Our Surety Bond department is seeking a Surety Underwriter with both Commercial and Contract surety to join our expanding team.

By leveraging distribution through our proprietary Agency portal (Bond Ramp), the qualifying candidate will become an integral member of the Surety Team as we continue to expand the platform to incorporate additional underwriting tools for enhanced, efficient risk analysis and decision-making. This member will also lend their experience building LLM’s as we move toward incorporating an artificial intelligence co-pilot to assist in the underwriting process.

This position will also be integral to developing and enhancing underwriting parameters, risk protocols, and best practices for our small-contract surety program. Through the underwriter's experience, agency relationships, and industry contacts, the expectation of this position is to actively grow and diversify our bond catalog — identifying new business opportunities, deepening relationships with existing agents and principals, and expanding the company's presence within this area.

Position requirements include direct communication with Producers, Bond Principals and working with Business Analysts and Developers to build upon product offerings and system capabilities to remove friction and meet consumers' needs. This is an excellent ground-floor opportunity for a self- motivated surety professional looking to apply their underwriting experience to the e-commerce space.

Key responsibilities:

Perform surety underwriting tasks regarding new and renewal business.
Have a solid understanding of all documents required and produced in relation to surety bond transactions, including bond form covenants, indemnity agreements, legal structure of entities, statutes and insurance regulations.
Evaluate and manage risk in accordance with Company underwriting rules.
Price, quote, negotiate terms and conditions of new and renewal accounts.
Decline and/or cancel bonds, creating appropriate and timely notice to Obligee.
Manage diaries and follow-ups for information on accounts.
Build new and foster existing relationships with wholesale and retail agencies to grow Surety division premium.
Perform other agency and customer management duties; including agency webinars regarding the benefits of the Company and use of our portals.
Prepare effective internal and external communications relating to underwriting issues or opportunities.
Ability to interact and collaborate with colleagues, agents, and customers in a professional manner.
Agency visits, and surety industry and related events as required.

Job Requirements:

Minimum 2+ years’ surety experience with an insurance company or surety agency., preferred.
Bachelor’s Degree or High School degree with equivalent industry experience.
AFSB, CPCU and CIC designations, or currently in pursuit of these or related designations preferred.
Proficient in MS Office Software and online eCommerce applications.
Ability to communicate effectively with internal and external contacts.
Ability to travel as needed.
Good organizational and time management skills required.
Detail-oriented and able to handle multiple tasks.

Benefits:

Universal Fire & Casualty Insurance Company offers an industry-competitive benefits package including medical insurance with an HSA, dental insurance, vision coverage, disability insurance, and other lifestyle and family-friendly and work/life balance benefits. We also offer a

company-matched 401K and unlimited PTO. Applicants will receive more information on our full company benefits program. Universal Fire & Casualty Insurance Company is an equal opportunity employer. Discrimination of any kind, including race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, disability, veteran's status, pregnancy, or on any basis prohibited by federal, state, or local law is not tolerated at Universal Fire & Casualty Insurance Company.

USIG targets property and casualty insurance for small and medium businesses that are managed in such a way that they deserve to qualify for, and enjoy, the additional advantages in security and coverage offered by an admitted product. We also offer an E&S product for those accounts that may qualify for our admitted market product after a few years of successful operation. We work exclusively with our appointed wholesale General Agents that demonstrate a commitment to professional underwriting practices and have multi-decade relationships with our underwriting teams. USIG incorporates a state-of-the-art risk acceptance process, employing expert underwriting rules, advanced analytics, machine learning, and external data sources to supplement standard risk information. USIG and its insurance entities (Universal Fire & Casualty Insurance Company “UFCIC” and Shield Indemnity Incorporated “Shield”) maintain an AM Best Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a-“. UFCIC also maintains a Demotech Financial Stability rating of A (Exceptional) and is Treasury Listed for surety bonds up to $5.9M.

USIG also underwrites the Surety line of business through our admitted company, providing bonds for the Commercial, Contract and Specialty Surety markets. Through our proprietary, cutting-edge portal Bondramp.com, we provide agents at all levels access to a large library of competitively priced commercial and transactional bonds, immediately delivering many bonds upon the Principal’s payment. Conveniently, BondRamp.com and is available 24x7x365 and accessible by computer, tablet, or mobile device.

We have corporate offices in Waterford and Grandville, Michigan as well as Dublin, Ohio.

Universal Shield Insurance Group

Surety Underwriter

About the Job

About Universal Shield Insurance Group