Head of E&S Binding Underwriting

About this role

Be Here. Be Great. Working for a leader in the insurance industry means opportunity for you. Great American Insurance Group's member companies are subsidiaries of American Financial Group. We combine a "small company" culture where your ideas will be heard with "big company" expertise to help you succeed. With over 30 specialty and property and casualty operations, there are always opportunities here to learn and grow.

At Great American, we value and recognize the benefits derived when people with different backgrounds and experiences work together to achieve business results. Our goal is to create a workplace where all employees feel included, empowered, and enabled to perform at their best.

Great American Risk Solutions writes a diverse mix of property and casualty business, both primary and excess. Risk Solutions writes mostly non-admitted business, partnering with leading wholesalers. We focus on specialized solutions for a diverse market.

Our team members at Great American Risk Solutions display strong personal character, integrity, and honesty. We are driven champions of change and focus on results. We emphasize teamwork, collaboration – among underwriting, claims, and shared services teams – and continuous development of interpersonal and technical skills. Our people make all the difference in our success.

http://www.greatamericaninsurancegroup.com/about-us/business-operations/division/great-american-risk-solutions

Great American Risk Solutions is seeking an accomplished underwriting leader to head our E&S Binding team. As the leader of the E&S Binding team, you will set strategy and drive profitable growth across a national portfolio, lead a team of underwriters, and own underwriting governance, analytics, and broker relationships. This role is ideal for a leader who blends technical E&S binding expertise with operational discipline, coaching excellence, and a strong market presence.

Great American’s culture is built on connection, shared learning, and strong relationships. To support this, employees in this role and that are local to the Cincinnati area, are expected to be on-site four days a week, with the flexibility to work one day remotely. Core in office days are Tuesday–Thursday, with the fourth day determined by business needs.

Key Responsibilities • Set underwriting strategy, appetite, and guidelines for E&S Binding aligned with GAIG’s risk tolerance and profitability goals.

• Lead, mentor, and develop underwriting team; build talent pipelines, succession plans, and a culture of accountability and inclusion.

• Own annual planning for growth, rate/term strategy, mix of business, and capacity deployment; track results against KPIs.

• Oversee underwriting quality, referrals, and complex risk decisions; ensure consistency across territories and segments.

• Monitor portfolio performance (loss ratios, rate adequacy, hit ratios, retention, exposure and CAT aggregates); implement corrective actions when required.

• Build and maintain deep relationships with national and regional wholesale brokers; drive new business flow and profitable retention.

• Represent GAIG at market meetings, conferences, and industry events; communicate appetite, capabilities, and differentiation.

• Ensure adherence to underwriting authorities, compliance, regulatory requirements, and documentation standards.

• Champion process improvements, leveraging analytics, tools, and workflow automation for efficiency and control.

• Collaborate with Claims on trend insights and with Legal/Compliance on policy language, endorsements, and emerging risks.

Qualifications • Generally, 10+ years of underwriting experience. E&S Binding experience preferred.

• Generally, 5+ years of people leadership (managing managers or multi-level teams) with demonstrated coaching and performance management.

• Deep knowledge of E&S distribution, broker networks, pricing practices, accumulation management, facultative placements, and policy forms.

• Strong analytical acumen with experience using underwriting and portfolio performance metrics to drive decisions.

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills with the ability to influence across functions and levels.

• Willingness to travel up to 30% for broker meetings, market events, and internal leadership engagements.

Business Unit: Great American Risk Solutions

Salary Range: $190,000.00 -$275,000.00

Benefits: We offer competitive benefits packages for full-time and part-time employees*. Full-time employees have access to medical, dental, and vision coverage, wellness plans, parental leave, adoption assistance, and tuition reimbursement. Full-time and eligible part-time employees also enjoy Paid Time Off and paid holidays, a 401(k) plan with company match, an employee stock purchase plan, and commuter benefits.   Compensation varies by role, level, and location and is influenced by skills, experience, and business needs. Your recruiter will provide details about benefits and specific compensation ranges during the hiring process. Learn more at http://www.gaig.com/careers .   *Excludes seasonal employees and interns.

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