Team Leader in Bury St Edmunds

About DUAL Working across 21 countries, DUAL has built a reputation as a specialist underwriting group and the market of choice for insurance intermediaries around the world.

That’s how we have become one of the world’s largest international underwriting agencies (or MGAs) with US$3.4bn GWP.

DUAL is part of Howden, a leading global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart.

Founded in 1994, it provides insurance, reinsurance and underwriting services to clients ranging from private individuals to the largest multinational companies.

The Group operates in 57 countries, employs over 24,000 people and manages premiums totalling US$50bn on behalf of its clients.

Team Leader About Us

Magenta Insurance, a Chartered Insurance Underwriting Agent, boasts nearly 30 years of market experience, long-standing relationships, and an excellent reputation.

We specialize in underwriting predominantly non-standard and distressed residential property policies, providing solutions that others find challenging to place.

Our team works closely with brokers across a varied portfolio, including Portal and EDI business, giving you exposure to a spectrum of risks including within a Lloyd’s-linked environment.

Role overview

Lead and manage a team while performing the technical and trading responsibilities of a Senior Property Underwriter.

Deliver agreed service and performance objectives through effective people management, workflow oversight, technical support and broker relationship management within a wholesale distribution model.

• Role responsibilities
• Team Leadership & Performance
• Set clear team objectives and priorities aligned to business requirements.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, agree and follow up actions, provide constructive feedback and support development and career progression.
• Manage routine performance, attendance and wellbeing matters within delegated management responsibilities and company procedures, involving the Associate Director and HR where required.
• Coordinate onboarding and training, promote an inclusive team environment and address concerns constructively.
• Lead by example, setting the standard for behaviour, attendance and engagement, and hold the team to account.
• Provide cover for other Team Leaders and Associate Director (Operations) where required.
• Service Delivery & Workload Management
• Take day-to-day responsibility for telephone service, timely and accurate document issuance, and performance measures appropriate to the team, such as agreed enquiry, quotation and referral turnaround times or renewal retention.

Review queues, task lists, referrals and aged work throughout the day; allocate and redistribute work fairly according to capacity, competence, authority and priorities.

• Coordinate telephone cover, breaks and service commitments, prioritising urgent broker enquiries and time-sensitive cases.
• Monitor service shortfalls, take corrective action within the role’s remit and promptly elevate capacity, system, broker-service or conduct risks.
• Use service information and team feedback to investigate recurring operational issues, recommend improvements to workflows and systems, and support agreed changes.
• Senior Underwriting & Technical Referrals
• Assess, negotiate and underwrite in accordance with documented underwriting authority, underwriting guides, insurer requirements and company procedures.
• Maintain an allocated personal underwriting workload, including complex cases.
• Act as the team’s first point of contact for technical underwriting queries, referring onwards where higher authority or specialist guidance is required.
• Identify recurring technical queries and share learning to support consistency and reduce avoidable repeat referrals.

Appointment as Team Leader does not create or extend underwriting authority.

The holder must remain within documented authority and sign-off status and must not override insurer requirements.

• Communication & Collaboration
• Act as the team’s operational contact, remain accessible during agreed working hours and communicate business updates clearly.
• Maintain effective internal stakeholder relationships and work with other Team Leaders to ensure consistent standards, clear work ownership and effective handovers.

Agree cross-team cover with the Associate Director and elevate unresolved resource conflicts.

• Trading & Distribution Channel Performance
• Agree appropriate performance measures with the Associated Director (Operations).
• Monitor performance and take improvement action where required.
• Review quote activity and conversion and / or renewal retention, broker feedback and reasons for lost business; work with Business Development, underwriting management and support teams to increase business levels and address barriers.
• Proactively manage broker relationships within the allocated channel, addressing service concerns and supporting commercially sound decisions without compromising appetite, pricing discipline, underwriting quality or regulatory requirements.
• Undertake any other reasonable duties, appropriate to the level of the role, as required by the Associate Director (Operations).
• Balance of responsibilities

Personal underwriting workloads and quotation targets will reflect the time required for leadership, people management, technical referrals and coaching, rather than assume the output of a full-time Senior Underwriter without these duties.

Expectations will be reviewed as team size, referral demand and service requirements change.

• Key requirements
• Minimum Cert CII; five years’ property underwriting experience or three years’ non-standard property underwriting experience.
• Established residential property underwriting expertise, including complex risks, technical referrals, authority controls and clear decision recording.
• Sound understanding of relevant insurance regulation, the responsibilities of a wholesale underwriter in supporting policyholder outcomes, and the systems, workflows and broker relationships of the relevant team.
• Experience leading, mentoring or coordinating colleagues, with the ability to conduct effective one-to-ones, coach and support development.
• Strong communication, relationship-building and prioritisation skills; ability to balance personal underwriting with team management.
• Ability to interpret service and conversion or retention information, investigate exceptions and take proportionate action.
• Objectives and review

Objectives and numerical targets will be agreed separately and reviewed regularly, reflecting the balance of management and underwriting responsibilities.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

Of course, we offer a competitive range of rewards and benefits to support you, but we know you expect all that.

What you might not expect is a job where everyone has a voice, where volunteering in the community is part of the day job, and where everyone is encouraged to play a part towards our sustainability goals.

We want people who want to make a difference - not just in the workplace, but in the industry and in the wider community.

Our culture: people first

Our core values dictate how we live and work.

We’re a group with independence and people at its heart – and a home for talent with a unique culture: the biggest small company in the world.

Being a people-first business has always been central to who we are.

Our vision was to create an independent organisation with a distinctive culture that would survive and thrive through the people who shape it.

Finding the most talented and entrepreneurial individuals to join the group has been, and will continue to be, key to our success.

Diversity and inclusion

At DUAL, our people are our greatest strength.

We are committed to building an open and inclusive culture where everyone feels trusted and that they belong.

We work to ensure all candidates, employees, clients and business partners are treated with fairness and respect.

We want every candidate to be able to bring their best to the recruitment process, so if you require reasonable accommodation at any stage, please let us know and we will work with you to provide appropriate support.

Permanent

Howden began in 1994, as just three people and a dog.

Now there are 23,000 of us, and we’re a leading global insurance group, managing $37bn of premiums for our clients.

Our largest shareholder group is us – the people who work in the business – supported by three long term, minority growth-equity partners who share our vision to build a business to last, one that will never be sold.

The owner's mindset is something that's embedded in our culture; our people readily take ownership of their decisions, their actions, and their outputs.

They’re invested in every sense.

And we all know that by working together to drive the business forward, everyone will benefit from the extraordinary results we can achieve.

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