Underwriter III (Property) - REMOTE / Work from home

Despite all the benefits working from home provides to employees, many employers are starting to require a transition back into working from the company office. Join us and “just say no” to commutes! Agribusiness Risk Underwriters (ARU) is a modern company with a 100% remote workforce.

POSITION INTRO

Agribusiness Risk Underwriters (ARU) is a specialty underwriting organization, with a focus on insuring challenging farm/ag property risks via a national network of wholesale and retail brokers. As a modern insurance organization, ARU is heavily invested in technology; however, our core underwriting approach relies on deep niche expertise and the nuances of human judgement.

ARU is currently seeking a senior underwriter to join our team and lead the underwriting of a new monoline property product: Farm/Ag Flex. The senior underwriter will be working directly alongside the company CEO, developing a profitable book of $10M - $100M TIV farm/ag property risks. The right fit for this role will be an excellent critical thinker, be growth oriented, be a very fast learner, be highly collaborative, have extremely strong organizational skills, and will demonstrate an impeccable attention to detail.

FIT BELLWETHER

Please note: if you are most comfortable working in a large company, where your work is governed by a manual telling you every move to make and things are done a certain way because “that’s the way it has always been done”....is it likely you and ARU are not a great fit.

On the other hand...Are you tired of being artificially held back because of the bureaucracy of working at a large company? Are you tired of seeing great ideas rotting in committees? ARU is a GREAT fit for ambitious and creative professionals who have been seeking that “just right” opportunity to truly showcase your skills and abilities. At ARU, we give stars the opportunity to shine, without any artificial impediments. For more info about ARU’s culture and background, please see the bottom of this job posting.

DUTIES:

• Help ARU be the best in the world at what we do, and do not ever settle for mediocrity.
• Learn and grow as an underwriting professional; prepare for increased responsibilities.

• Work alongside company CEO in all aspects of developing and underwriting the Farm/Ag Flex monoline property product, including: refine product and coverage offerings in consideration of growth opportunities and market trends, refine company application supplements and other underwriting information-gathering tools, develop underwriting procedures and rating mechanisms for large TIV risks, scope technology concepts that increase underwriting efficiency and effectiveness, and collaborate with company technology vendors in the development and improvement of underwriting and policy admin technology.
• Provide expedient, top-shelf service to wholesale and retail brokers, reinforcing ARU as the preferred provider in our space. Review and underwrite new business, mid-term adjustments, and renewals. Determine acceptability and proper rating of risk by reviewing the risk characteristics, weather metrics, and other available information, in accordance with company guidelines and growth/profit targets. Notify brokers of underwriting decisions, underwriting requirements, status, and declinations. Negotiate with brokers to reach positive and profitable outcomes. Maintain thorough underwriting files and follow audit and quality control protocols.
• Work alongside internal and external loss control professionals in the development of appropriate loss control protocols for insured risks. Review loss control reports; analyze for opportunities to reduce the risk of loss to insured property; compose recommendation letters to insureds; collaborate with insureds and their brokers to achieve compliance of loss control priorities.
• Facilitate regular communication and collaboration among ARU underwriting, loss control, and claims departments, ensuring that all three are in alignment and are assessing risk in the best possible manner.
• Coordinate and communicate with the company accounting department in regards to billing issues with underwriting implications.
• Master the use of ARU standardized hardware, software programs, third party software, and processing procedures.

WHAT WE REQUIRE - YOUR EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLSET:

• Bachelor degree from an accredited 4 year college or university
• 5 + years of experience underwriting medium to large commercial property or farm/ag property risks
• Excellent customer service skills, with the strong ability to resolve challenging situations with a patient and calm demeanor
• Exceptional personal organization,time-management, and record-keeping skills
• Graceful, tactful, and professional, in the spoken word and in written form
• Excellent critical thinker and problem-solver under pressure
• High intellectual curiosity, with an enjoyment of learning and self-improvement
• Proven ability to take ownership of assigned responsibilities and accompanying results
• Proficient with modern business technology
• Experience in farm / agribusiness insurance lines is certainly a plus but is not required; commercial lines translates well to the space.

WHAT WE’RE OFFERING TO YOU:

• Position in a fast-growing, modern, technology-based company, where your contribution will be critical to the company’s success, and where where individual performers are recognized and promoted
• Supportive, team-driven environment
• Resume-building opportunity in the fast-paced and challenging insurtech space
• Competitive salary commensurate with experience and skill set
• Employer-paid health insurance, PTO, and a retirement plan with company match

REMOTE POSITION:

• This is a 100% work from home position
• You must have an appropriate home-office set-up including a desk and a comfortable chair, in a separate enclosed room with a door that closes and that has professional decor appropriate for video conferencing. Work from home best practices must be adhered to at all times and are specified in the company manual.
• You must supply reliable hard line high speed internet connection with speed of at least 50 MBPS download and 10 MBPS upload via WIFI or an ethernet port in the same room as the home office

ABOUT ARU’S CULTURE:

We demand excellence from ourselves and those around us; we work accurately and thoroughly, but also with a great sense of urgency; we are excellent critical thinkers and creative problem solvers; we contribute cheerfully to ARU’s environment of collaborative brainstorming and respectful debate; we love to explore and experiment, and we are comfortable occasionally blazing a trail that ends up actually being a “bridge to nowhere” -- just as long as we fail fast, pivot appropriately, and become tougher and smarter as a result; we love to learn, read, and grow as human beings; we believe in science-based truths, and we know there is no such thing as an alternative fact.

MORE ABOUT ARU:

ARU was founded on principles of creativity and innovation, with a goal to use expertise, engineering, and technology to disrupt the legacy marketplace. Our core mission is to deliver a superior experience to our policyholders, while also maintaining sustainability and consistency writing historically-challenging classes of business. To do so, we build and deploy 100% proprietary insurance products, we invest heavily in property loss prevention engineering and research, and we develop home-grown software and other technology. We also focus on collaborative broker and policyholder relationships, which allow us to deliver shared victories for all stakeholders. ARU is part of the Accelerant Insurance family: https://accelins.com/