AVP, Casualty Underwriting Performance - E&S/Specialty and Commercial Lines at Nationwide in Columbus, OH

Job description

If you’re passionate about helping people protect what matters most to them at a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales, as well as innovating and simplifying processes and operations to provide the best customer value, then Nationwide’s Property and Casualty team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers and partners are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care. #LI-MM1 Job Description Summary Are you a proven leader with strategic and creative E&S/Specialty and commercial casualty product and underwriting skills? Do you have deep insight into the liability insurance market and competitive landscape, with the ability to translate that insight into enterprise underwriting strategy? If you have a drive to achieve financial goals, set strategic vision, and elevate a technical underwriting organization, we want to hear from you! As the COE AVP, Casualty Underwriting Performance, you will support the VP in leading strategic initiatives across multiple casualty business lines. You’ll help set the underwriting philosophy and strategic agenda that Technical Directors and field underwriting leadership execute, cultivating a high-performing underwriting culture, leveraging market and reinsurance insight, and driving performance across Nationwide’s casualty portfolio. This role partners across the value chain — Pricing, Reserving, Corporate Reinsurance, Claims, Product and others — to align underwriting strategy with risk appetite, ceded reinsurance structure, and enterprise profitability goals. Operating with a high degree of independence and enterprise-wide scope, this role requires deep casualty underwriting expertise, command of complex coverage and limits/attachment structures, and the credibility to represent Nationwide externally with reinsurance and distribution partners. You will also lead, coach, and/or develop Technical Director roles, setting the strategic direction that they translate into product-level execution. Job Description Key Responsibilities: Set enterprise underwriting philosophy and strategic direction for the casualty portfolio, ensuring Technical Directors and field leadership are able to execute against strategy aligned to profitability and risk appetite targets. Drive thought leadership on market trends in casualty pricing, coverage, limits/attachment points, and appetite to keep Nationwide’s casualty products competitive and customer-aligned. Develop and maintain a strategic roadmap identifying market disruptors (litigation trends, social inflation, emerging liability exposures) and translate them into innovative underwriting capabilities and guidance that can be operationalized. Engage directly with reinsurance brokers, reinsurers, and external markets to benchmark performance and strengthen Nationwide’s market position — representing the enterprise at a level beyond product-specific technical guidance. Partner with Corporate Reinsurance to develop and optimize casualty reinsurance strategy, including treaty design, ceded structure, and capacity management, where applicable. Collaborate with Pricing to manage pricing sophistication including modeling, rate adequacy, limits profile, and exposure accumulation across the casualty book. Monitor enterprise casualty portfolio performance and steer risk selection philosophy, capacity deployment, and complex coverage/program design. Establish and maintain enterprise best practices across CLESS casualty underwriting, including underwriting guidelines and letters of authority. Lead business reviews at the portfolio level and drive corrective action plans when performance goals are at risk, escalating and resolving issues that cross multiple product lines. Ensure compliance with corporate underwriting standards and drive continuous improvement in production, retention, and expense management across the Casualty CO