Sr Territory Manager, Business Development - Surety (Large Contract)

If you’re passionate about helping people protect what matters most at a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales, as well as innovating and simplifying processes to provide the best customer value, Nationwide’s Property and Casualty team could be the place for you. 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.

About the Role

This position is based in Utah and involves regular meetings with agents and brokers in the territory. This role does not qualify for employer-sponsored work authorization, and Nationwide does not participate in the STEM OPT Extension program.

Responsibilities

• Monitors market conditions and confirms information gathered within the market space. Researches risk, environment, and factors necessary to win accounts.
• Performs analysis of the most complex accounts, combining experience, intuition, and business savvy to fully understand the landscape and make strategic territory and account decisions.
• Analyzes quality and quantity of risks underwritten, ensuring all variables are considered, including financial statements, credit reports, bank, and other underwriting documents.
• Analyzes regional underwriting performance, identifies problems on a territory level, and proposes action plans to address or rectify those situations.
• Achieves production, profitability, and service objectives. Within delegated authority levels and company guidelines, accepts, rejects, or modifies new surety business of a more complex nature to ensure profitability.
• Leverages agency relationships, underwriting tools, and evaluation of exceptions and other appropriate resources.
• Independently reviews for acceptability and handles those within the level of authority using company underwriting guidelines and standards.
• Manages workflow and intricacies of underwriting more complex assigned work, utilizing company tools and systems to meet service level agreements.
• Ensures file handling quality and workflow efficiency with a thorough understanding of overall surety strategic direction and operating plans.
• Manages large, complex work and coordinates work with and through others to meet service level agreements.
• Drives robust agency business planning to deliver detailed performance plans with actions, accountabilities, and scheduled performance checkpoints.
• Ensures strong territorial objectives to maximize profit and pipeline management. Proactively identifies opportunities for all lines to cross-sell and refers to appropriate business leaders.
• Plans and coordinates the efforts of the surety team regarding new business and renewals. Identifies prospects and recommends new agency appointments.
• Markets the company’s products and services to help drive agency and company results, including all enterprise products that may enhance offerings.
• Assists agencies with strategies for pipeline management and to develop new business in targeted industries and preferred markets.
• Responds effectively to assess accounts and develop business propositions that win the business.
• Proactively consults with agents, accounts, and internal partners to provide underwriting recommendations and develop business solutions.
• Shares understanding of organizational capabilities and opportunities to drive maximum value of relationships.
• Consults regarding the appetite, acceptability, terms, conditions, pricing, and sales techniques of large or unique business. Provides industry trend observations to leadership.
• Consults with agencies to improve retention and profitability. Proactively identifies and consults on strategies to develop new business and maximize growth and profit.
• Effectively communicates with agencies to establish the company as the provider of choice for the territory for all enterprise products, with an emphasis on surety.
• Communicates product and technology changes, as well as company objectives. Communicates market intelligence to agencies and leadership.
• Ensures communication is shared across all key agency partners at all levels in complex environments.
• Communicates and collaborates actively with team members and leadership to share industry trends and field underwriting experience.
• Completes agency visits, as appropriate, to develop new accounts, service existing accounts, review agency performance, and enhance agency relationships.
• Develops and maintains strong business relationships with agencies, producers, and key groups.
• Ensures that tools, training, and support are in place to positively impact success for assigned agencies. Identifies and communicates training needs and opportunities.
• May assist in the development or training delivery as a subject matter expert. Participates in program and product orientation meetings in conjunction with Sales/Marketing partners as the underwriting subject matter expert.
• Provides professional development knowledge and insight to team members. May help mentor new territory managers and provide coaching.

Requirements

• Experience in large contract surety underwriting, including both new business and portfolio management of complex or high-exposure accounts.
• Demonstrated success in territory development and broker distribution management, with the ability to identify expansion opportunities, build producer plans, and develop target account strategies.
• Advanced ability to analyze complex financial statements, including interpretation of profitability, leverage, cash flow, working capital, liquidity, backlog, and work-in-progress trends.
• Experience evaluating credit quality and capacity of privately held and publicly traded companies, including identification of emerging deterioration and concentration risk.
• Proven ability to structure, negotiate, and recommend underwriting terms that appropriately balance growth objectives with risk discipline.
• Experience monitoring and managing a territory or portfolio of surety business, including trend analysis, close-out strategies, and proactive identification of adverse developments.
• Strong marketing and relationship-management skills, with the ability to serve as a trusted partner to brokers and to influence new business opportunities in a competitive market.

Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in business or a related field preferred.
• Pursuit of technical insurance coursework such as AFSB is highly desirable.
• Ten years of progressively responsible surety underwriting experience preferred.

Skills

• Thorough knowledge of surety value proposition and ability to communicate it to bond producers and principals.
• Working knowledge of state laws and regulations required.
• Expert-level knowledge of surety underwriting and familiarity with surety forms and the requirements of the territory.
• Thorough working knowledge of company marketing/underwriting standards and philosophies.
• Excellent knowledge of surety products and programs to teach aspects of material to others.
• Strong knowledge of effective sales, marketing, and agency relationship management techniques.
• Excellent interpersonal and sales skills.
• Ability to build and maintain cooperative and mutually rewarding internal and external partnerships.
• Ability to perform duties with independent judgment within underwriting authority and company underwriting standards.
• Demonstrated decision-making ability in day-to-day operations where there may be unclear or competing priorities, including evaluating and recommending solutions to customer service, work processing, underwriting selection and rating, and best practices compliance.

Pay

The expected starting salary range for Sr Territory Manager, Business Development - Surety is $144,000.00 - $216,000.00. The national salary range for this role is $144,000.00 - $255,000.00. Placement within the actual starting salary range will be determined by skills, education, training, credentials, and experience of the candidate, as well as the scope, complexity, and location of the role, and the cost of labor in the market. If a sales job, sales incentives based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range.