Role overview

Senior Underwriter — Vehicle Protection & P&C

Optiom Inc. | Driven by Aviva Calgary, Alberta | Full-Time | Hybrid

THE OPPORTUNITY

Optiom's vehicle protection suite — vehicle replacement, extended warranty, mechanical, tire and rim protection, appearance protection, and related ancillary products — is distributed through more than 330 dealerships and 900 broker offices across Canada, with over 600,000 policies sold to date. We're looking for a Senior Underwriter to own risk assessment and adjudication across that entire product suite, not just one line of business.

This role also carries in-house underwriting authority for property & casualty placements of standard and non-standard business, and a mandate to market Lloyd's open market business for the placement of risk. You'll accept, reject, endorse, renew, and cancel policies within our underwriting risk criteria and procedures, contribute to the development and implementation of Lloyd's binder agreements, and build direct relationships with Lloyd's partners, brokers, and other market stakeholders. You'll also mentor and train junior underwriting staff, and help shape the workflows, procedures, and technology behind how we underwrite risk.

This is a hands-on role for someone who has spent real time on the automotive dealership side of the business, understands how dealer principals and F&I managers think, and is just as comfortable placing business in the Lloyd's open market or defending a rating decision to a broker partner as they are mentoring a junior underwriter or presenting portfolio performance internally. You'll work closely with our VP, Underwriting & Product Portfolio to shape underwriting standards for a specialty product suite at a company that's actively scaling its dealer and broker footprint.

WHO YOU ARE

You Bring

Minimum 10 years of progressive property & casualty underwriting experience, including direct, hands-on underwriting of automobile dealership-related risk (vehicle extended warranty, GAP, tire and rim, appearance protection, or comparable F&I/ancillary vehicle protection products)
Demonstrated ability to underwrite and manage a multi-product suite — not just a single line — with evidence of rating, adjudicating, and monitoring performance across several related products concurrently
Direct experience holding or exercising in-house underwriting authority — accepting, rejecting, endorsing, renewing, and cancelling policies for standard and non-standard P&C business within delegated criteria
Direct experience underwriting or marketing business in the Lloyd's of London market (open market placements and/or binding authority/binder business)
Chartered Insurance Professional (CIP) designation
Direct experience working with automotive dealer principals, F&I departments, or broker partners on risk submissions, program design, or claims-related underwriting matters
Strong analytical skills, with the ability to read loss ratio and claims trend data and translate it into underwriting action

Bonus Points For

Fellow Chartered Insurance Professional (FCIP) designation
Prior experience contributing to Lloyd's binder development, wording negotiation, or other delegated authority agreement work
Experience mentoring, training, or providing technical guidance to junior underwriting staff
Experience underwriting within an MGA, program administrator, or specialty insurer environment
Experience within an Aviva-affiliated, bank-owned, or other large-insurer-backed environment, with familiarity operating under parent-company governance
Familiarity with OMVIC-regulated dealership environments and F&I compliance considerations
Bilingual (English/French)

WHO WE ARE

Optiom is a specialty MGA and a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva Canada, one of the country's largest property and casualty insurers. We design and distribute specialty vehicle protection products through a national network of broker and dealer partners, embedded at the point of vehicle financing and leasing.

We're a team of specialists who take pride in the discipline behind our products — the underwriting, the rating, the claims data — as much as the products themselves. Joining Optiom means joining a business with strong backing, a clear purpose, and real room to shape how we underwrite risk as we grow.

Optiom uses AI tools to assist with initial candidate screening. All final hiring decisions are made by our human hiring team.

Optiom Inc. | Driven by Aviva