Underwriting Trainee - Commercial

Come join Merchants Bonding Company for this exciting opportunity!!! This candidate will reside in the Houston, Texas area and will train in Des Moines, Iowa for 1-2 months. This position will be remote, however, live in this specific territory.

Job Responsibilities

Risk Analysis and Underwriting

• Reviews new submissions, analyzes financial statements, applications, court documents, bond forms, statutes and indemnity agreement to determine the commercial surety risk.
• Documents commercial underwriting files and principal files with notes, and supporting documentation to document the underwriting decision.
• Reviews underwriting files at renewal for the purpose of analyzing risk; Approves or denies on the appropriate adjudication of the bond based on their analysis and authority level.
• Actively tracks and assures the collection of accounts receivable for all commercial related bonds in their region.
• Communicates underwriting decisions to agents via written and verbal communications.
  
  

Production Development and Agency Management

• Solicits commercial bond business by creating and maintaining relationships with agencies nationwide.
• Develops and maintains agency relationships through the use of personal visits, phone calls, emails and marketing materials and promotional tools.
• Follow ups up on leads for commercial bonding opportunities for the purpose of generating written premium.
• Responsible for meeting territory goals through planned territory travel with agents and utilization of marketing tools.
• Develops and maintains agency relationships through the use of personal visits, marketing materials and promotional items. Solicits Commercial bond business.
• Negotiates commission for new appointments and underwriting terms within their authority.
• Monitors agent payment issues and makes recommendations to their senior underwriter on the actions that should be taken based on the account circumstances.
  
  

Forms and Underwriting Opinions

• Researches state statutes and ordinances for changes in legislation and regulations to draft underwriting opinions for review by a more senior underwriter.
• Assists in the review of bond forms and/or statutes in order to form underwriting opinions.
• Adjusts forms, opinions, rate cards and materials to reflect legislative changes with approval from senior underwriting staff.
• Makes recommendations on the underwriting classification or rate of a bond type to their underwriting manager for the purpose of becoming more competitive and generating revenue or for the purpose of avoiding losses.
  
  

Projects

• Assists in various projects to support workflow and underwriting efficiency.
  
  

Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience in Business, Insurance, Finance or Marketing plus 0-1 years of experience in the insurance or bond industry. Knowledge of the legislative process and regulatory environment. Knowledge of sales process as it pertains to independent agencies and insurance products.

Competencies: Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to work well with diverse groups of peers; communicate positively and respectfully; provide excellent customer service to external and internal stakeholders; strong analysis and critical thinking skills; balance workload assignments within time constraints; business acumen, and retain strict confidentiality.

Experience with word processing, spreadsheets, and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office products preferred.

Essential Functions

This associate must be able to accurately analyze detailed financial documents, analyze risk and make sound underwriting decisions. They also need to be able to travel nationwide. This associate must be able to build long-term relationships and deal with conflict.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable associate’s with disabilities to perform essential functions.

The associate’s work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards; and repetitive motion with substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The associate frequently is required to sit walk; climb; balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The associate may, infrequently, be asked to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. The associate is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures.

Working Conditions

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those associate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the associate is exposed to normal office working conditions that are climate-controlled. The associate would not be exposed to extreme heat cold or other workplace hazards. The noise level in the work environment is usually low.

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with this position. The Underwriter Trainee assumes other responsibilities as assigned by the Territory Director – Commercial Underwriting or VP – Commercial Underwriting.