Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators, Inc. (EIIA) is a member-driven consortium of private, faith-inspired colleges, universities and seminaries providing innovative insurance and risk management services. EIIA was formed over fifty (50) years ago during the 1960s when a number of historically black colleges and universities associated with the United Methodist Church were unable to obtain property and casualty coverages from the traditional insurance marketplace. The United Methodist Church assisted the colleges by encouraging them to purchase the coverage as a group. This generated adequate premium volume for an insurance company to offer coverage. EIIA was formally incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation in 1976 with the specific purpose of providing group purchasing and administration of insurance programs for higher education institutions.
The group purchasing of the property and casualty coverages for these colleges was so successful that the concept spread to employee health and welfare benefit programs, long-term disability, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, and student health and accident needs of these institutions. Risk management services were added to aid these institutions in managing and avoiding risk.
EIIA's office is located in downtown Chicago and currently works in a hybrid environment. EIIA staff of insurance and risk management professionals serves more than one hundred and forty-five (145) higher education institutions located in thirty-nine (39) states. In addition, EIIA operates two (2) Vermont domiciled captive insurance companies and two (2) grantor trusts.
EIIA Members participate in the Master Property & Casualty (P&C) Program consisting of eleven (11) coverages. EIIA also utilizes third-party vendors to provide services in addition to guidance documents that are created, published, and posted on the Member website.
Due to an anticipated retirement, EIIA is currently seeking a Vice President Property & Casualty. The position is hybrid and based in Chicago, Illinois.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Vice President Property & Casualty is responsible for growing and maintaining the entire property and casualty program. This position will be integrally involved in and challenged to manage all aspects of program design and structure incorporating the use of commercial carriers in conjunction with the member-owned captive insurance companies. The position will be responsible for identifying and effectively communicating new products and product enhancements that impact and reflect the changing exposures inherent in higher education, develop strategic partnerships with brokers, consultants, and other vendors, and will develop sales and marketing strategies. The position will also be responsible for budget and expense management to ensure wise use of company resources and will be actively engaged in corporate governance and strategic planning activities, including meetings with and presentations to the Boards of Directors and senior leadership. In addition, the position will be responsible for ensuring the fiscal integrity of the Property and Casualty operation through the development of appropriate procedures, controls, and competent staff, and will manage a staff of exempt and non-exempt personnel.
Significant Job Responsibilities
Program Design and Development
Aggregate institution exposures and develop cost effective program designs evaluating the benefits/necessity of captive utilization.
Negotiate higher education specific coverages leveraging the program aggregate exposures.
Manage carrier relationships.
Keep abreast of industry trends, results, and coverage innovations.
Develop underwriting standards and pricing that reflects equitable transfer of costs to member institutions.
Manage underwriting performance of College Insurance Company (CIC) and College Risk Retention (CRRG) and appropriate utilization of College Risk Purchasing Group
Establish pricing for each coverage underwritten by CIC and CRRG in keeping with profitability guidelines.
Establish and monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) at a consortium and individual member level to assess performance.
Evaluate further use of CIC and CRRG for the benefit of member institutions.
Negotiate reinsurance agreements either as ceding company or cedent.
Manage underwriting performance of CIC and CRRG.
Member Retention and Relationship Management
Monitor and supervise service providers, carriers, and related contracts.
Produce renewals and requests for proposals on a timely basis.
Present renewal information to members - collectively and individually.
Work with institutions to collect underwriting information for coverage placement.
Establish regular check-ins with key Business Officers over the course of the policy year.
Operational Efficiency
Work with operations, teams, technology providers and members to design the most efficient and effective process to complete required work.
Incorporate organizational data capabilities into workflows including the delivery of information to carriers, policy documents, renewal information and member communication.
Assess roles and responsibilities of P&C team members to ensure the best use of time and talent in the execution of the team's responsibilities.
Create and monitor KPI's to measure the performance of the team.
Sales and Business Development
Work with Marketing and EIIA leaders to build a clear and compelling EIIA value proposition, i.e. "Why EIIA?" and establish focused target marketing and sales strategies for desired prospect pool.
Attend important higher education conferences such as NACUBO.
Manage sales pipeline via Microsoft D365.
Explore viability of alternative distribution sources, including brokers.
Administration, Operations, & Governance
Integrate departmental activities with the Company's strategic plan.
Achieve corporate goals as defined annually.
Responsible for the proper management of the departmental budget.
Actively engage and support the actions of the Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and senior leadership.
Leadership Responsibilities
Serving as an active member of EIIA's senior leadership team, the position will lead, manage, and develop staff in executing the work of the P&C Team, articulate goals, successes, and challenges, and collaborate throughout the organization, enhancing EIIA programs and services.
Education and Experience
Bachelor's Degree is required, advanced degree a plus. A minimum of ten (10) years of increasingly responsible management experience is required. Required to possess (or obtain) Illinois Property, Casualty and Producer licenses. Knowledge of federal and state regulatory statutes is necessary. Previous senior leadership, P&C insurance sales and prospecting, and underwriting experience is required. P&C insurance experience in higher education industry preferred but not required.
Primary Skills and Abilities
Candidate must be a successful, production-oriented, casualty underwriting executive with strong relationships within the wholesale brokerage channel. Demonstrated success within a matrix reporting environment with the ability to lead and influence across the organization by virtue of your ability to produce high quality business is preferred. Strong technical knowledge of casualty underwriting theories and practices, broad understanding of the specialty insurance market and operations (Risk Control, Actuarial, Claim, Finance and Compliance). Established network of wholesale brokers. Strong independent initiative and drive for high quality results. Ability and desire to effectively interact and communicate with all levels of external and/or internal business partners. Demonstrated success building consensus and influencing business partners. Strong natural presentation, leadership, and project management skills.
Must be able to interface with prospective and current members professionally and effectively, along with EIIA teams to articulate P&C best practices, day-to-day correspondences. Develop manuals, presentations, policies, procedures, and reports. Accept responsibility and accountability for results related to assigned institutions and other work projects. Demonstrated ability to develop and complete complex sales presentations and transactions, with initiative, adaptability, and flexibility to meet the demands of the P&C Program.
Technical Expertise
Demonstrate a clear understanding of coverage and policy wording, strong analytical and underwriting skills, with the ability to organize technical information for presentations. Produce presentation materials for prospects, member, and Board meetings. Analyze claim experience for plan coverages and pricing.
Travel
Ability to travel as needed, including weekend travel. Estimated travel up to 50%.
This position is subject to pre-employment screening which includes a criminal background check, driver license check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications.
Compensation
The actual annual salary for this position is negotiable based on experience.
Come explore opportunities with our EIIA Team! Interested candidates should forward a cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to Joe Dudzik at jdudzik@eiia.org
EIIA is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.