per year plus profit related pay and discretionary annual bonus. You will be able to discuss your salary expectations should you be contacted about this role.

Don’t meet all the requirements? At Beazley we're committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t perfectly align with every requirement and qualification in the job specification, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right candidate for this, or one of our other roles.