Account Director - Insurance (UK Construction team)

Excellent opportunity to join our Construction team as an Account Director!

You will be responsible for a portfolio of clients and prospects with a specific focus on construction projects involving established Real Estate clients with accountability for retention of clients and a strong focus on new business development.

You will manage and develop client relationships, grow the portfolio and be responsible for targeting and converting prospects.

The Role

Client Relationship Management

•    Understand the clients’ business and their risk management needs and look for solutions to deliver those needs through the provision of ongoing service
•    Identify primary budget holders and decision makers within clients, establish and maintain active relationships with these people
•    Provide technical, industry and subject matter expertise where required (nationally in UK and overseas)
•    Draw on expertise within specialist technical teams within the BU and across the Group for clients as required
•    Liaise with clients and build strong relationships
•    Determine appropriate solutions, structure, price and placement strategies that meet the clients’ needs and deliver profitable business for a range of clients including large multinationals
•    Grow existing portfolio by identifying new from existing opportunities
•    Lead (not line manage) supporting service team
•    Provide renewal documentation with the support of CSE and Brokers
•    Maintain effective working relationships with Loss Management Executives to effectively deliver clients’ needs

Business Development

•    Actively drive the sales process in relation to winning, retaining and developing profitable new clients
•    Develop and maintain a pipeline of prospects including research, initiation of contact, meetings, responding to RFPs, new business presentations, accurately maintaining Willis CRM database in order to create and convert sales opportunities
•    Actively identify opportunities to work with colleagues across the business to capitalise on account penetration and cross selling opportunities
•    Maintain a detailed knowledge of products and services offered by Willis
•    Networking – internally with other BUs, within the sector, with external specialists

Placement Management

•    Deliver optimisation of revenue from new and existing clients through the use of the full range of appropriate placement channels and markets for the specific client segment of the business
•    Work closely and maintain strong working relationships with the appropriate Broking team and market contacts as required
•    Ensure transparency of agency and other commitments made by to carriers and clients
•    Ensure compliant processing of contracts as per FCA and contract certainty requirements
•    Ensure accurate loading of data within agreed time and quality standards
•    Check policies, market presentations and client documentation 
•    Design programme and pricing structures based on market and client sector proposition knowledge

Operational and Service Delivery

•    Lead and deliver the end to end ongoing client service, adhering to standardised policies, procedures and service standards
•    Support the BU in accurate budgeting, forecasting and tracking of revenue
•    Deliver high levels of client service in line with the standard operating procedures for client activity
•    Manage client pricing to ensure each client meets agreed target profitability levels
•    Proactively develop appropriate solutions and proposals for clients to ensure optimum client retention rates
•    Communicate effectively with clients, associates, markets and others where appropriate to maximise service delivery levels
•    Manage KPIs/SLAs to ensure targets are met
•    Ensure adherence to Group policies, procedures and all regulatory requirements
•    Provide feedback on corrective action required to retain clients or enhance process performance, actively supporting the implementation of any actions that are put in place

The Requirements

•    Experience of insurance within Construction / Real Estate sector.
•    Experienced knowledge of insurance markets globally in order to deal effectively with client needs
•    Proven track record of delivering high levels of client service
•    Strong practical knowledge of strategic account development and appropriate tools to achieve this 
•    Experienced at new business sales process and track record of converting prospects to clients
•    Skilled at building effective relationships, at all levels, with clients, prospects, associates, insurers and external specialists
•    Strong communication, negotiation and influencing skills
•    Experience of working with and adhering to processes and systems to support client service delivery
•    Preferably educated to a degree level
•    Preferably with professional qualifications of ACII or similar

At WTW, we believe difference makes us stronger. We want our workforce to reflect the different and varied markets we operate in and to build a culture of inclusivity that makes colleagues feel welcome, valued and empowered to bring their whole selves to work every day. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive work environment throughout our organisation. We embrace all types of diversity.