Underwriting & Pricing Director/Head of Underwriting
Location: North West/South Manchester area (1 day per week)
Permanent
The Opportunity
A fast-growing specialist personal lines MGA is entering its next phase of development. With strong capacity backing and a differentiated market proposition, the business is focused on strengthening underwriting discipline, pricing performance and portfolio control.
We are seeking an Underwriting & Pricing Director to provide hands‑on leadership across underwriting and pricing. This is a critical operational leadership role requiring someone close to the detail, working shoulder to shoulder with the teams to drive performance, governance and profitable growth.
This position reports directly to the COO with the Head of Underwriting and Head of Pricing reporting into this role.
There is a clear pathway for this position to evolve into a Chief level underwriting role as the business continues to scale.
The Role
This is an execution‑focused leadership position suited to someone who enjoys being close to the action, confident in the data and comfortable making informed underwriting decisions.
Underwriting & Pricing Leadership
* Lead day‑to‑day underwriting and pricing activity across the portfolio
* Provide direction, oversight and development support to the Head of Underwriting and Head of Pricing
* Refine underwriting appetite, pricing structures and acceptance criteria
* Work closely with technology teams to embed underwriting logic into platform capabilities
* Drive continuous improvement in underwriting processes and decision‑making
* Own portfolio performance including loss ratio and profitability metrics
* Analyse trends, claims performance and emerging risks to adjust appetite where appropriate
* Monitor exposure aggregates across the book
* Deliver regular MI and portfolio insight to executive stakeholders and capacity providers
Governance & Delegated Authority
* Ensure compliance with delegated underwriting authority agreements
* Maintain robust underwriting governance aligned with FCA requirements including Consumer
Duty
* Prepare for and support carrier audits and due diligence processes
* Maintain strong documentation, controls and oversight frameworks
Capacity & Distribution Engagement
* Support senior underwriting relationships with capacity providers
* Contribute to DUA renewals and capacity discussions
* Work alongside distribution partners to drive sustainable growth within appetite
* Oversee development and refinement of products, endorsements and rating structures
* Work with actuarial support to validate pricing structures where required
* Identify opportunities for product enhancement within a specialist personal lines market
About You
You will be a technically credible and commercially astute underwriting leader with strong pricing understanding.
You will bring
* Significant underwriting and pricing experience within UK personal lines
* Experience operating within an MGA or delegated authority environment
* Strong knowledge of FCA regulatory requirements and Consumer Duty
* Proven experience leading and developing high‑performing teams
* Direct accountability for loss ratio and portfolio optimisation
* Confidence engaging with capacity providers
You will combine analytical rigour with sound commercial judgement and enjoy developing capability within teams while maintaining governance discipline.
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