In Personal Lines, your work contributes to something bigger. You are part of a team that values your voice, champions your growth, and provides room to work in ways that drive success. Guided by a clear strategy and strong partnerships, your work makes a meaningful difference for agents, our customers, and each other.
Rooted in Westfield's culture of trust, collaboration, and doing what's right, you are empowered to bring ideas forward and help shape what comes next.
Job Summary
The Personal Lines Underwriting & Sales Manager plays a key leadership role in developing underwriting talent, driving operational effectiveness, and supporting profitable business performance. This position leads the Personal Lines Underwriting Services Unit (PLU), fostering a high-performing, customer-focused team grounded in strong underwriting judgment, accountability, service excellence, and a proactive sales mindset.
This position requires a confident underwriting leader who can coach and develop talent, navigate complex underwriting decisions, and engage effectively with agency owners and staff. The leader champions a solution-oriented underwriting culture that encourages curiosity and thoughtful risk development. Responsibilities include providing technical underwriting guidance, managing team performance and service expectations, and balancing sound risk selection with strong agency partnerships.
Working closely with Personal Lines Operations, this leader drives continuous improvement in underwriting workflows and operational execution. Through strong people leadership, agency partnership, and cross-functional collaboration, the role will help shape an underwriting organization increasingly focused on critical thinking, portfolio management, profitable growth, and delivering a differentiated agency experience.
Job Responsibilities
People Leadership & Talent Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Personal Lines Underwriters, fostering accountability, engagement, collaboration, and continuous learning.
- Establish clear performance expectations, evaluate results, and address performance gaps to support individual and team success.
- Champion a customer-focused, solution-oriented underwriting culture that encourages curiosity, thoughtful risk development, and proactive problem-solving.
Underwriting Leadership & Portfolio Management
- Provide technical underwriting leadership and guidance on complex new and renewal business, ensuring sound risk selection and adherence to underwriting guidelines and authority.
- Guide underwriting decisions that balance risk selection, agency relationships, and market dynamics to support profitable portfolio performance.
- Monitor underwriting quality, portfolio trends, and business results to identify emerging risks and opportunities for improvement.
Agency Partnership & Business Development
- Guide underwriters in approaching agency interactions with curiosity, asking thoughtful questions, and identifying opportunities to develop risks and expand customer relationships.
- Support agency relationship management activities, including performance discussions, underwriting consultations, and resolution of complex issues.
- Collaborate with regional leadership to strategically align underwriting resources with agency opportunities and profitable growth priorities.
Operational Execution & Continuous Improvement
- Lead the Personal Lines Underwriting Services Unit (PLU), ensuring consistent execution of underwriting activities, service expectations, and established performance standards.
- Manage the underwriting team's relationship with the Personal Lines Service Center, promoting effective collaboration, clear accountability, and a consistent agency experience.
- Partner with Personal Lines Operations to evaluate and improve underwriting workflows, processes, and work allocation to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
Cross-Functional Leadership & Business Performance
- Translate business objectives into clear team expectations, measurable outcomes, and actionable improvement initiatives.
- Leverage performance data and business insights to identify trends, prioritize opportunities, and drive accountability for results.
- Contribute to the continued evolution of the Personal Lines Underwriting & Sales Team, strengthening its focus on underwriting judgment, agency partnership, operational effectiveness, and profitable growth.
Job Qualifications
- 5+ years of P&C underwriting and sales experience.
- Experience in profitably underwriting complex exposures.
- Experience developing/executing business plans and personnel management.
- Experience developing/managing budgets with acceptable variances.
- Ability to build and retain strong underwriting and sales teams and to identify learning opportunities as necessary.
- Ability to effectively train, coach, and mentor staff.
- Working towards or possess CPCU, ARM, CIC, AFSB and/or AU designations.
- Valid driver’s license and a driving record that conforms to company standards.
- Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience.
Licenses and Certifications
- Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (Preferred)
- Certified Insurance Counselor (Preferred)
Location
Hybrid- defined as working three or more days per week in the home office.
Behavioral Competencies
- Decision Quality
- Directs Work
- Builds Effective Teams
- Business Insight
- Collaboration
- Communicates Effectively
- Customer Focus
- Ensures Accountability
- Manages Complexity
- Develops Talent
- Nimble Learning
Technical Skills
- Personal Lines Underwriting
- Insurance Industry Knowledge and Operations
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Business Relationship Management
- Organization
- Data Analysis and Reporting
- Quality Assurance
- Stakeholder Management
Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without employer sponsorship.
This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed in this role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, skills, responsibilities, knowledge, etc. These may be subject to change and additional functions may be assigned as needed by management.
About UsSkills Required
- 5+ years of property and casualty underwriting and sales experience
- Experience profitably underwriting complex exposures
- Experience developing and executing business plans
- Experience managing personnel
- Experience developing and managing budgets with acceptable variances
- Ability to build and retain strong underwriting and sales teams
- Ability to identify learning opportunities
- Ability to train, coach, and mentor staff effectively
- Working toward or possessing CPCU, ARM, CIC, AFSB, and/or AU designations
- Valid driver's license and driving record conforming to company standards
- Bachelor's degree or commensurate experience
- Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter certification
- Certified Insurance Counselor certification
- Current authorization to work full-time in the United States without employer sponsorship
What We Do
Westfield Specialty is a prominent specialty insurance carrier that combines global reach with local market expertise, supported by the financial strength of Westfield, a leading U.S.-based property and casualty insurance company. It delivers strategic, creative coverage solutions designed to help protect businesses, mitigate risk, and assist in driving growth for clients.
