Who are we?

Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers' property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern, Northwestern, and Southwestern United States. Known as “The Relationship Company®,” we define success as a measure of the relationships we’ve built over time. In everything that we do, we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. That’s the power of “nice”. At Western National, nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you?

Western National is seeking a Director, Commercial Lines Underwriting, to join our team! 

Are you a strategic underwriting leader with a passion for building high-performing teams and driving profitable growth? We’re looking for a Director, Commercial Lines Underwriting, to oversee underwriting operations across multiple teams or locations. In this critical role, you’ll shape underwriting strategy, guide team development, and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure our commercial lines business remains competitive, compliant, and profitable.

This role is in our Edina, MN office.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?

• Leads and mentors a team of commercial underwriters to achieve individual, team, and company performance goals.
• Develops and implements underwriting strategies that balance risk and reward, strengthen our product portfolio, and drive profitable growth.
• Collaborates with product development, actuarial, claims, and sales teams to optimize offerings and improve underwriting performance.
• Manages relationships with vendors and agencies, ensuring alignment with company objectives and standards.
• Monitors underwriting practices for compliance with company guidelines and regulatory requirements.
• Stays on top of market trends and emerging industry issues to ensure a strong competitive position.
• Drives regional business plans focused on retention, pricing, exposure management, and new business development.
• Champions a collaborative, “One Team, Better Together” culture across locations and departments.
• ·Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer’s expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer’s issue is resolved.

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?

• Seven plus years of leadership experience in property-and-casualty insurance, with a strong focus on commercial lines underwriting.
• Proven track record managing underwriting teams and overseeing diverse books of business.
•  Deep knowledge of underwriting best practices, guidelines, and commercial insurance products.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and decision-making abilities.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams and solving complex problems.
• Familiarity with underwriting systems, pricing tools, and data analytics platforms.

What will our ideal candidate have?

• Bachelor’s degree in business, insurance, finance, or a related field.
• Professional designations such as CPCU, CIC, or CRM are a plus.

Compensation overview

The hiring range for this role is $138,000 - $200,000, annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and / or may be considered for other positions.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National has long been known as “The Relationship Company®” and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability, and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset. 

Currently ranked as the 41st largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for the past four consecutive years. In addition, the Group is consistently recognized as a Ward’s 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:

• Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more!
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
• Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio
• Paid Time Off – including holiday, vacation, and volunteer
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education)
• Paid parental leave
• Bonus potential 

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.  The individual selected for this role would need to be able to go into our Edina, Minnesota office. 

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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