Manager, National Property Appraisal

Definity is the parent company to some of Canada’s most long-standing and innovative insurance brands, including Economical Insurance, Sonnet Insurance, Family Insurance Solutions, and Petline Insurance. Our ambition is to be one of Canada’s leading and most innovative property and casualty insurers. We can’t do that without our people, so we embrace and encourage a culture that’s collaborative, ambitious, rewarding, and empowering.

We offer a flexible, hybrid work experience where employees work from the office and virtually depending on the type of work they are doing and who they are working with. Bring your true self and be a part of our journey. It’s better here.

The Manager, National Property Appraisal, is responsible for the day to day leadership of the Property Appraisal Team. Managing moderate to complex loss cost quantifications, implementing strategies to maximize the impact of the Economical Reinspection and other programs including day to day Vendor Management. The incumbent will also be responsible for the day to day management of the dedicated National CAT Team whose goal it is to manage Catastrophic losses nationally as they occur. Working with region partners when CAT events occur, the incumbent will strategically deploy resources geographically resulting in cost effective and timely loss cost adjudication.

What can you expect from this role?

• Attract, retain, mentor and develop world class talent
• Manage team performance by implementing strategies and training plans to address team development and providing ongoing performance feedback
• Ensures team training needs are identified by creating development plans to move staff to the next level
• Acts as a leadership role model within the team by imparting knowledge and experience to motivate team performance
• Completes all aspects of the performance management cycle including the compensation piece
• Provides guidance and feedback to Team Leaders and team through continuous performance feedback, analyzing trends and information and taking appropriate action when necessary
• Superior service to our internal and external customers
• Works closely with Director, Technical Property and Catastrophe Claims, regional counterparts and VP National Property Claims to implement national appraisal strategies in support of organizational objectives
• Designs workflow, process, and procedure to maximize impact of appraiser resources across the property portfolio. By providing unfailing service levels and streamlined processes which maximize appraisal team impact and deliver value for the broker and policyholder.
• Adopts a continuous process improvement mentality and instils that philosophy in direct reports
• Creates culture of effective internal and external communication with key stakeholders
  
  
  

Achieves Business Outcomes

• Develop and maintain a clear focus on organizational goals and objectives while working within budget
• Helping business partners attract and retain business by achieving optimal indemnity accuracy for the commercial and residential policyholder
• Develops, formulates and leads the risk based audit process for the appraisal function helping the business understand performance gaps or opportunity areas and communicating results to business partners nationally
• Accountable for preparation and management of annual National Appraisal Team budget
• Employs cutting edge appraisal techniques and processes to protect Definity loss adjustment spend while managing expense
• Leads the strategy in complex loss quantification and adjudication
  
  
  

Communication and Networking

• Represents Economical at industry events, trade organizations and with external business partners
• Develops and maintains effective interpersonal relationships with regional partners, customers, vendor partners, regulatory bodies and colleagues to optimize team and organizational outcomes
• Provides meaningful and timely reporting of business-critical information
• Is the team liaison between business and regional partners and external Definity Repair Partners (DRP)
  
  
  

Education and Estimatics awareness

• Participates in the development of training initiatives to ensure alignment with national appraisal team goals and objectives
• Develops, formulates and leads the training of new hires with regard to appraisal and estimatics and lends self to partners as a key component of the new hire development onboarding process
  
  
  

What you bring to the role?

• Bachelor's degree or a minimum of a two-year college diploma in an acceptable discipline to Definity
• Continuing education in the form of the Chartered Insurance Professional or Fellowship designations
• 8-10 years claims industry experience including property claims handling and appraisal acumen
• 5 + years in a Leadership capacity, coaching and mentoring new and experienced staff. Experience with the Performance Management cycle and the hiring process.
• The role requires a tangible understanding of commercial and personal lines, property wordings. Significant exposure to the large loss claims handling process, with significant experience scoping and estimating structural commercial losses
• The incumbent will be certified as a Water Remediation Technician and Applied Structural Drying Technician via the IICRC
• Level three proficiency with Xactimate
• Previous property claims adjusting experience is an asset
• Excellent interpersonal skills coupled with the ability to multi-task and work in a constantly changing environment is required for this role
  
  
  

Salary range is $84,000 - $154,700

We also take potential into consideration. If you don’t have this exact experience, but you know you have what it takes, be sure to give us more insight through your application and cover letter.

Go ahead and expect a lot — you deserve it, and we’ve got it:

• Hybrid work schedule for most roles
• Company share ownership program
• Pension and savings programs, with company-matched RRSP contributions
• Paid volunteer days and company matching on charitable donations
• Educational resources, tuition assistance, and paid time off to study for exams
• Focus on inclusion with employee groups, support for gender affirmation surgery, access to BIPOC counsellors, access to programs for working parents
• Wellness and recognition programs
• Discounts on products and services
  
  
  

Our inclusive work environment welcomes diversity and supports accessibility. If you require accommodation at any time during the recruitment process, please let us know by contacting: [email protected]

Background checks

This role requires successful clearance of a background check (including criminal checks and leadership references).