Head of Underwriting
Role Summary
Bowtie’s mission is to make insurance good again and our vision is to build a category-defining health insurance company.
As a young and fast-growing company, grooming and learning from the next generation is always our priority. We are looking for great talents who share our values to drive our business growth by building and leading a world-class underwriting team.
About the Role
You will be working in a fast-paced organization that promotes cross-functional collaboration to transform the underwriting function from a traditional processing center into a strategic driver of profitable growth.
Your responsibility involve innovating the underwriting philosophy and products, optimizing processes through technology and data, and developing a world-class team that effectively balances risk management with a market-leading customer experience.
Your Key Responsibilities and Outcomes include:
- Evolve Underwriting Philosophy & Strategy:
- Within the first 90 days, present a comprehensive 'Underwriting Strategy & Market Position' analysis to leadership. This includes benchmarking the underwriting philosophy against the top 3 competitors and proposing a clear roadmap for adjustments, outlining the trade-offs between growth, profitability, and customer experience.
- Drive Profitable Growth Through Product Development Innovation:
- Within the first 12 months, successfully partner with Product Development to launch at least one new product or significantly revamp an existing one by introducing innovative underwriting criteria that demonstrably improve its market competitiveness and profitability.
- Optimize Underwriting Operations:
- Reduce the average new business underwriting Turnaround Time (TAT) from 5 days to 2 days within 6 months, while maintaining the current 100% case accuracy rate.
- Advance Underwriting Engine & Automation:
- Increase the automated underwriting auto-adjudication rate from 73% to 85% within 12 months by leading the enhancement of the underwriting rules engine, without negatively impacting the portfolio's risk profile.
- Build a High-Performing Team:
- Implement a new training and development framework for the underwriting team within 6 months. This framework should result in a measurable increase in team members' underwriting authority limits and a measurable improvement in employee engagement/retention by year-end.
- Treating Customers Fairly Governance & Compliance:
- Achieve a 100% "satisfactory" or better rating on all internal and external underwriting audits conducted during the year.
- Reduce customer complaints and regulatory inquiries related to underwriting decisions by 15% year-over-year through proactive process and guideline improvements.
Tools we use:
We've developed a proprietary insurance core system, which you will contribute directly to its continuous enhancement!
About you
You are an experienced insurance professional with at least 12 years of experience in life and health underwriting, 8 years of team leadership experience, and
- Strategic & Innovative Thinking: Possesses a holistic view, challenges the status quo, identifies opportunities for competitive advantage, and aligns underwriting decisions with company-wide goals.
- Holistic Business Acumen: Understands the intricate relationship and financial trade-offs between underwriting, pricing, claims, and sales, making decisions that optimize for the entire business.
- Leadership & Team Development: Demonstrates the ability to attract, develop, and retain high-performing talent, setting clear visions, delegating effectively, and holding teams accountable.
- Execution & Operational Excellence: A master of process, capable of driving initiatives to completion on time and to a high standard, with a focus on efficiency, accuracy, and continuous improvement through data.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverages data analytics to identify trends, justify changes, and measure the impact of initiatives, relying on empirical evidence over assumptions.
- Stakeholder Management: Builds strong, collaborative relationships with cross-functional peers (e.g., Product, Engineering, Claims, Marketing) and can effectively influence and persuade others to gain support for key initiatives.
- Integrity & Governance: Exhibits an unwavering commitment to ethical practices and regulatory compliance, establishes robust governance frameworks, and acts as the ultimate guardian of the company's risk appetite.
Prior experience in reinsurance will be an advantage. A candidate with lesser experience may be considered for a senior manager or associate director role.
We Offer
Apart from a great career path and an opportunity to do good and do well, we also offer:
- Competitive package
- Flexible work arrangement
- Benefits include medical/ dental coverage and wellness programs
- Employee discounts
- Fun, co-operative, and flexible startup culture
- Weekly sharing sessions and regular social gatherings
- Excellent learning opportunities with Professional Development Sponsorship
About Bowtie
We are the first licensed virtual insurer (虛擬保險公司) in Hong Kong.
We believe that insurance is fundamentally good, and we are here to bring the good back through our passionate, innovative, and customer-centric team.
By combining our deep domain expertise and our own proprietary modern technology, we are building one of the most iconic, category-defining health insurance companies in Asia.
We take pride in moving fast all the time and our track record in moving ahead in the game. Our digital insurance platform is also ranked #2 in the world in Sia Partners' 2023 report.
As we grow, we're always looking for highly dynamic, hands-on, and passionate talent to join our team. If you are looking for a rewarding career where you will grow together with strong talents from different backgrounds and build products and services that bring a positive impact on the lives of millions of people in Hong Kong / Asia, apply to our opening today!
Information collected will be treated in strict confidence and used solely for recruitment purposes.
The company will retain all applications no longer than 24 months of which will be destroyed thereafter.
We are an equal-opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, disability, or family status in the employment process.
- Department
- Operations
- Locations
- Hong Kong
- Remote status
- Hybrid
- Employment level
- Executive/Senior Level
About Bowtie Life Insurance Company Limited
Our purpose is simple - we are here to bring back the good of insurance: protecting people and their families.
By combining our deep domain expertise and our modern proprietary technology, we strive to provide better insurance products and world-class insurance experience to the public.
In the past 4+ years, we have been providing a wide range of medical coverage to the Hong Kong public. Our sum assured has exceeded US$5 Billion.
Let's continue to deliver a better insurance experience for all.
Let's Make Insurance Good Again.
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