A position of Senior Manager Group Underwriting Policy & Governance exists in Santam. This role may be based at Head Office Tygervalley or Alice Lane Sandton and reports directly to the Chief Underwriting Officer and has dotted line reporting to the Chief Risk Officer.
- To control the issuance of Underwriting Mandates across all business areas with underwriting authority across the Santam Group.
- To design and implement a process to govern the adherence by business areas to their Underwriting Mandates, within a Combined Assurance framework working with the Group CRO Office and Group Internal Audit.
- To provide thought leadership and assist to develop underwriting policy and minimum requirements at Group level.
- Drive policy implementation around all aspects of Group Underwriting.
- To manage a Group Underwriting Forum for Santam, at which underwriting issues are considered and discussed by underwriters across the group, including policy.
- With the support of the CRO office, to monitor the Groups gross and net underwriting exposures, based on its risk appetite. To assist the CRO office to report on and rectify breaches to the Groups risk appetite.
- To work with the SEM Chief Risk Officer and provide expert support and thought leadership on General Insurance Risk Management.
Underwriting Governance Function Leadership
- Manage the renewal of all Santam Group underwriting mandates, on at least an annual basis.
- Manage the Groups approval process for the extension of underwriting mandates and the implementation of new products.
- Develop a plan for the oversight and auditing of underwriting practice across the Group, in conjunction with Group Internal Audit and the Group CRO Office, with clear responsibilities for execution over an agreed cycle.
- Together with the Group CRO Office, expand and develop the underwriting risk metrics that are monitored in the Group and assist in monitoring, reporting, and addressing any deviations.
- Ensure appropriate governance representation on the Risk Committees of all key business areas for monitoring and the provision of input where needed.
- To provide thought leadership and assist to develop underwriting policy and minimum requirements at Group level.
- Drive policy implementation around all aspects of Group Underwriting.
- To manage a Group Underwriting Forum for Santam, at which underwriting issues are considered and discussed by underwriters across the group, including policy.
- With the support of the Group CRO Office, facilitate an ongoing process across business areas to review policy wordings from a legal and underwriting risk exposure perspective to identify potential unexpected latent claims, aggregations, and risks that cannot be tolerated by the Group.
- Ensure that action is taken as agreed where it is agreed that policy wording must be modified.
- Report to the Executive Risk Forum and the Group Risk Committee on a regular basis on the reviews conducted and actions taken.
- Within a combined assurance framework, ensure that the Group monitors and acts on any latent reinsurance exposure gaps that may lead it to exceed its risk appetite due to e.g. a difference in conditions between original policies issued and reinsurance treaties / facultative contracts, or due to legal issues of interpretation between policy wordings and treaty wordings.
- Key parties within the combined assurance framework are Group Reinsurance Buying, Group CRO Office, Group Internal and External Audit, and Business Division Underwriting functions.
- Feedback on findings and priority remedial actions required.
- Assistance with risk and compliance reporting and submissions.
- Performance and risk exposure management of Santams International Investments, working closely with SEM.
- Maintain and develop effective relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
- Bachelors Degree (4-year).
- Professional qualification as an actuary, underwriter, risk professional would be an advantage.
- 10 years of short-term insurance-related professional experience.
- Core technical skills in the areas of underwriting, reinsurance, and risk management.
- Relevant technical expertise.
- Ability to identify strategic needs, lead all aspects of executing on these, and generate alignment with key business partners.
- Strong interpersonal, facilitation and verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent presentation skills that encompass clear, compelling communication.
- Experience navigating large and complex organizations, including gaining access to key executives and stakeholders and successfully managing relationship building dynamics and processes (internal and external).
- Ability to self-manage while managing assigned teams and projects.
- Financial and commercial acumen.
- Ability to work appropriately with sensitive and confidential information.
- Demonstrate passion and commitment for excellence.
- High attention to detail.
- Approachable and customer/ service-orientated.
- Excellent communication skills.
Cultivates innovation - Contributing strategically
Customer focus - Contributing strategically
Drives results - Contributing strategically
Collaborates - Contributing strategically
Being resilient - Contributing strategically
About The Company
Santam is the market leader in the general insurance industry in Southern Africa. We are a large, diversified, expanding and transforming company and whilst based in South Africa, we are rapidly entering into a number of emerging markets, both in Africa and Asia.
Our success is rooted in our passion for our clients and everything we do is centered on our delivery of Insurance Good and Proper. Were about people. People drive our business so it follows that we want to recruit the best people possible whether they work for us permanently or for a short time as temporary employees.
At Santam, we are committed to transformation and embracing diversity. This commitment is what drives us to achieve a diverse workplace with employment equity as a key goal to create an inclusive workforce, representative of the demographics of our society. In achieving our employment equity goals, we give preference to applicants from the designated groups in alignment with the Divisions Employment Equity targets.
