Full-Time
Senior Commercial Underwriter
Updated on 8/6/2026
W.R. Berkley
Commercial insurance underwriting, reinsurance, and investments
No salary listed
No H1B Sponsorship
South Jordan, UT, USA
Hybrid
Remote within the company's footprint states; candidates near Meridian, Idaho follow a four-days-in-office, one-day-remote schedule. Regular travel, including overnight travel, is required.
Bachelor's
 Finance & Banking (1) |
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- Five or more years of related experience and/or training.
- Familiarity with middle-market commercial operations and corresponding insurance products.
- Ability to represent Berkley North Pacific positively and effectively to external customers.
- Ability to organize, prioritize, and manage multiple priorities.
- Ability to communicate professionally with internal and external customers.
- Ability to develop and maintain strong business relationships and travel regularly, including overnight travel.
- Ability to work outside the normal work schedule to fulfill responsibilities.
- Reasonable, regular, and predictable attendance is essential.
- Manage a book of business with autonomy to make decisions within the established authority level while consistently achieving company strategies and goals.
- Assess new middle-market commercial insurance risks; determine business classification, policy contract forms, and pricing; and accept and price risk according to underwriting guidelines and authority level.
- Review renewal accounts for acceptability by examining business operations, classification, contract forms, and loss activity; determine pricing; and review endorsement requests.
- Maintain accurate underwriting documentation and information to meet quality review standards.
- Develop, expand, and enhance agency relationships to promote profitable new business growth and retention of existing business.
- Travel within or to the assigned territory to meet with agents and enhance business relationships.
- Leverage agent relationships to drive new business opportunities and continually prospect through pipeline development.
- Achieve or surpass agency visibility goals through in-person and virtual sales calls.
- Act as a business partner to agents by using negotiation skills and product knowledge to meet customer needs.
- Collaborate with claims, risk management, and underwriting team members to provide prompt and professional underwriting service.
- Participate in and potentially lead underwriting and agency meetings and training sessions.
- Identify and suggest new procedures and opportunities to streamline department processes and workflows.
- Cultivate customer service through consistency, timeliness, and product knowledge.
- Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university.
- Advanced insurance education, such as Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, Associate in Automation, or Certified Insurance Counselor designations.
W. R. Berkley provides commercial property and casualty insurance and reinsurance worldwide. It underwrites through two segments: Insurance with 53 operating units offering lines like excess and surplus, commercial auto, and workers’ compensation; and Reinsurance & Monoline Excess which writes reinsurance and excess policies for other insurers and self-insured entities. Revenue comes from premiums on insurance and reinsurance contracts and from investment income, supporting risk transfer and market capacity. The goal is to deliver steady underwriting results and financial returns for shareholders by serving a broad client base across many industries.
Company Size
N/A
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Greenwich, Connecticut
Founded
1967
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Q2 2026 gross written premiums hit a record $4.1 billion.
- Second-quarter net investment income rose 10.4% to $418.7 million.
- AM Best raised WRB to 'a' in 2026, citing capital strength.
What critics are saying
- June 30, 2026 Trisura litigation exposes coverage disputes and defense-cost leakage.
- CEO said competition is stronger in Q1 2026, pressuring rates and growth.
- Founder William R. Berkley died in 2026, creating succession and culture risk.
What makes W.R. Berkley unique
- WRB runs 53 operating units across specialty commercial lines and reinsurance globally.
- July 2026 leadership promotions kept underwriting veterans inside Berkley Re and Carolina Casualty.
- Q2 2026 combined ratio of 90% shows disciplined underwriting versus peers.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Wellness Program
Paid Time Off
401(k) Retirement Plan
Profit Sharing
Annual Bonus Potential
Company News
Robert R. Coyne, Jr. to succeed Daniel R. Westcott as President of Berkley Re America. 28th July 2026 - Author: Saumya Jain - Insurance holding company W. R. Berkley Corporation has appointed Daniel R. Westcott as Executive Vice President (EVP), as Robert R. Coyne Jr. succeeds him as President of Berkley Re America, while Robert C. Hewitt has been named Chairman of Berkley Re. All appointments are effective immediately. Berkley Re is a global reinsurer comprising Berkley Re America, Berkley Re UK, Berkley Re Solutions, Berkley Re Australia, and Berkley Re Asia. Westcott joined Berkley Re America as president in 2019, and has nearly three decades of experience in the property casualty reinsurance market. Coyne joined Berkley in 2006 and became Senior Vice President of Berkley Re America in 2010. He also has over three decades of experience in the property casualty reinsurance business. Hewitt joined Berkley in 2002 as Senior Vice President for risk management and was named EVP of the firm in 2016. W. Robert Berkley, Jr., Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of W. R. Berkley Corporation, commented on the appointments, "Rob, Dan, and Rob have all provided outstanding leadership within Berkley for many years. Dan's skills and broad experience in the reinsurance market, as well as his extensive knowledge of its organisation, will serve Reinsurance Group well as he takes on oversight of its assumed reinsurance businesses. "With deep expertise in developing reinsurance solutions for customers, Rob Coyne is very well-positioned to lead Berkley Re America forward to build upon its success. Rob Hewitt has made extraordinary contributions to Berkley during his tenure, and we are deeply appreciative of his leadership, judgment, and unwavering commitment to the Company." He continued, "He has been a trusted colleague and valued leader, and we are especially pleased, both personally and professionally, that we will continue to benefit from his extensive experience and expertise." Last week, for its second quarter 2026 results, W. R. Berkley reported a new record for gross written premiums (GWP) of $4.1 billion.
