About the Role
The underwriting assistant role within operations is an administrative position and serves as the first point of contact for underwriting teams into business support. The primary objective is to ensure risks and any amendments to those risks written by underwriting teams are processed onto the system in an accurate and timely manner.
The ability to effectively communicate with multiple teams and prioritise work according to various system close dates, SLAs, and KPIs is a fundamental requirement of the role.
About the Department & Team
Underwriting Support is part of the business support division within the wider operations department. The team ensures offshore colleagues are provided with all required information to accurately process premiums onto policy administration systems within agreed SLAs.
The team also supports underwriting teams with general policy administration, reporting, operational process advice and guidance, and other ad-hoc requirements. Close collaboration with cash and credit control functions is required to ensure that any payment-related issues or queries are investigated and actioned appropriately.
The operations department also comprises functions such as MI and analytics, claims operations, facilities, strategic operations, and IT. Data timeliness, quality, and accuracy are central to core responsibilities and processes, and together these teams provide effective support services across the business, enabling the organisation to meet its revenue, growth, and strategic objectives.
Key Responsibilities
Documentation & Risk Administration
Responsible for maintaining accurate processing documentation, updating trackers, and ensuring all submissions are complete before passing to offshore teams. Performs four-eye checks on financial data, resolves booking and quality control queries within SLAs, manages data quality issues, supports month-end tasks, monitors KPIs, and maintains up-to-date system knowledge.
Communication
Keeps underwriting support management and underwriting teams informed of workload, progress against SLAs and KPIs, and any emerging backlogs. Responds to queries promptly and participates actively in team meetings and one-to-ones.
Ancillary Tasks & Teamwork
Supports audits, updates training materials, provides training to offshore and new team members, contributes to continuous improvement initiatives, and assists with ad-hoc tasks, projects, and system or process changes.
Stakeholder Management
Engages regularly with underwriting teams to ensure service levels are maintained, feedback is actioned, and data quality issues are identified. Supports stakeholders such as Claims and Risk Engineering, liaises with brokers where required, and escalates critical issues to management.
Professionalism
Demonstrates full compliance with regulatory and internal policies, including Conduct Rules, Solvency II, Financial Crime, Data Protection, Conflicts of Interest, and Whistleblowing. Maintains a strong focus on professionalism, integrity, and customer-centric behaviour.
Skills and Experience
- Previous experience working within an administrative, support, or operations support role
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Good MS Office skills, particularly Excel
- Experience working to varying and tight deadlines
- Ability to work independently
- Strong analytical skills
- Previous insurance experience, preferably within the London or Lloyd’s market, is highly desirable but not essential
- Experience with transactional insurance systems such as Genius or IRIS is highly desirable but not essential