Underwriting Manager – Health at GA Insurance

Job Summary: This position is responsible for achieving business growth within GA Insurance Limited through proper selection of business, enforcement of adequate pricing, monitoring of loss ratios, coordination of renewals, efficient service provision and generation of new business through building of strong client and intermediary relationships. 

Duties and Responsibilities:

.Portfolio Profitability & Sustainability

• Develop strategies to maintain a healthy medical portfolio through risk selection, pricing, and benefit design.
• Ensure profitability by monitoring loss ratios and claims patterns to predict future risks and make proactive adjustments.
• Recommend strategic initiatives such as repricing, panel restructuring, and introduction of managed care controls.

Risk Management & Governance

• Establish and continuously refine underwriting policies, guidelines, and frameworks to manage the risk exposures.
• Ensure underwriting decisions align with corporate risk appetite and regulatory requirements.
• Drive quality assurance and audit readiness across underwriting processes.
• Manage leakages to ensure monitoring, collection and non-recurrence i.e. excesses, endorsements, membership invoicing etc.

Product Strategy & Market Positioning

• Provide strategic guidance on pricing models, benefit limits, and product differentiation.
• Support product development and enhancement through insights from claims analytics, market trends, and competitor benchmarking.

Business Growth & Retention strategy

• Support the business development teams to evaluate large or complex corporate accounts by offering underwriting insights to support negotiations and strategic pitches.
• Balance competitiveness with profitability to support sustainable business expansion.
• Implement a comprehensive client retention strategy for the corporate and retail segment, focusing on key drivers of renewal and customer loyalty.
• Create differentiated renewal approaches based on client profiles, focusing on personalized service for all accounts and maintaining profitability across all segments.

Data-Driven Decision Making

• Use claims data, provider utilization patterns, and market intelligence to guide strategic decisions.
• Initiate and Implement forecasting tools and dashboards to track portfolio performance and identify emerging risks.
• Promote digitization and automation in underwriting workflow for better efficiency and accuracy.

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management

• Collaborate cross-functionally with all relevant stakeholders.
• Manage escalations and strategic client relationships, ensuring transparency in underwriting decisions.
• Represent underwriting in executive meetings, board presentations, and regulatory forums.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Set and monitor underwriting KPIs and ensure operational targets are achieved.
• Drive capacity building by mentoring underwriters and ensuring continuous professional development and performance management.
• Foster a high-performance culture focused on accuracy, turnaround time, and customer satisfaction.
• Lead change management and adoption of new systems, technologies, and processes.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Finance or a related field.
• Professional qualification in Diploma in Insurance (AIIK) or Advanced Diploma in Insurance (ACII) or an equivalent professional qualification

Experience

• At least 6 years of experience, 2 years of which should be in management or similar role and industry

Technical Competencies

• Proficiency in MS Package
• Experience in managing health insurance services
• Knowledge of insurance industry and concepts
• Knowledge of insurance regulatory requirements
• Knowledge of risk and audit compliance requirements in health insurance services management
• Knowledge of emerging trends and procedures in health insurance services management
• Experience in managing stakeholders in the health insurance services ecosystem

Behavioural Competencies

• Strong strategic focus and is vision driven
• Strong achievement focus
• High level of analytical and flexible thinking skills
• Strong problem solving, conflict management and decision-making capability
• Ability to build strategic relationships and network.
• Demonstrated team spirit and experience in team management through effective delegation and collaboration.
• High emotional intelligence and diplomatic sensitivity
• Ability to effectively manage resources.
• Ability to coach, mentor and develop talent.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong client focus.
• Strong attention to detail
• High level of trust, integrity and dependability.
• Innovative and ability to challenge the status quo.