IntroductionAt Pen, we don’t just underwrite risk, we unlock possibility. We’re a dynamic underwriting and distribution business backed by the strength of Gallagher and powered by a belief that every challenge has a solution. With entrepreneurial energy, niche expertise, and a bold growth mindset, we’re transforming what it means to be an MGA in today’s insurance landscape. Whether you’re shaping new products, solving complex problems, or collaborating across teams, your ideas and initiative will help deliver smarter solutions for our clients—and move the industry forward. Here, agility meets stability. Creativity meets execution. And your career meets real opportunity. At Pen, we champion innovation, value accountability, and thrive on building something better together. If you’re looking to join a team that’s rewriting the future of underwriting, we’d love to hear from you.
OverviewPen Underwriting, a leading MGA in the UK Market are looking for an experienced Underwriting Manager to join our financial lines team in Bristol and continue to drive success within our commercial division.
As an Underwriting Manager, you will play a pivotal role in achieving our income and profit objectives by managing the technical performance of the Financial Lines accounts. Your primary focus will be to underwrite, manage, and sell products offered by binding and brokerage carriers, with an emphasis on writing new business to meet our business goals.
How you'll make an impact - Manage the Financial Lines account to ensure company objectives are met.
- Collaborate with the management team to develop and implement the divisional plan, achieving financial income and loss ratio objectives, technical standards, and customer service standards.
- Work collaboratively with other parts of the organisation
- Enhance Pen's local presence by establishing strong relationships with key directors and staff at important brokers and influencers in the local insurance market.
- Provide technical and commercial market intelligence feedback to the management team.
- Maintain and disseminate knowledge of relevant technical issues to ensure the regional underwriting and sales teams are up-to-date.
- Undertake referral cases above the authority levels of underwriters within your control.
- Ensure company underwriting philosophies and procedures are understood and followed.
- Manage and control the flow of work to achieve service standards.
- Allocate underwriting authorities within the region and maintain standards through structured audits.
- Manage, motivate, and develop underwriting staff, overseeing their technical skills development through training and guidance.
About YouTechnical Knowledge:
- Understanding of underwriting complex risks and the use of specialist information.
- Robust knowledge of general insurance, legal principles, and practices, especially within Financial Lines
- Knowledge of underwriting principles, reinsurance arrangements, and financial management systems.
- Effective use of systems technology required to transact business.
Experience:
- Strong commercial risks underwriting within a management remit.
- Proven track record in planning and prioritising business goals, meeting financial objectives.
- Excellent communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to manage and sustain key relationship networks.
- Experience in embedding processes/structures to manage compliance standards.
Skills:
- Excellent planning and analytical skills.
- Strong interpersonal and management skills.
- Credible at decision-maker level.
- Persistent and tenacious in achieving results.
- Self-motivated and proactive in risk management.
- Committed to learning and developing industry knowledge.
- Proficient in MS Office and relevant IT systems.
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Compensation and benefitsOn top of a competitive salary, great teams and exciting career opportunities, we also offer a wide range of benefits.
Below are the minimum core benefits you’ll get, depending on your job level these benefits may improve:
- Minimum of 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays, and the option to ‘buy’ extra days
- Defined contribution pension scheme, which Gallagher will also contribute to
- Life insurance, which will pay 4x your basic annual salary, which you can top-up to 10x
- Income protection, we’ll cover up to 50% of your annual income, with options to top up
- Health cash plan or Private medical insurance
Other benefits include:
- Three fully paid volunteering days per year
- Employee Stock Purchase plan, offering company shares at a discount
- Share incentive plan, HMRC approved, tax effective, stock purchase plan
- Critical illness cover
- Discounted gym membership, with over 3,000 gyms nationally
- Season ticket loan
- Access to a discounted voucher portal to save money on your weekly shop or next big purchase
- Emergency back-up family care
- And many more…
We value inclusion and diversity
Inclusion and diversity (I&D) is a core part of our business, and it’s embedded into the fabric of our organisation. For more than 95 years, Gallagher has led with a commitment to sustainability and to support the communities where we live and work.
Gallagher embraces our employees’ diverse identities, experiences and talents, allowing us to better serve our clients and communities. We see inclusion as a conscious commitment and diversity as a vital strength. By embracing diversity in all its forms, we live out The Gallagher Way to its fullest.
Gallagher is Disability Confident Committed. We have pledged to make sure our recruitme