Director, Corporate Underwriting

Organization: Portage Mutual Insurance
Position Title: Director, Corporate Underwriting
Reports to: Vice-President Actuarial & Corporate Underwriting
Location: Hybrid, Canada

THE ORGANIZATION
Portage Mutual Insurance (“PMI”) is a proudly 100% Canadian-owned company, established in 1884 upon the principles of security, integrity, hard work, and personalized service. Over the years, PMI has continued to grow and has built a reputation as one of the most responsive property and casualty (P&C) insurers in Canada. And, the principles that guide the company, and the friendly, small town style of doing business, remain the same.

PMI offers a wide range of insurance products that, in many cases, have helped set the industry standards for residential, automobile, commercial, and agricultural business coverage. Serving over 167,000 policyholders and taking pride in giving thoughtful, personalized service on each each and every claim, earns PMI’s top ratings for claims service. The company’s products are marketed through over 295 independent insurance brokers and more than 700 points of distribution. This reflects a partnership approach which aims to deliver better service and value to policyholders.

The combination of PMI’s logo and tagline Facing the storm with you is an apt metaphor to describe a company whose purpose is to take on risk and protect people.

Vision: To be the most trusted mutual insurer in Canada
Our Vision is to achieve sustained, strategic growth enabled by our investments in people and an agile culture. Our trusted partnerships with brokers, pricing excellence, and customer-driven innovation will make us the insurer of choice in our markets. We will remain committed to brokers and committed to our communities.

Mission: To provide peace of mind
Portage Mutual Insurance provides quality insurance products and services with exceptional value, powered by passionate people. Our mission is protection and peace of mind for policyholders - promises we keep in partnership with brokers.

Values:

Integrity
Since 1884, we have held a principled dedication to honesty and the highest standard of ethics.

Mutuality
We believe deeply in our moral obligation to value and support the well-being of our policyholders, our team and our communities.

Peace of Mind
We value the trust of our policyholders and partners. Portage Mutual is committed to protecting their financial security.

Progressive
We are passionate about our business, seeking excellence today and preparing for a dynamic future.

Reliability
Our financial strength ensures stability and is a commitment to being an insurer our policyholders and partners can rely on.

THE OPPORTUNITY
PMI is seeking an experienced Director of Corporate Underwriting to serve as a key leader accountable for the profitability, strategic direction, and sustainable growth of the company’s Commercial, Farm, and Personal Lines portfolios. This is a high-impact opportunity which provides vision and leadership across underwriting, product strategy, pricing, marketing, business development, and talent development, ensuring that portfolio performance aligns with the company’s long term objectives and risk appetite.

As the head of the Corporate Underwriting function, the Director leads a team of underwriting professionals and partners closely with both Head Office and Branch Office leadership to shape, advance, and execute underwriting strategies. The role plays a critical part in driving innovation, strengthening governance, and ensuring consistent execution of underwriting standards across the organization.

In addition, the Director fosters a high performance culture that emphasizes employee engagement, capability building, and professional growth supporting a workplace environment where employees can excel and deliver strong results for the organization.

In the first 12–18 months, the successful Director, Corporate Underwriting will have clearly established the corporate underwriting function as a strategic, value adding capability across the organization, having:

• Developed a unified corporate underwriting framework with clear risk appetite, philosophy, limits, authorities, guidelines, and governance, applied consistently across all provinces and lines of business.
• Standardised underwriting practices nationwide by addressing variations, providing training and guidance, establishing governance processes and maintaining strong collaboration with local operational underwriting teams.
• Established robust set of underwriting KPIs and monitoring mechanisms to regularly review portfolio performance, ensure compliance, and inform leadership decisions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Underwriting Strategy and Financial Leadership

• Leads the development, refinement, and execution of enterprise wide underwriting strategies to support long-term profitable growth.
• Oversees the performance of all Property & Casualty underwriting portfolios, ensuring alignment with the organization’s risk appetite, strategic goals, and reinsurance strategies.
• Partners with Senior Leaders, Branch Managers, and the Actuarial Team on pricing strategy, portfolio segmentation, and performance optimization.
• Provides executive level oversight on underwriting discipline, governance, and market competitiveness.

Product Strategy, Marketing & Business Development

• Guides product development and enhancement to ensure competitiveness, customer relevance, and alignment with company strategy.
• Supports marketing strategy through the development of product positioning, materials, and competitive insights.
• Collaborates with Branch Leadership, and Senior Leaders to establish annual new business sales plans and growth targets.

Enterprise Collaboration & Leadership Influence

• Serves as the primary authority for underwriting, policy wordings, capacity questions, and referral decisions from Branch Offices.
• Acts as a strategic advisor to Senior Leaders on reinsurance, underwriting practices, portfolio performance, and market trends.
• Leads cross-functional collaboration with Claims, Actuarial, Internal Audit, Product, Branch Management, and other partners to ensure consistent execution of underwriting strategy across the enterprise.

