Head of Marine

Senior HR Insurance 16+ yrs of human resource experience Job Summary

• Lead Sukoon's Marine portfolio and team, encompassing Cargo, Hull & Machinery, Marine Liabilities (including Ports & Terminals, Ship Repairers, Charterers, and Marina Operators), as well as associated coverages such as War, Loss of Hire, and P&I placements. Hold full profit and loss (P&L) accountability for the portfolio.
• Drive sustainable and profitable growth through disciplined underwriting, strategic portfolio management, optimized reinsurance structures, and proactive engagement with brokers and clients. Deliver best-in-class service aligned with Sukoon's strategic objectives and core values.
• The role is instrumental in shaping a growth-oriented marine portfolio within a financially robust, customer-centric insurer committed to service excellence.

Key Accountabilities

• Define and execute a 3-5 year Marine strategy (by product, client segment and geography) aligned to Sukoon's commercial targets and service ethos; own the Marine budget, combined ratio and growth.
• Set and deliver annual plans for GWP, retention/hit ratio, loss ratio and expense ratio, with transparent reporting and remedial actions for underperforming segments.

Underwriting Excellence & Governance

• Establish and continuously refine risk appetite, underwriting authority limits, technical pricing guidance and referral protocols for Cargo (Open Cargo, Stock Throughput, Project Cargo/DSU), Hull & Machinery (incl. War, Loss of Hire) and Marine Liabilities (Ports & Terminals, Ship Repairers, Charterers, Marina/Marine Trades).
• Lead large risk and complex placement decisions; ensure robust wordings, endorsements and sanctions compliance; manage accumulations (ports, CAT perils, storage), voyage and warehouse exposures.
• Build an insights led portfolio steering cadence: pricing adequacy, rate change, mix, deductibles, claims trends, peril mapping; institute early warning triggers and corrective actions (declinature/rate/terms).
• Partner with Actuarial & Risk to validate technical rate models, reserving assumptions and capital charges; maintain an outcomes focused underwriting performance dashboard.

Distribution, Market Development & Brand

• Own broker and partner engagement across global and regional intermediaries; drive a disciplined pipeline, visibility in the marine market, and cross sell with Property and Liability.
• Support marketing and thought leadership (cargo risk trends, port accumulations, sustainability in shipping, geopolitical/war risks) to strengthen Sukoon's brand and broker preference.

Claims, Recovery & Loss Prevention

• Partner with Claims to ensure technical excellence in early reserving, large loss reviews, subrogation/salvage and vendor selection (surveyors, average adjusters, lawyers).
• Expand risk engineering and loss prevention programmes (ports, terminals, warehouses, shipyards) tied to expected loss improvement and client value.
• Ensure compliance with CBUAE regulations and all applicable laws; for Lloyd's related business, coordinate with OIMSL on DFSA requirements.
• Embed underwriting controls, conduct risk management, sanctions/AML screening, and high quality policy documentation and bordereaux.

People & Culture

• Build and lead a high performing Marine team (underwriting managers, portfolio analysts, product & wordings specialists).
• Recruit, develop and coach talent; foster Sukoon's values-Customer First, Collaboration, Excellence, Integrity, Constant Improvement.

Education, Experience, and Formal/Professional Qualification

• Professional qualifications (e.g., ACII/FCII, CPCU) desirable; degree in Business, Economics, Engineering, Maritime/Shipping or related discipline.
• 12-15+ years in Marine underwriting/portfolio leadership with demonstrable P&L delivery across Cargo, Hull and Marine Liabilities (GCC experience preferred).
• Strong technical pricing and wordings expertise (e.g., ICC(A/B/C), ITC Hull, War, Loss of Hire, DSU, Ports & Terminals, Ship Repairers, Charterers).
• Proven broker market presence and negotiation of treaties/facultative placements;
• People leadership-building, coaching and scaling underwriting teams.
• Fluent English; Arabic is an advantage.

Seniority level

• Director

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Analyst, Strategy/Planning, and Product Management
• Industries
• Insurance

Direct message the job poster from Sukoon Insurance