Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Finance and Insurance Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Finance and Insurance Manager oversees financial planning, insurance programs, risk management, and budgeting for the organization or assigned business units. This leadership role combines financial stewardship (P&L ownership, forecasting, reporting) with insurance program management (policy placement, claims oversight, broker/vendor relationships) and regulatory compliance. The successful candidate partners with operations, legal, HR, and executive leadership to optimize cost of risk, ensure regulatory compliance, and deliver accurate, timely financial insights that support strategic decision making.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Financial Analyst or Finance Business Partner with hands-on P&L responsibility
Insurance Operations Supervisor or Senior Underwriter with commercial insurance experience
Risk Management Specialist or Claims Manager with cross-functional exposure

Advancement To:

Director of Finance & Insurance / Director of Risk Management
VP of Finance, VP of Risk & Insurance, or Head of Corporate Insurance
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) or Chief Risk Officer (CRO)

Lateral Moves:

Risk Manager / Enterprise Risk Management Lead
Compliance Manager or Regulatory Affairs Lead
Procurement or Vendor Risk Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own and manage the full-cycle budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting process for assigned business units, ensuring monthly, quarterly, and annual close deliverables are accurate, complete, and delivered on time.
Develop, maintain, and present consolidated P&L analyses, variance explanations, and scenario-based financial models to senior leadership to support strategic planning and capital allocation decisions.
Design and maintain insurance programs including property, casualty, liability, cyber, directors and officers (D&O), and specialty lines; lead renewals, RFPs, and broker negotiations to optimize coverage and premium spend.
Lead claims management strategy and escalation processes, including oversight of high-severity claims, vendor selection (adjusters, defense counsel), and claim reserve adequacy in partnership with legal and external consultants.
Implement and monitor risk financing strategies (self-insured retentions, captive structures, deductibles, reinsurance) to balance risk transfer, cost, and capital efficiency.
Ensure regulatory compliance across insurance and financial reporting requirements (GAAP/IFRS, solvency, state insurance regulations), preparing documentation for audits, regulators, and auditors.
Partner with Legal and HR to ensure insurance and benefits programs align with corporate policy, contractual obligations, and employment practices, including endorsements, certificates of insurance, and hold-harmless agreements.
Drive cost control initiatives by analyzing loss trends, frequency/severity metrics, and operational drivers; recommend and implement loss prevention, safety, and risk mitigation programs.
Create and administer internal insurance policies, procedures, and training to promote consistent handling of certificates of insurance, indemnification clauses, and vendor risk assessments.
Lead cross-functional insurance and finance projects (M&A due diligence, new product launches, market expansions) providing financial risk assessment, deal modeling, and insurance gap analysis.
Manage relationships with brokers, carriers, captive managers, reinsurers, third-party administrators (TPAs), and other external partners to ensure service quality and competitive pricing.
Oversee reserve setting methodology, review actuarial or third-party loss reserve opinions, and validate assumptions used in reserving and financial statements.
Evaluate and implement insurance technology, claims management systems, and financial tools that improve analytics, reporting cadence, and decision-making efficiency.
Develop and report key risk indicators (KRIs) and metrics such as loss ratio, claim frequency, average claim cost, incurred but not reported (IBNR) exposure, and P&L impact to stakeholders on a regular cadence.
Provide leadership and coaching to a small team of finance and insurance professionals; recruit, develop, and assign responsibilities to meet operational goals.
Serve as the primary internal advisor for contract negotiations regarding indemnities, insurance requirements, and risk allocation clauses for customer, vendor, and partnership agreements.
Coordinate with tax and treasury teams on tax deductibility of premiums, captive tax considerations, and cash flow impacts related to insurance financing decisions.
Conduct periodic benchmarking and market intelligence on insurance program structure, pricing trends, and emerging risk exposures (cyber, climate, supply chain) to inform strategy.
Prepare and present executive-level dashboards and board-level summaries on financial position, insurance program performance, and enterprise risk exposures.
Lead post-event reviews for major incidents and claims, coordinate root-cause analyses, and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence and reduce future loss potential.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of regulatory changes, industry best practices, and emerging insurance products; translate impacts into actionable recommendations for the business.
Support transaction-related activities such as divestitures, acquisitions, and contract novations by assessing insurance exposure, amending policies, and coordinating transitional coverages.

Secondary Functions

Respond to ad-hoc executive and operational requests for financial analysis, insurance certificates, and claims status updates in a timely manner.
Contribute to continuous improvement of finance and insurance operating models, workflows, and documentation to increase efficiency and reduce cycle times.
Collaborate with IT and data teams to standardize data feeds for claims, loss runs, and financial systems to improve reporting accuracy and analytic capability.
Participate in cross-functional committees (safety, procurement, cybersecurity) to align insurance strategy with enterprise risk priorities.
Support SOX controls, internal audits, and external audits related to financial close, insurance reserves, and risk transfer transactions.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Financial reporting & analysis: monthly close, variance analysis, GAAP/IFRS accounting for insurance reserves and accruals.
Budgeting and forecasting: driver-based models, rolling forecasts, scenario analysis, and sensitivity testing.
Insurance program management: policy placement, renewals, endorsements, and multi-year program design for property & casualty, cyber, D&O, and specialty lines.
Claims management & reserving: knowledge of claims lifecycle, reserve methodologies, IBNR, and third-party administrator oversight.
Risk financing techniques: captives, self-insured retentions, deductibles, reinsurance structures, and surplus optimization.
Contract and indemnity review: interpreting insurance clauses, certificates of insurance, and hold-harmless language.
Regulatory & compliance knowledge: state insurance regulations, filings, audit readiness, and tax implications of insurance arrangements.
Data analytics & reporting tools: Excel (advanced, macros), Power BI/Tableau, SQL or similar for claims and financial data aggregation.
Insurance procurement & broker negotiation: RFP development, market solicitations, pricing comparison, and broker performance management.
ERP & financial systems: familiarity with Oracle, SAP, NetSuite, or other general ledger and fixed asset systems; experience integrating insurance accounting into ERP.

Soft Skills

Strategic thinker with strong business acumen and the ability to connect insurance and finance initiatives to corporate strategy.
Excellent communication and presentation skills for explaining complex insurance and financial topics to non-technical stakeholders and board members.
Strong negotiation and influencing skills to drive favorable outcomes with brokers, carriers, and internal business partners.
Detail-oriented with high integrity and comfort working with confidential or sensitive information.
Collaborative leader who builds cross-functional relationships and can lead change across finance, operations, legal, and HR.
Problem-solver with a results-oriented mindset and the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines.
Coaching and people-management skills to develop individual contributors and improve team performance.
Analytical curiosity and continuous improvement mindset, proactive in seeking efficiencies and better data-driven outcomes.
Resilient and adaptable in high-pressure situations, such as major claims events or market disruptions.
Project management skills with ability to deliver on program rollouts, renewals, and system implementations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Risk Management, Insurance, Business Administration, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA, M.S. Finance, or professional certifications such as CPA, CPCU, ARM, or CIMA preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Risk Management / Insurance
Business Administration
Economics
Actuarial Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5–10+ years of progressively responsible experience in finance, insurance operations, underwriting, claims, or risk management roles.

Preferred:

8+ years with demonstrated ownership of P&L, insurance program management, and cross-functional stakeholder leadership; experience in commercial insurance placements, claims oversight, and complex contract risk negotiations preferred.