W. R. Berkley Corporation has appointed Christopher L. Moede as president of Berkley Risk, effective immediately. He succeeds John Goodwin, who has been named chairman of the business. Moede brings over 20 years of leadership experience in the commercial insurance market. Most recently, he led a global underwriting segment at a major multinational insurer. Goodwin joined Berkley Risk in 2012, serving as executive vice president before becoming president in 2014. W. Robert Berkley, Jr., chief executive officer of W. R. Berkley Corporation, welcomed Moede's leadership skills and experience in developing risk solutions. He thanked Goodwin for his exceptional service and contributions. Berkley Risk provides at-risk and alternative risk insurance programme management services for public entity pools, professional associations, and self-insured clients.
W. R. Berkley, a property casualty insurer, missed revenue expectations in Q2 CY2026, with sales rising just 1.2% year-on-year to $3.72 billion, falling short of the $3.77 billion analyst estimate. The company's net premiums earned reached $3.19 billion, roughly in line with expectations. However, W. R. Berkley exceeded profit forecasts, reporting non-GAAP earnings of $1.27 per share, beating analyst consensus by 17.3%. The combined ratio of 90% also outperformed estimates of 91.4%. Founded in 1967, W. R. Berkley operates through over 50 specialised insurance units globally. The company has demonstrated strong long-term performance, with 11.1% annualised revenue growth over the past five years, though recent growth has moderated to 7.8% over the last two years.
W. R. Berkley Corporation has appointed Paul J. Stock as president of Carolina Casualty, effective immediately. Stock brings over 20 years of property and casualty insurance experience, particularly in the transportation sector spanning claims, underwriting, risk management and telematics. He joined Carolina Casualty in early 2025 as divisional president, where he led transformation efforts across claims and risk management departments. W. Robert Berkley, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of W. R. Berkley Corporation, praised Stock's extensive leadership experience and expertise. Carolina Casualty provides primary commercial insurance products and services to the transportation industry nationwide. W. R. Berkley Corporation, founded in 1967, is amongst the largest commercial lines writers in the United States.
Berkley's lawsuit accuses Trisura of refusing a project owner's defense. Two words in an endorsement - "written contract" - decide who pays for this defense. An insurer is dragging a rival into federal court, saying it wrongly refused to help defend a project owner sued over a worker's injury. Berkley Insurance Company sued Trisura Specialty Insurance Company and a waste-hauling contractor, Century Waste Services, on June 30, 2026, in the Southern District of New York. The dispute turns on a question claims teams face daily: who counts as an additional insured, and what paper proves it. It began on a Manhattan job site. According to the complaint, a construction worker alleges he was hurt on May 19, 2020, at a project at 145 West 108th Street. He says he was gathering trash and debris when a mini-container being hoisted by Century Waste broke loose, fell and struck him in the back. He is suing the project owner and Century Waste in a separate state case and is not a party to this federal lawsuit. Berkley is defending the project owner, as an additional insured, under a Berkley general liability policy issued to contractors on the project. Now Berkley wants Trisura to take over that defense. The reason: the complaint alleges that Century Waste signed a purchase order dated January 7, 2019, to handle waste at the site, and that the purchase order's Exhibit "A" required Century Waste to carry commercial general liability coverage and to name the owner as an additional insured. Trisura had issued Century Waste a policy running August 16, 2019 to August 16, 2020, with limits of $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. That policy, the filing states, includes an endorsement titled "ADDITIONAL INSURED - OWNERS, LESSEES OR CONTRACTORS - SCHEDULED PERSON OR ORGANIZATION," with a schedule reading "Per Written Contract." Coverage applies, the endorsement says, "but only with respect to liability arising out of your ongoing operations performed for that insured." So it comes down to two words: "written contract." When the owner tendered the claim in 2022, Trisura's counsel denied it, the complaint says, because its investigation showed "no written contract existed between Procida and Century for the work." Berkley's response points to the purchase order. What follows, in Berkley's telling, is a run of silence. The owner asked Trisura to reconsider in April 2023 and, the complaint alleges, got no meaningful reply. A second request went out in September 2025. In October 2025, Berkley says, Trisura's counsel acknowledged it and promised to "review and revert" - then, according to the filing, did not. For claims professionals, the case turns on a recurring question: whether a purchase order and its insurance exhibit satisfy an endorsement that extends additional-insured status only "per written contract." Berkley's declaratory-judgment count asks the court to rule that the owner qualifies as an additional insured, that Trisura owes a defense and indemnity on a primary and non-contributory basis, and that Trisura must repay Berkley's defense costs. A breach-of-contract count mirrors that claim. Berkley also sues Century Waste, alleging it breached the purchase order by "failing to procure" the required coverage at the outset. The allegations in Berkley's complaint have not been tested in court, and no judge has ruled on any claim.