Head of Equine, Livestock and Aquaculture, UK & Lloyds in London

AXA XL’s culture of profitable growth is the core when executing consistent underwriting standards, practices and procedures. As Head of a Product/Region you will act as the leader for your ‘business stream’ and will be responsible for developing and assessing the core underwriting strategic direction, achieving the financial objectives and product profitability for your function and/or region. This role is considered both a technical and customer-facing position, working hand-in-hand with internal stakeholders and meeting with key brokers and clients to support the unit's underwriting and marketing strategies.

What you’ll be doing

• Working closely with the Chief Underwriting Officer, you will be responsible for developing an annual business plan that is consistent with AXA XL’s overall underwriting strategies and objectives.
• Continually monitor objectives for financial, marketing and client satisfaction success and provide guidance immediately when trending against plan.
• Set and drive strategic and operational objectives that will result in early “wins” to achieve short-term success but not at the cost of jeopardizing annual or long-term goals.
• Leveraging data tools, analytic reports and underwriting’s central capabilities, to allow for ongoing monitoring of product performance, budgets and forecasts.
• Collaborating with the business line leaders to identify and develop centers of excellence among underwriters for specific industries.
• Driving the new product development process in anticipation of market need.
• Driving Underwriting Excellence to support and ensure profitable growth by:
• Achieving business plan financial objectives and profitable growth as approved by senior management.
• Developing and implementing strategic underwriting plans for the segment or region, aligned with current and long-term objectives.
• Working with the business line leaders to develop the underwriting appetite, segmentation strategy and portfolio management.
• Being an integral part of the underwriting process with focus on risk selection, structure and pricing.
• Collaborating with Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Underwriting Governance to manage emerging risks and evolving trends.
• Provide leadership to the team.
• Collaborating with the Actuarial team, to improve pricing models and analytics necessary to support profitable risk selection and growth.
• Preserve and enhance profitability through the development of sophisticated underwriting and analytic techniques, pricing discipline, competitive analysis and the development of performance metrics and controls.
• Support product management and innovation by developing analytical rigor, capabilities and processes that will enable the team to achieve their growth and profitability targets.
• Ensure underwriting objectives, limits, product and product enhancements are all consistent with AXA XL’s overall strategy.
• Through regular communication, discuss meeting underwriting excellence objectives through audits and loss activity consistent within AXA XL.
• Assisting in producer relationships and maintaining visibility in the market:
• Working with the underwriting managers, sales and regional leaders to achieve cross selling objectives and develop marketing strategies.
• Developing new business opportunities via extensive broker and insured relationships.
• Supporting customer retention.
• Mentoring and coaching the underwriting team and developing a succession plan.
• Ensuring adequate communication and flow of information as appropriate.
• Partnering with actuarial, accounting, claims, and finance as required to support the underwriting strategies and service excellence.
• Assist in developing reinsurance strategies and managing limit accumulations to avoid earnings volatility while maximizing AXA XL's opportunities on placements.
• Partnering with the Chief Risk Officer and others to implement best practices and internal controls to support enterprise risk management (e.g., internal audit, FIC, Regulatory, etc.).
• Develop and execute a focused effort targeting key distribution partners marketing the merits of AXA XL’s value proposition.
• Lead with the value of a strong partnership demonstrating AXA XL’s ability to now be viewed as a long-term player.
• Exhibit the front-to-back knowledge required to provide confidence in the ability for AXA XL to negotiate.

What you’ll bring

• Experience: Substantial experience focusing on underwriting management. You will also have experience building relationships with all the larger brokers and clients. You will also be expected to have a successful track record of driving profitable growth.
• Inspired Leadership: AXA XL requires a self-starter who will thrive in a team-oriented environment. You will be a non-political player who can, by virtue of your background and experiences, be immediately credible with both internal and external constituents who include brokers and customers. You will be naturally collaborative and your words, tone and actions will set the bar for others to follow. You will have the ability to influence without authority, motivate others and be highly participative. You will have the reputation for engaging through listening and then driving for efficiency of decision making versus creating bureaucracy.
• Business Building: You must have a balance of both strategic and operating skills. You will have been in an environment where you have participated in thoughtful and profitable growth. You will have a track record of executing to plan and working to achieve objectives. You will understand the importance of a solid value proposition and know how to appropriately leverage distribution relationships. Highly attentive to operational and financial details, you will be well organized, a disciplined planner with solid communication skills. You will be financially astute and sophisticated in identifying key financial trends and reworking metrics to get to answers that at first were not obvious. Finally, through your reputation in the industry, you will have the ability to attract the best talent in the industry.
• Technical Acumen: A sharp rigorous thinker who creates a logical connection for others between the dynamics of market realities, AXA XL’s mission, vision and strategy. At your core you will be an underwriter, thus exhibiting granular knowledge of all aspects of managing a market. You will be market savvy and know what the competition is doing from a product and pricing perspective and quickly grasp challenges and opportunities. Finally, you will have the proven ability to easily articulate the technical and complicated in a manner others readily understand.

What we offer

• Inclusion: AXA XL is committed to equal employment opportunity and will consider applicants regardless of gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity and origins, marital status, religion, disability, or any other protected characteristic. At AXA XL, we know that an inclusive culture enables business growth and is critical to our success. That’s why we have made a strategic commitment to attract, develop, advance and retain the most inclusive workforce possible, and create a culture where everyone can bring their full selves to work and reach their highest potential.
• Total Rewards: AXA XL’s Reward program is designed to take care of what matters most to you, covering the full picture of your health, wellbeing, lifestyle and financial security. It provides competitive compensation and personalized, inclusive benefits that evolve as you do.
• Sustainability: At AXA XL, Sustainability is integral to our business strategy. In an ever-changing world, AXA XL protects what matters most for our clients and communities. We know that sustainability is at the root of a more resilient future.