Job Title: Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing
Target Start Date: ASAP
Contract Type: Permanent, Part Time, Full Time
Salary Range: Circa £124k DOE
Location: Eastleigh

Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing: 
Ageas have an exciting and rare opportunity for a Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing to join us. Ageas is a leading insurance company specialising in Personal Lines Insurance. We are committed to providing innovative solutions and exceptional service to our customers. As we continue to grow, we are seeking a dynamic and experienced professional to lead our strategic underwriting and pricing department.
As the Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing, you will play a critical role in shaping our underwriting strategy, risk assessment, and pricing models. You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including actuarial, data science, and product development, to drive profitable growth and enhance our competitive position in the market.

Main Responsibilities as Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing:

* Working closely with the Head of Portfolio Underwriting and the Head of Pricing, ensure that all medium and long term activity is successfully delivered to continue to push our capabilities to best in class standards
* Deliver a highly skilled and enthusiastic team of Underwriters and Pricing Experts ensuring their ongoing development is well embedded.
* Ensure the structure of the Strategic Underwriting & Pricing team is fit for purpose – amending as required
* Role will contribute to the management of profitable growth of the portfolio from £903m GWP to c. £1,600m GWP in 2025
* Lead Underwriting and Pricing contribution to the Financial Planning process, MYB, QXF etc.  This will include clear stakeholder management, provision of appropriate and effective models to provide inputs to the Finance models for all relevant points in the P&L.  Clear understanding and documentation of all inputs, assumptions and outputs will be required through the iterative process for all elements of the GWP funnel and the LRs
* Lead Underwriting and Pricing activities related to future propositional work and horizon scanning, such as the Future value Pools and Think 2030.  This will require coordination with the Portfolio Underwriting, and Pricing teams for SME input as required.
* Lead Underwriting and Pricing support of any Tender Responses that materialise.  Close liaison with Distribution, Marketing, portfolio Underwriting, and Pricing will be required.
* Deliver a roadmap and then recommendations for footprint and competitiveness improvements in line with Strategic targets. 
* Manage all outsourcing required to support Underwriting and Pricing, ensuring requirements and objectives are well understood and the deliveries are proactively managed.
* Provide the Reinsurance team the support they require in understanding the portfolio – in order for them to deliver the best protections for the portfolio as a whole.
* Market facing contact for the Underwriting team – ensuring the reputation of the Company is enhanced and developed for these lines of business
* Line management responsibility for teams of Underwriters and Pricing experts. Fulfilling training requirements, setting objectives and monitoring progress against required competencies.
* Ensure that the balance between thorough analysis of performance and efficient decision making is at an optimal level throughout the decision-making process.
Skills and experience you need as Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing:

* Educated to degree level or above in maths, science or statistics.
* High grades at GCSE and/or A Level or equivalent are essential.
* FIA or ACII preferred.
* The jobholder requires a very high degree of numeracy with a strong ability to analyse and interpret data.
* Experience in leading multiple teams and developing more junior colleagues.
* Relationship skills and dealing with key partners and brokers
* Excellent skills in explaining, both internally and externally to key business partners, the interpretation of policy wordings, underwriting decisions and the outcome of audits.
* Computer literate, able to use spreadsheets.
* Superior organisational skills.
* Good risk evaluation skills.
* Confident proven decision-maker who exhibits a willingness to take responsibility.
* Excellent negotiation skills
* A sound understanding of underwriting and pricing principles and experience of a wide range of technical issues.
* Knowledge and understanding of all relevant technical, market, and legislative directives (with particular emphasis on ABI, MIB, Flood Re, FCA & PRA compliance, FOS and Government)
* Understanding of pricing techniques and applications.
* Understanding of Insurance principles and law.
* Previous in depth experience in a specialist underwriting or pricing environment is essential.
Here are some of the benefits you can enjoy within the Head of Strategic Underwriting and Pricing role based in Eastleigh: 
At Ageas we offer a wide range of benefits to support you and your family inside and outside of work, which helped us achieve, Top Employer
status in the UK.
 Flexible Working
- Smart Working @ Ageasgives employees flexibility around location (as long as it’s within the UK) and, for many of our roles, flexibility within the working day to manage other commitments, such as school drop offs etc. We also offer all our vacancies part-time/job-shares . We also offer a minimum of 35 days holiday (inc. bank holidays) and you can buy and sell days.
 Supporting your Health
– Dental Insurance Health Cash Plan, Health Screening, Will Writing, Voluntary Critical Illness, Mental Health First Aiders, Well Being Activities – Yoga, Mindfulness.
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