Title:  Director, National Underwriting

HSB Canada, part of Munich Re, is Canada's premier engineering-driven specialty insurer and provider of inspection, engineering and technology services that set the standard for excellence in the market. Our constantly evolving offerings lead the market in cyber, equipment breakdown, renewable energy, technology services, engineering-based risk management and inspection services. We bring technical expertise to help our clients stay ahead of complex, emerging and technology-based risks.  We dare to think big, and we are continuously innovating on behalf of our clients. We recognize Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging as key priorities and a culture that welcomes different thoughts and opinions.

HSB is much more! It’s insurance. Engineering. Technology. To learn more about us, please visit: https://www.hsb.ca

Location: Canada

Primary Objectives:

The Director, National Underwriting, is a senior leadership role responsible for overseeing the production underwriting process and managing the National Underwriting team across HSB Canada. This role requires a strategic and operational mindset to guide the team towards achieving underwriting goals, optimizing workflows, and ensuring high-quality service delivery across all locations. The Director will work closely with key stakeholders to shape underwriting strategies, improve operational processes, and drive the success of the underwriting function within the organization.

For technical reasons, the location of this job has been entered as Toronto. However, the location of this position is flexible to be based out of one of our regional Hubs.

Please apply online and submit your candidacy by EOD May 5th.

Report to: AVP of National Underwriting and Underwriting Support

Key Responsibilities:

• Leadership & Strategy: Lead the National Underwriting team in Canada, ensuring alignment with HSB Canada’s business objectives and underwriting guidelines. Collaborate with the AVP of National Underwriting and Underwriting Support and Director of Underwriting Support to define and execute the underwriting strategy.
• Team Management: Direct, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of underwriters across multiple locations. Provide ongoing training to ensure expertise and professionalism in underwriting practices.
• Operational Excellence: Drive the optimization and standardization of workflows across all offices, ensuring consistent and efficient processes for inbound, underwriting, and outbound activities.
• Process & Capacity Management: Identify and implement process improvements to enhance underwriting efficiency, deliver high-quality results, and manage workflow effectively. Oversee workload distribution and ensure balanced capacity management across the team.
• Collaboration & Relationship Building: Collaborate closely with the Corporate Underwriting (CU) team to ensure guidelines, wordings, pricing, and underwriting tools are up-to-date and consistently applied across the team. Develop and maintain relationships with brokers and Managing General Agents (MGAs) as part of the broader Distribution client strategy.
• Risk Management & Auditing: Co-underwrite risks beyond the authority of individual underwriters, ensuring appropriate review and decision-making. Lead and orchestrate underwriting audits to ensure compliance with standards.
• Budget & Resource Management: Plan and allocate resources effectively, managing the underwriting team’s budget in alignment with business objectives.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Build and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, including the Treaty team, Director for Underwriting Support, Director for Business Development, TRusT, Corporate Underwriting, and Global Corporate Underwriting to drive business success.

Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in finance, Business Administration, Actuarial Science, or a related field is required.
• Professional designations such as Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) or Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) are strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in commercial underwriting, with a proven track record of success in a leadership role. Experience as an Underwriting Manager, Senior Commercial Underwriter, or Director/Head of Underwriting within a major insurance company is highly desirable. A background in broking or facultative reinsurance underwriting would also be an asset.
• Strong understanding of the insurance market, underwriting principles, and risk management strategies. Experience in managing large-scale underwriting teams and optimizing workflows across multiple locations is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and develop a diverse team of underwriting professionals. Proven success in driving performance and fostering a collaborative, results-oriented team culture.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage and influence both internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and strategic thinking capabilities, with a focus on operational efficiency and process improvement.
• Bilingual capabilities (English and French) are an asset but not required.

Company Benefits:

Together, we engage with everything we have and are, to help humankind act braver and better. Go further with HSB.

We are pleased to offer our employees great benefits and resources to support their mental, physical and financial wellbeing. These include:

• An engaging and collaborative environment that promotes continuous learning and development
• A hybrid work environment that combines weekly in-office and remote days
• A great compensation package including an annual company bonus
• Competitive company-paid flexible health and dental benefits, starting on your first day
• Flexible dollars provided by the company to put towards a Health Spending Account and/or Wellness Spending Account
• Wellness program with tools and resources supporting your mental, physical, and financial wellbeing – on and off the job
• Participation in the DC Pension Plan with a progressive employer contribution scale based on tenure starting at 4%, plus optional company match in the RRSP plan
• Generous time off including vacation, personal days, unplanned time, Statutory Holidays and company-wide early closure half-days
• Learning and development programs and resources, including unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning, Education Assistance Program, and reimbursement for professional fees
• Employee Referral Program and Recognition Program

HSB Canada is committed to providing a work environment that is inclusive and free of employment barriers and discrimination.  Accommodation will be made for qualified applicants with a disability throughout the recruitment process.  If you receive a request for an interview and you have a disability which will require an accommodation to support your participation, please consult with Human Resources or contact hr@hsb.ca as soon as practical so that suitable accommodations can be arranged.

We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.