Berkley Public Entity (BPE) was founded in 2012 as a member company of W.R. Berkley Corporation.  BPE is a growing, dynamic company with the vision of being a preeminent carrier in the public entity marketplace.  As our name implies, BPE is 100% focused on providing innovative insurance and reinsurance solutions to public entities including municipalities, schools, transportation entities and special government districts.  BPE currently writes layers of coverage only over a self-insured retention and will provide layers throughout the insurance tower by utilizing products including first-layer risk transfer, follow-form excess, reinsurance, and group excess. 

 

The company is an equal opportunity employer.  #LI-Remote

 

This role would ideally be based in our Ewing or Morristown, NJ office where we offer a hybrid work schedule with 3 days in the office; and 2 days remote when it makes sense to do so.  However we're open to considering a fully remote / work from home colleague.

The Senior Vice President, Chief Claims Officer is responsible for the overall management and direction of the claims department.  Equally as important, participation on the Executive Team that establishes the strategic direction for the company and ensures the overall profitability and success of the company in the public entity market.

 

Claims are handled by the insured through self-administration or the insured hires a TPA. The BPE claims  team provides oversight, consultation, and influence management in the claims process and will sometimes take over handling of the claim if the limits are tendered to us.  The claims department is also responsible for establishing reserves.

 

Overall Management of Claims Operation

 

• Manage a growing team of claims professionals by establishing clear performance metrics
• Implement strong policies and procedures designed to produce the desired results
• Ensure the continual development of claims professionals on the team by coordinating both internal and external training and development opportunities
• Establish clear reserving standards and ensure that those standards are continually met
• Identify issues and trends in the portfolio; take appropriate and/or corrective action where necessary; communicate trends to underwriters, insureds and brokers
• Identify claims with significant exposure and take a more active role coordinating a strategy for an appropriate resolution
• Oversee audits of TPA’s and insureds to evaluate claims management processes and procedures and reserve strength
• Attend industry conventions and events and become a sought out thought leader on developing issues
• Attend marketing, account renewal, and reinsurance meetings as appropriate in order to communicate our claims handling philosophy and leading position in this area

Relationship Building / Teamwork

• Establish and maintain strong relationships with insureds and TPA’s in order to effect positive influence management over claims handling
• Establish strong and collaborative relationships with external brokers in order the enhance the market reputation of BPE and maximize the competitive advantage derived from claims handling
• Communicate effectively with parent company on significant and complex claims
• Collaborate effectively with Operations team to ensure efficient and effective procedures in the claims area
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with underwriting team in order to provide insight and guidance on the claims handling practices of individual current and prospective insureds
• Communicate effectively with the actuarial team around trends in the portfolio and long-term prospects for individual claims / insureds
• Work effectively with the underwriting team and other executives on current and proposed policy language
• Identify and develop external expertise in certain types of claims such as jails, police activity, etc.

Member of Executive Team

 

• Proactive participation on Executive Team which establishes and executes the strategic direction of the company
• Work closely with the CEO to discuss, evaluate, and implement strategic directions for the claims operation that supports the overall direction of the company
• Establish solid relationships with other members of the Executive Team in order to improve team performance
• Be able to clearly communicate strategic direction to both internal resources and outside partners and insureds

What you need to have:

• Bachelor’s Degree Required
• Minimum of 10-15 years of experience in commercial casualty claims, with experience in the Public Entity market and excess coverages
• Experience in collaborating with an executive team
• Proven ability to improve organizational effectiveness as well as retain, hire, train and develop Claims professionals
• Strong interpersonal skills, and ability to communicate and manage well at all levels of the organization essential

What makes you stand out:

• Advanced Degree strongly preferred
• High level of integrity and dependability with a strong sense of urgency and results-orientation
• Significant experience in progressive positions demonstrating technical, operations, and management skills in the claims area

We do not accept unsolicited resumes from third party recruiting agencies or firms.
The company offers a competitive compensation plan and robust benefits package for full time regular employees.