Lead Underwriter

Brief role description:

Our client is looking to bring customers a new way of experiencing healthcare – where customers can focus on getting healthy without having to worry about the hassles or cost of accessing quality healthcare. We are India’s first fully integrated healthcare brand – combining health care, health services and health insurance in one ecosystem.

To bring this vision to life, we are looking for a highly skilled Lead Underwriter with a strong background in health insurance underwriting and over 10 years of experience, including leading teams. In this role, you will oversee the underwriting operations for our health insurance products, manage a team of underwriters, and ensure that risk assessments align with the company's growth objectives. This position requires expertise in evaluating complex health risks, managing portfolios, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. While our client brings together hospital and insurance industry veterans and talent from India’s most customer centric companies. Our client is still a very small team! For anyone looking to grow professionally and personally and make an impact on society, this is a great opportunity to join a small, growing team working in a fast-paced environment with all the advantages of our client decades of

experience in healthcare and financial strength.

Key responsibilities:

• Leadership & Team Management: Lead, mentor, and manage a team of health insurance underwriters, ensuring performance, compliance, and professional development.
• Risk Assessment: Oversee the evaluation and underwriting of individual and group health insurance policies, assessing medical risks and determining coverage eligibility.
• Policy Formulation: Develop, update, and implement underwriting policies and guidelines specific to health insurance to ensure consistency and accuracy in decision-making.
• Portfolio Management: Manage the health insurance underwriting portfolio, ensuring a balanced risk profile and contributing to the company’s financial performance.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Work closely with actuarial, claims, sales, and compliance teams to support product development, pricing strategies, and service improvements.
• Regulatory Compliance: Ensure all underwriting practices adhere to local and international health insurance regulations, as well as company policies.
• Client Relations: Engage with brokers, corporate clients, and healthcare providers to negotiate terms, resolve issues, and maintain strong business relationships.
• Data & Trend Analysis: Analyze claims and underwriting data to identify trends, optimize underwriting processes, and recommend changes to risk models.
• Process Improvement: Drive improvements in underwriting processes by implementing technology, automating tasks, and ensuring operational efficiency.
• Training & Development: Design and deliver training programs to enhance the skills of junior underwriters, ensuring consistent application of underwriting standards and industry best practices

Qualifications & Skills:

• Experience: Minimum of 10+ years in health insurance underwriting, with at least 5 years in a leadership or team management role.
• Health Insurance Expertise: In-depth knowledge of health insurance products, risk assessment for medical coverage, and the impact of health trends on underwriting.
• Team Management: Proven experience leading and managing underwriting teams with a focus on coaching, performance management, and developing high-performing teams.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Strong understanding of health insurance regulations, industry standards, and compliance requirements.
• Analytical Skills: Ability to assess complex health risks, analyze medical histories, and make sound underwriting decisions using data-driven insights.
• Communication: Excellent communication skills for articulating underwriting decisions and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Technology Proficiency: Familiarity with health insurance underwriting software, data analytics tools, and medical coding systems.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy and attention to detail in reviewing health information, claims data, and policy applications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification in health insurance underwriting or related fields (e.g., Health Insurance Associate – HIA).
• Experience with both individual and group health insurance products.
• Knowledge of reinsurance in health insurance is a plus.