Role Purpose
The Manager – Group Insurance & Risk Transfer is the internal owner and subject matter expert for the Group’s insurance portfolio. The role is responsible for the strategic and end-to-end management of insurance and risk transfer across all subsidiaries, business units and operations.
The role ensures that insurable risks are identified, assessed, appropriately structured, transferred and monitored through adequate and cost-effective arrangements. This includes portfolio optimization, insurance placement and renewals, major and complex claims, broker and insurer management, policy governance, risk surveys, contractual insurance, financial management and executive reporting.
Key Accountabilities & Activities
- Group Insurance Ownership & Governance
- Own and govern the Group’s overall insurance portfolio, acting as the internal subject matter expert and primary point of accountability.
- Develop and maintain the Group insurance and risk transfer strategy, governance framework, policies, procedures, standards and internal controls.
- Establish minimum insurance requirements across subsidiaries, business units, projects and operations.
- Maintain accurate policy, renewal, claims and insured asset registers, including values and key exposures.
- Identify and address coverage gaps, overlaps, exclusions, uninsured and underinsured exposures.
- Provide independent advice and recommendations to senior management and relevant governance committees on material insurance matters.
- Insurance Portfolio Optimization & Risk Transfer
- Continuously review and optimize coverage structures, policy limits, sub-limits, deductibles, exclusions, risk retention and risk transfer arrangements.
- Assess claims history, loss experience, risk quality, market capacity and pricing to balance protection, retained risk and total insurance cost.
- Develop alternative placement, layering, deductible and retention structures where these improve coverage or value.
- Determine whether risks should be insured, retained, mitigated, contractually transferred or otherwise financed in line with Group requirements and risk appetite.
- Oversee the Group’s insurance portfolio, including Property Damage, Machinery Breakdown, Business Interruption, Marine, Liability, Construction, D&O, Cyber, Crime, Motor, Medical, Life, Personal Accident and other specialized insurance programs.
- Ensure asset values, business interruption values, payroll, revenues and other underwriting information are complete, accurate and appropriately validated.
- Insurance Placement, Renewal & Market Strategy
- Lead the placement and annual renewal of Group corporate and employee insurance programs.
- Develop placement strategies, renewal timetables, underwriting submissions and market engagement plans.
- Direct brokers and insurers based on independently assessed Group coverage and risk transfer requirements.
- Evaluate insurance proposals based on coverage, limits, deductibles, exclusions, insurer strength, claims capability, service levels and total cost.
- Lead negotiations with brokers, insurers and reinsurers, where applicable.
- Prepare management recommendations, approval papers and executive summaries for material placements and renewals.
- Ensure all policies are placed and renewed before expiry without unintended coverage gaps.
- Major & Complex Claims Management
- Lead the end-to-end management of major and complex claims, particularly Property Damage, Machinery Breakdown, Business Interruption and significant industrial losses.
- Establish claims strategy following major incidents, including notification, evidence preservation, loss measurement, adjuster engagement and stakeholder coordination.
- Coordinate with Operations, HSE, Finance, Legal, insurers, brokers, loss adjusters, forensic accountants, engineers and other specialists.
- Challenge coverage positions, reservations of rights, valuation issues and settlement proposals where required to protect the Group’s interests.
- Monitor claim reserves, documentation, interim payments, recoveries, disputes and settlements, escalating material matters to management.
- Analyze claims trends and root causes and ensure lessons learned inform future coverage structures, risk improvements and renewal strategies.
- Risk Identification, Surveys & Improvement
- Work with business functions to identify current and emerging insurable risks arising from assets, operations, projects, contracts, workforce and business activities.
- Lead insurer, broker and engineering risk surveys across plants, sites and major projects.
- Assess insurer risk-improvement recommendations and coordinate corrective actions with relevant stakeholders.
- Ensure material changes to assets, production, projects, acquisitions, contracts or operations are reflected promptly in insurance arrangements.
- Promote insurance awareness and improve the quality and consistency of risk information provided by business units.
- Contractual Insurance & Assurance
- Review insurance and indemnity provisions in major customer, supplier, construction, project and service contracts.
- Define minimum insurance requirements for contractors, consultants, suppliers and other third parties.
- Verify certificates, endorsements and supporting policies against contractual requirements.
- Partner with Legal and Procurement to ensure contractual risk allocation is supported by appropriate insurance.
- Identify contractual exposures that could create uninsured or disproportionate liabilities and recommend appropriate controls.
- Financial Management, Analytics & Reporting
- Develop and manage the annual Group insurance budget, including premiums, taxes, brokerage, deductibles, retained losses and claims recoveries.
- Monitor insurance costs and total cost of risk against budget, claims experience and market conditions.
- Identify and deliver cost optimization opportunities without compromising essential protection.
- Prepare executive dashboards covering portfolio structure, premiums, claims, recoveries, loss ratios, major exposures, renewals, risk improvements and provider performance.
- Quantify material uninsured and underinsured exposures and provide clear recommendations to management.
- Support the appropriate allocation of insurance costs across subsidiaries and business units.
- Broker, Insurer & Specialist Provider Management
- Manage and hold accountable brokers, insurers, TPAs, loss adjusters, risk engineers, forensic accountants and other specialist providers.
- Define service requirements, performance measures and contractual obligations for insurance service providers.
- Conduct regular performance reviews and address material service, placement and claims issues.
- Support competitive procurement and selection of brokers, insurers and insurance-related service providers.
- Ensure transparency of broker remuneration and appropriate management of conflicts of interest.
- Employee Insurance & Benefits
- Oversee Group Medical, Group Life, Personal Accident, Workers’ Compensation or equivalent, Business Travel and other employee-related insurance programs, as applicable.
- Ensure accurate administration of enrolment, amendments, renewals, termination of coverage and employee/dependent records.
- Lead the resolution of complex employee insurance cases and sensitive claims with insurers, TPAs, brokers and healthcare providers.
- Maintain clear employee communications, benefit guides and awareness materials.
- Ensure sensitive medical, personal, claims and legal information is handled with appropriate confidentiality.
- Team Leadership & Capability Development
- Lead, coach and develop insurance team members and assigned support resources.
- Set objectives, allocate responsibilities and monitor performance against financial, service and governance standards.
- Build internal insurance capability and awareness across key functions and business units.
- Establish effective succession, documentation and knowledge-transfer practices to reduce dependency on individuals and external providers.
Qualifications & Experience
Education & Professional Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Insurance, Risk Management, Finance, Business Administration, Law, Engineering or a related discipline.
- Professional insurance qualification such as ACII, CPCU or equivalent is strongly preferred.
- Professional risk management qualification is an advantage.
Professional Experience
- 10–15 years of progressive corporate insurance and risk transfer experience, including significant responsibility for complex industrial insurance portfolios.
- Hands-on experience within a large manufacturing, metals, energy, infrastructure or similarly asset-intensive organization is strongly preferred.
- Strong practical knowledge of Property Damage, Machinery Breakdown, Business Interruption, Marine, Liability, Construction, D&O, Cyber, Medical, Life and other employee-related insurance.
- Proven experience designing and optimizing coverage structures, limits, deductibles, risk retention and market placement strategies.
- Demonstrated experience managing major and complex industrial claims, particularly Property Damage and Business Interruption claims.
- Experience leading major renewals, competitive tenders and negotiations with brokers, insurers, reinsurers, loss adjusters and specialist advisors.
- Experience reviewing contractual insurance and indemnity requirements and providing independent advice to senior stakeholders.
- Previous team leadership experience.
- Strong knowledge of the UAE and/or GCC insurance market is preferred.
Languages
- English: Essential
- Arabic: Preferred