Governance Risk & Policy Stewardship

• Oversees the creation, review, and evolution of policy wordings, underwriting guidelines, and risk appetite frameworks.
• Ensures underwriting practices remain aligned with enterprise governance, regulatory compliance, and industry standards including reinsurance agreements.
• Supports Internal Audit in the review of underwriting portfolios and contributes to mitigation planning.

Strategic Partnerships & External Representation

• Acts as a key liaison with strategic partners, reinsurers, and industry stakeholders, representing the company’s interests and supporting strong external relationships.
• Serves as an ambassador for the company at industry events and reinforces the organization’s reputation as a leader in underwriting excellence.

People Leadership & Culture

• Provides strong leadership to the Corporate Underwriting Team, fostering high performance, professional growth, and technical excellence.
• Leads training, mentorship, and capability development across underwriting disciplines, supporting the development of strong future leaders.
• Builds a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, and employee engagement.

IDEAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
The ideal candidate will possess the following experience, qualifications, knowledge, skills and attributes:

• A seasoned professional with a minimum 10+ years of progressive underwriting leadership experience in Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, Farm, or related Property & Casualty disciplines, with a demonstrated track record of influencing portfolio strategy and results.
• Proven ability to lead organizational change, drive underwriting excellence, and navigate evolving market conditions and competitive landscapes.
• Experience collaborating at senior leadership levels, contributing to enterprise planning, pricing strategy, product development, and governance processes.
• Capability in managing cross functional initiatives, building consensus, and supporting enterprise wide execution.
• Ability to translate market insights, portfolio data, and emerging trends into actionable underwriting strategies.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, with the ability to assess complex issues, anticipate challenges, and develop solutions that support enterprise goals.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to articulate strategy, unify stakeholders, and secure alignment through periods of change.
• High emotional intelligence, demonstrating empathy, sound judgment, and the ability to build trust across teams and geographies.
• Commitment to accuracy, discipline, and consistency in underwriting practices, governance, and risk management.
• Ability to lead the creation, refinement, and application of underwriting guidelines, policy wordings, and risk appetite frameworks.
• Demonstrated capability to lead, mentor, and develop high-performing teams, fostering technical excellence and professional growth; building capability, and promoting a culture of continuous improvement.
• Proven agility in adapting to new technologies, processes, and industry shifts; forward-thinking mindset with a continuous improvement orientation.
• Strong proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams) and ability to adopt new systems and tools as part of modernization initiatives.
• CIP designation
• CRM or FCIP Designations, considered assets
• Bachelor’s Degree or post-secondary in a relevant field, or an equivalent combination of industry experience and education.

To better serve the diversity of its community, Portage Mutual Insurance is dedicated to creating an inclusive and equitable environment for both clients and staff, and to the representation and hiring of all ethnicities, races, sexual/gender identities, cultural backgrounds, abilities, and beliefs. Portage Mutual Insurance is committed to providing a barrier-free environment for everyone who enters its premises, accesses its information, or uses its services. Should you require accommodation to participate as a candidate in the hiring process, please communicate your needs to the LHH Knightsbridge project team.

CONTACT INFORMATION
If you are interested in being considered for this exciting and impactful senior leadership position, please forward your cover letter and resume to Erica Tsui, Consultant at erica.tsui@lhhknightsbridge.com.

Should you have any questions regarding this opportunity, please contact a member of the project team:

Tara Veysey, Partner
tara.veysey@lhhknightsbridge.com
416.570.1409

Erica Tsui, Consultant
erica.tsui@lhhknightsbridge.com
416.928.4554

About LHH Knightsbridge – www.lhhknightsbridge.com
LHH helps organizations simplify the complexity associated with transforming their leadership and workforce so they can accelerate results, with less risk.

As global leaders in Talent and Leadership Development, Career Solutions and Executive, Interim and Mid-Level Search, we assist organizations in finding new talent, and helping their employees navigate change, become better leaders, develop better careers, and transition into new jobs. We have the local expertise, global infrastructure, and industry leading technology and analytics required to simplify the complexity associated with executing critical talent and workforce initiatives, reducing brand and operational risk. Teams across Canada and around the world leverage our proven programs and global experience to deliver tailored solutions to clients that align talent with the needs of their business.

Established in 1967, we have been providing outplacement services for 52 years. LHH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Adecco, SA, a publicly held Fortune Global 500 firm and the world’s leading provider of HR solutions, with approximately 32,000 FTE employees and 5,100 branches in over 66 countries and territories around the world. LHH has more than 4,000 employees around the globe including 2,200+ certified Career Coaches.