Specialist, Contract Underwriting - E&S/Specialty (Alternative Distribution)

About the role

At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers and partners are at the center of everything we do and we're looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

Responsibilities

• Leverage strong partner relationships, a solution-oriented mindset, and technical underwriting acumen to drive profitable growth across the Alternative Distribution portfolio.
• Partner with Contract Underwriting appointed Wholesale Managing General Agents to vet, operationalize, manage, and grow new and existing alternatively distributed products.
• Manage the P&L of each individual solution and handle individual account underwriting for referral business that falls outside prescribed authority.
• Provide operational support and oversight to ensure non-API supported solutions such as bordereaux-managed business is captured and ingested appropriately as well as ensuring the risks within the greater portfolio fall within prescribed authority, mix of business targets, and other predefined underwriting parameters.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with wholesale managing general agents and internal stakeholders to drive profitable growth.
• Serve as a trusted advisor and technical underwriting resource to partners, resolving complex issues and supporting deal execution.
• Conduct regular communication with partners to assess market conditions, profitability, and pipeline opportunities.
• Travel as needed for agency visits, audits, marketing meetings, and relationship-building activities.
• Represent the organization at industry events and contribute to marketing initiatives that promote underwriting capabilities and generate new business opportunities.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Risk Management, or related field preferred.
• Approximately 6+ years of experience in specialty, program, or contract underwriting.
• Strong understanding of underwriting guidelines, insurance law, contract structures, and coverage design.
• Knowledge of reinsurance principles and placement strategies preferred.

Qualifications

• Passionate about helping people protect what matters most to them.
• Desire to innovate and simplify processes and operations to provide the best customer value.
• Ability to analyze complex risk and find insurance solutions that balance customer needs with business goals.
• Experience in a fast-paced environment in a collaborative, team-oriented culture.
• Technical expertise in developing, analyzing, and evaluating information and exposures on risks of a complex technical nature.
• Ability to place reinsurance, if any, for the account.
• Ability to achieve production and loss ratio goals within assigned territory through sound territory management and marketing.
• Ability to work independently with a high level of authority and judgment.
• Ability to determine appropriate reinsurance placement, if any, on individual accounts.
• Ability to foster positive business relationships with co-workers, general agents, and reinsurers.
• Ability to assist with research, development, and presentation of new products, forms, and manuals.
• Ability to assist in the training and mentoring of Underwriters and Underwriting Assistants.

Skills

• Strong analytical and creative abilities.
• Effective communication skills, both oral and written.
• Advanced negotiation skills.
• Good rapport building and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to manage the assigned line or lines of business, including monitoring of aggregates.
• Knowledge of lines underwriting policies, practices, and procedures.
• Understanding of insurance law and underwriting marketing principles and techniques.
• Knowledge of rating plans and plan concepts.
• Understanding of treaty and facultative reinsurance concepts.
• Working knowledge of the general agency system and company operations.
• Ability to analyze insurance risks to determine acceptability including policy language, various commercial rating plans and methodologies, reinsurance.
• Ability to use/learn job related computer software.
• Ability to devise business solutions to problems, implement the most appropriate, and monitor its effectiveness.
• Ability to make decisions with minimal supervision.

Benefits

Details on benefits will be provided in the full job description.

Pay

Details on pay will be provided in the full job description.

Schedule

Details on schedule will be provided in the full job description.