Underwriting Specialist

Job Posting End Date: December 19

When you join the team at Unum, you become part of an organization committed to helping you thrive.

Here, we work to provide the employee benefits and service solutions that enable employees at our client companies to thrive throughout life’s moments. And this starts with ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys opportunities to succeed both professionally and personally. To enable this, we provide: 

• Award-winning culture 

• Inclusion and diversity as a priority 

• Performance Based Incentive Plans

• Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability 

• Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!) 

• Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution 

• Mental health support 

• Career advancement opportunities 

• Student loan repayment options 

• Tuition reimbursement

• Flexible work environments 

*All the benefits listed above are subject to the terms of their individual Plans.

And that’s just the beginning…

With 10,000 employees helping more than 39 million people worldwide, every role at Unum is meaningful and impacts the lives of our customers. Whether you’re directly supporting a growing family, or developing online tools to help navigate a difficult loss, customers are counting on the combined talents of our entire team. Help us help others, and join Team Unum today! 

General Summary:General Summary
This position is responsible for producing consistently accurate and timely rates for customers with a vast range in complexity. Specialists support the evaluation and selection of risk and the establishment of premium levels which ensure profitable acquisition of new cases and/or the continued profitable retention of inforce cases.
Primary accountability is to determine the proper plan design and census manipulation needed to build the appropriate rate. The quality, accuracy, and reasonableness of the rate serves as the foundation for accurate risk assessment and ultimate pricing decisions that follow. This role requires a strong partnership with Underwriters, peers and other partners to ensure all data needs are met, work hand-offs are effectively communicated, and due dates are managed.
The incumbent must have strong technical understanding of products in the Unum US portfolio that may include: Group Long and Short-Term Disability, Group Life & AD&D, Dental, Vision, Paid Leave, Statutory Disability, Stop Loss, or the Voluntary Benefits Portfolio. In support of the sales teams and underwriting, the Specialist is accountable to understand requested plan designs through the analysis of complex inforce contracts and supplied materials, make appropriate decisions about the application of risk rules or escalation needs, and generate accurate rates to be used toward the creation of proposals. This individual may also provide specialized subject matter expertise on various products and processes as needed to support complex business.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities 

• Manage the quote process for quote requests by evaluating and executing technical aspects of the rating process to generate accurate rates for each product requested
• Identify standard and non-standard business procedure and process appropriately. Apply underwriting risk and escalation rules, accurately evaluate SIC classifications for the customer, handle PII census data according to department standards, and generate rates and proposals within service standards

• Leverage tools appropriately to come to the right risk and pricing outcome on new business, inforce business and/or renewals
• Determine the useability of and ensure accurate preparation of complex census data using word and excel

• When provided, demonstrate ability to most closely match in-force plan designs based on a review of Requests for Proposal, Benefit Summaries, complex contracts, and/or internal Unum systems (i.e. CME, EDS, etc.)

• Utilize critical thinking skills to be able to make appropriate assumptions to present rates to the Underwriter in cases that require Underwriter involvement, taking initiative to provide viable plan options
• Develop a recommended rate along with positioning points and create a comprehensive customer package
• May complete case rate calculation for various product lines such as STD, Life, LTD, Dental, Vision, etc.
• May evaluate claims & enrollment reporting/history and input required claims data to assist experience review
• Assist in development and execution of ad hoc special processes
• Identifies problems early in the process and works with appropriate resources to resolve or escalate as needed
• Provide clear and complete documentation of assumptions/best estimates made in the instance of missing data and system limitations requiring alterations to the requested plan designs
• Partner closely with Underwriting to determine reasonable timeframes, reporting and customer needs to deliver on priority and time standards for each case

• Consult with Underwriters and Pricing partners for guidance and signoff on non-standard and/or complex plan design requests
• Provide superior customer service and demonstrate ownership and expertise with customers, ensuring total client satisfaction with business partners

• Builds and nurtures effective partnerships in interaction with peers and partners. Instills confidence and trust in one’s abilities, and fosters healthy relationships as an extension of the field sales team

• Acts with a continuous improvement mindset to maximize process efficiency 
• Demonstrates alignment of shared objectives with Sales, Underwriting and other partnering teams by setting a pace and appropriate tone of urgency and demonstrates a desire to win
• Provide support to peer group for high volume transaction periods and during absences
• Partner with other teams to provide support across the organization during high demand
• May partner with sales team and all necessary internal partners to ensure a complete, accurate, timely, and smooth submission of sold cases to include Broker Compensation Services as necessary to ensure proper payment of broker commission during implementation process
• Verify final sold plan and that the case is within underwriting guidelines, consulting with internal partners on exceptions
• May assist with training for new Underwriting Specialists and refresher training for incumbents 
• Leads others through change, models appropriate behavior
• Work on Business Initiatives as assigned by Manager
• May perform other duties as assigned

Job Specifications

• 2 or 4 year college degree preferred or related industry experience
• Experienced in customer interactions, with an ability to effectively communicate with sales reps and Market Distribution Partners
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Proven ability to develop strong working partnerships to achieve shared goals 
• Strong ability to prioritize, organize, complete multiple tasks and accurately handle a high volume of work in a fast-paced environment
• Operate with a high sense of urgency, meeting deadlines and productivity targets
• Highly motivated and proactive, with the ability to work well independently and within a team
• Strong attention to detail with a keen focus on quality and accuracy
• Ability to anticipate the needs of partners and clients
• Strong work ethic with sensitivity to handling Personally Identifiable Information (PII)
• Strong critical thinking skills, with an ability to effectively analyze and solve problems, and analyze outputs for reasonability and making appropriate corrections to produce accurate results
• Solid math skills
• Proficient in Word, with exceptional skills in Excel with ability to navigate formulas, filtering, merging, formulas and pivot tables
• Proficiency with MS Outlook, Salesforce, and Unum quoting systems
• Willingness to adapt to a rapidly changing environment with an open mind and high degree of engagement to ensure the success of the organization
• Demonstrates leadership skills through positive behavior by contributing to the building of a productive environment and being a role model

#LI-TB1~IN2

Unum and Colonial Life are part of Unum Group, a Fortune 500 company and leading provider of employee benefits to companies worldwide. Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, with international offices in Ireland, Poland and the UK, Unum also has significant operations in Portland, ME, and Baton Rouge, LA - plus over 35 US field offices. Colonial Life is headquartered in Columbia, SC, with over 40 field offices nationwide.

The base salary range for applicants for this position is listed below. Unless actual salary is indicated above in the job description, actual pay will be based on skill, geographical location and experience.

$40,000.00-$75,600.00

Additionally, Unum offers a portfolio of benefits and rewards that are competitive and comprehensive including healthcare benefits (health, vision, dental), insurance benefits (short & long-term disability), performance-based incentive plans, paid time off, and a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match up to 5% and an additional 4.5% contribution whether you contribute to the plan or not. All benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of individual Plans.

Company:

Unum