Techno Commercial Underwriter (South)

We are looking for an experienced Techno-Commercial Underwriter with approximately 10 years of experience in the Indian General Insurance market. The incumbent will be responsible for evaluating, underwriting, pricing, and managing commercial insurance risks while balancing technical underwriting principles with business and commercial objectives .

The role requires strong expertise in risk assessment, policy structuring, pricing, portfolio management, negotiations, and adherence to underwriting guidelines and regulatory requirements. The candidate should be capable of handling complex and large-value risks and working closely with brokers, clients, sales teams, risk engineers, reinsurers, and internal stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

1. Technical Underwriting

• Evaluate and underwrite complex commercial and corporate insurance risks in line with company underwriting guidelines and risk appetite.
• Analyse proposal forms, financial information, claims history, risk inspection reports, exposure details, policy terms and conditions, and other relevant risk information.
• Assess risk quality, hazards, exposure, loss potential, accumulation, and adequacy of risk mitigation measures.
• Determine appropriate sum insured, deductibles, limits, warranties, exclusions, extensions, clauses, and special conditions .
• Review and approve risks within delegated underwriting authority and escalate cases requiring higher approval.
• Ensure appropriate documentation and underwriting rationale for all significant risks.
• Conduct portfolio reviews to identify adverse trends, concentration risks, loss-making segments, and opportunities for corrective action.

2. Commercial Underwriting & Business Development

• Balance technical risk considerations with commercial requirements to achieve profitable business growth.
• Work closely with Sales, Distribution, Brokers, and Business Development teams to identify and acquire quality business.
• Participate in negotiations with brokers, intermediaries, clients, and key stakeholders.
• Provide underwriting inputs for large and strategic accounts, renewals, tenders, and key client relationships.
• Evaluate pricing competitiveness while ensuring adequate technical premium and profitability.
• Develop account-specific underwriting strategies for key corporate clients.
• Support retention and growth of profitable portfolios while maintaining underwriting discipline.

3. Pricing & Risk Assessment

• Analyse risk exposures and determine appropriate technical pricing and commercial pricing .
• Review historical claims experience, frequency, severity, loss ratios, industry benchmarks, exposure trends, and risk characteristics.
• Undertake pricing negotiations with brokers and internal stakeholders.
• Recommend pricing adjustments based on risk quality, claims experience, market conditions, and competitive positioning.
• Ensure that pricing decisions remain aligned with portfolio profitability and risk appetite.
• Monitor actual portfolio performance against expected underwriting results.

4. Policy Structuring

• Design appropriate insurance programmes and coverage structures for complex commercial risks.
• Review and negotiate policy wordings, clauses, extensions, endorsements, deductibles, and exclusions.
• Ensure appropriate alignment between customer requirements and technical underwriting considerations.
• Coordinate with legal, claims, reinsurance, risk engineering, and technical teams for complex cases.
• Ensure policy terms adequately reflect the assessed risk and agreed commercial conditions.

5. Reinsurance & Large Risk Management

• Coordinate with Reinsurance teams for risks requiring facultative or treaty support.
• Review reinsurance requirements for large and complex accounts.
• Provide accurate risk information, exposure details, underwriting rationale, and pricing inputs for facultative placements.
• Ensure compliance with reinsurance capacity and underwriting guidelines.
• Monitor risk accumulation and exposure across geographical and industry segments.

6. Claims & Portfolio Management

• Analyse claims experience and incorporate claims trends into underwriting decisions.
• Work with Claims teams to understand large losses, recurring loss patterns, and emerging risks.
• Participate in portfolio-level reviews and identify corrective underwriting actions.
• Recommend changes to deductibles, pricing, coverage, risk improvement requirements, and account strategy based on claims performance.
• Track loss ratios, retention, premium growth, renewal performance, and profitability.

7. Risk Engineering & Loss Prevention

• Review risk inspection and risk engineering reports for major commercial accounts.
• Identify key physical, operational, financial, and business interruption exposures.
• Recommend appropriate risk improvement measures and risk mitigation requirements.
• Work with clients, brokers, and risk engineers to ensure implementation of critical risk improvement recommendations.

8. Compliance & Governance

• Ensure underwriting decisions comply with applicable IRDAI regulations, company underwriting policies, delegated authority limits, and internal governance standards .
• Maintain high standards of underwriting documentation and audit readiness.
• Ensure adherence to underwriting authority matrices and referral protocols.
• Support internal and external audits and regulatory reviews as required.
• Ensure proper application of sanctions, KYC, AML, and other applicable compliance requirements.

Key Lines of Business

The candidate should preferably have experience in one or more of the following commercial insurance segments:

• Property / Industrial All Risk (IAR)
• Fire & Special Perils (SFSP)
• Business Interruption
• Engineering Insurance
• Marine Cargo / Marine Hull
• Liability Insurance
• Construction / Erection All Risk
• Contractors Plant & Machinery
• Machinery Breakdown
• Energy / Infrastructure Risks
• Commercial Package Policies
• Miscellaneous / Specialty Lines
• Large Corporate & Industrial Risks

Key Skills & Competencies

• Strong technical underwriting capability
• Excellent commercial acumen
• Strong understanding of Indian General Insurance market
• Risk assessment and risk selection
• Technical and commercial pricing
• Policy wording and coverage analysis
• Large risk underwriting
• Portfolio management
• Claims analysis
• Reinsurance understanding
• Broker and client negotiation
• Financial and exposure analysis
• Risk engineering interpretation
• Decision-making and problem-solving
• Stakeholder management
• Strong analytical and numerical skills
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills

Desired Experience

• 8–12 years of relevant experience , preferably around 10 years in General Insurance.
• Experience in commercial/corporate underwriting with an insurer, broker, or large insurance intermediary.
• Proven experience in handling large-value and complex risks .
• Strong exposure to broker-driven and corporate insurance business.
• Experience in pricing, policy structuring, negotiations, and portfolio management.
• Experience working with senior management on strategic accounts and underwriting decisions.

Educational Qualifications

Mandatory/Preferred:

• Graduate/Postgraduate degree in any relevant discipline.
• Insurance qualifications such as AIII, Licentiate, Associate, Fellow, or equivalent qualifications from the Insurance Institute of India would be preferred.
• Professional qualifications in risk management, finance, engineering, or insurance will be an added advantage.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Gross Written Premium / Business Growth
• Portfolio Loss Ratio
• Underwriting Profitability
• Renewal Retention Ratio
• New Business Conversion
• Technical Price Adequacy
• Risk Quality / Portfolio Mix
• Large Risk & Strategic Account Acquisition
• Quote Turnaround Time
• Underwriting Compliance
• Claims Ratio Improvement
• Broker / Client Relationship Quality
• Reinsurance and Capacity Utilisation

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will be a seasoned commercial underwriter with approximately 10 years of experience , combining strong technical underwriting expertise with commercial judgement. The candidate should be capable of independently evaluating complex corporate risks, negotiating with brokers and clients , making sound pricing decisions, and building a profitable underwriting portfolio.

The role is best suited to an individual who can operate at the intersection of Underwriting, Sales, Risk Engineering, Claims, Reinsurance, and Business Strategy , while maintaining strong underwriting discipline and regulatory compliance.