Senior Underwriting Manager: Body Corporate | Gauteng at The Recruitment Council

• Our client is a prominent South African financial services group whose extensive portfolio includes leading short-term and long-term insurers, health insurance offerings, and prominent personal finance comparison platforms. Driven by customer-centric innovation and technology, our client is committed to delivering service excellence across the financial services sector.  
• They are seeking an experienced Senior Manager: Body Corporate to provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for their Body Corporate line of business. In this critical role, you will be accountable for expanding the Body Corporate portfolio, growing market share, driving sustainable and profitable business growth, and aligning the division with our client's broader business insurance strategy.  

Key Responsibilities:  

• Strategy & Direction: Lead the formulation and implementation of the functional strategy for the Specialist Body Corporate division, anticipating macro trends, emerging risks, and competitive market dynamics.
• Financial & Budgetary Management: Maintain overall accountability for setting and delivering the divisional budget, tracking Gross Written Premium (GWP), policies, and risks on cover against targets.
• Claims & Profitability Oversight: Continuously monitor loss ratios, IBNR impacts, outstanding reported claims, operational expenditures, and investments to ensure rigorous financial discipline and profitability.
• Risk Management & Reinsurance: Oversee divisional risk management frameworks, regularly review and refine policy wordings to match risk appetite, ensure annual reinsurance treaty renewals, and maintain structured renewal schedules.
• Product Development & Roadmap: Drive the product and service roadmap by designing, launching, and refining specialized Body Corporate product suites aligned with target market demands and underwriting parameters.
• Distribution & Channel Partnerships: Build and execute tailored relationship management plans across distribution channels, including direct platforms, brokers, managing agents, and group schemes to optimize client acquisition and retention.
• Operational Compliance: Safeguard business integrity by ensuring all division operations, sales platforms, rating tools, and renewal processes comply with internal standards and external regulations, including Treating Customers Fairly (TCF).
• Marketing Strategy: Direct marketing and lead-generation strategies to elevate market visibility and strengthen brand positioning across intermediary and industry networks.
• Customer Research & Insights: Lead customer insight and Voice of the Customer (VoC) initiatives to analyze market segments and translate customer feedback into commercially viable service improvements.
• Team Leadership & Capability Building: Coach, mentor, and develop a high-performing team, driving succession planning, capability building, and robust performance management against measurable goals

Requirements:  

• Grade 12 / SAQA Accredited Equivalent (Essential).
• Relevant Business Degree (Essential).
• FAIS-recognised qualification (Essential).
• AIISA or FIISA qualification (Essential).
• Full compliance with FSCA Fit and Proper requirements (including Regulatory Examinations, Class of Business certification, and continuous CPD compliance according to DOFA).
• Over 10 years of specialist experience within the body corporate insurance industry (Essential).
•  6 to 10+ years of managerial experience planning, allocating, and directing resources within structured policy frameworks.
• In-depth knowledge of general commercial insurance (Advantageous).
• Commercial & Financial Acumen: Strong understanding of liability markets, consumer dynamics, and reinsurance structures, alongside sound financial decision-making skills.
• Strategic & Analytical Capability: Proven capability to evaluate market trends, manage complex data, and design structured growth initiatives.
• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional interpersonal, networking, and presentation skills to build lasting relationships with brokers, managing agents, and internal leadership.
• Process Optimization & Resilience: Skilled at navigating organizational complexity, optimizing workflows, managing competing priorities, and leading teams effectively through change.