Risk Manager

Risk Manager

The Risk Manager owns the strategy and execution of Barnhart's risk program — insurance structure and placement, claims and third-party liability, risk financing and risk mitigation. Together with the Senior Transactions Counsel, this role forms the second pillar of Barnhart's legal and risk function: one side focused on commercial transactions, the other on risk management, working as one team. This role exists to serve the branches. It partners with Branch Managers, Safety, Operations, and Finance as a hands-on advisor and analyst who helps the field prevent losses, respond well when incidents occur, and understand the true cost of risk in their business. The Risk Manager works closely with and under the direction of the SVP Risk Management and Administration to identify, assess, and mitigate risk enterprise-wide, and provides clear, data-driven recommendations to leadership on risk strategy.

Primary Responsibilities

Serving and Educating the Branches

• Serve as the primary risk and insurance resource for branch and regional leadership — accessible, responsive, and practical. Help branches understand their loss experience, their cost of risk, and in coordination with Safety, the specific actions that will improve both.
• Engage early. Advise branches during job planning and pursuit on insurance requirements, coverage gaps, subcontractor and third-party exposures, equipment and cargo risk, and site conditions that drive claims.
• Partner with Safety to build risk literacy in the field, including evidence preservation, claim reporting timelines, subcontractor insurance verification, and what to do — and not do — in the first hours after an incident.
• Visit branches and job sites to understand operating realities, build trust with teams, and ensure risk guidance is grounded in how work gets done.
• Give branches clear, timely, decision-ready answers, and treat responsiveness to the field as a core measure of the role.

Claims and Third-Party Liability

• Oversee and manage all insured claims, including workers' compensation, auto, general liability, riggers, cargo, equipment, and warehousing, among others.
• Lead Barnhart's response to third-party liability claims — bodily injury, property damage, and damage to customer equipment or facilities — from first notice through investigation, coverage determination, reserve setting, and resolution.
• In coordination with the SVP Risk Management and Administration, direct and manage TPAs, carriers, brokers, adjusters, and defense counsel to ensure timely and proper responses to claimants, sound decision-making, and efficient resolution. Coordinate with the Senior Transactions Counsel where a claim involves contractual defenses.
• Actively review claim reserves, retentions, deductibles, and total cost of risk to create optimized structures and support long-term planning.
• Manage uninsured and self-insured losses, subrogation and recovery opportunities, and claims against Barnhart's vendors and subcontractors.

Partnership with Safety

• Partner with Safety and Operations leaders to identify emerging risks and translate claims and loss data into targeted prevention — supporting Barnhart's safety-first culture with evidence, not opinion.
• Analyze loss drivers by branch, division, equipment type, customer, and job profile, and partner with Safety to build training, procedures, and controls that address the actual causes of loss.
• Participate in serious incident response and post-incident review alongside Safety and Operations, ensuring investigations determine facts and serve both prevention and claim defense.
• Advise on high-risk pursuits and unusual job scopes in coordination with Safety, Operations, and Engineering, so risk is priced and controlled before the work is accepted.

Insurance Program and Risk Financing

• Own insurance structure, placement, and renewals. Investigate, strategize, and advise regarding alternate structures and structure revisions. Collaborate with Finance and Operations to ensure optimized structures and support of corporate objectives.
• Evaluate strategy on an ongoing basis and provide data-driven recommendations on retentions and retention changes, risk financing, captives, and deductibles.
• Oversee OCIP and owner-controlled program participation, including review, risk determination, alignment on participation, and enrollment.
• Manage broker and carrier relationships, market strategy, submissions, and underwriting narrative so Barnhart's safety and risk performance is well represented in the market.
• Support acquisitions and other strategic transactions with insurance and claims due diligence, historical loss analysis, and post-closing program integration, in coordination with the Senior Transactions Counsel.

Contractual Risk Transfer

• Review contracts for insurance and risk transfer requirements and serve as the risk subject matter expert to the Senior Transactions Counsel and the contract review team on insurance, indemnity, additional insured, waiver of subrogation, and limitation of liability provisions.
• Establish and maintain Barnhart's standard insurance and risk transfer requirements, acceptable fallback positions, and certificate and endorsement standards, so recurring issues are resolved consistently and quickly for the branches.
• Manage subcontractor and vendor insurance compliance, including qualification standards, certificate tracking, and escalation of deficiencies.
• Close the loop — feed claims and loss experience back into contract standards, templates, and field training, and flag customer terms that are driving avoidable exposure.

Analytics, Reporting, and Enterprise Risk

• Develop, analyze, and present reports on claims activity, loss trends, reserve adequacy, loss forecasting, total cost of risk, and strategy recommendations.
• Communicate risk exposures, claim developments, and strategic recommendations effectively with internal stakeholders, claimants, carriers, brokers, TPAs, legal counsel, and executive leadership. Provide facts, data, options, and mitigation recommendations for all enterprise risk, including uninsured losses and claims.
• Identify trends and continuously explore new mitigation options across all categories of risk, including emerging and uninsured exposures.
• Ensure compliance with applicable insurance, workers' compensation, DOT, OSHA, and contractual requirements, and monitor regulatory developments impacting risk exposure.

Qualifications and Experience

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Risk Management, Business, Finance, Insurance, Legal Studies, or related field
• Experience managing workers' compensation, auto liability, general liability, property, cargo, and excess liability claims
• Experience managing third-party liability claims, including bodily injury and property damage
• Experience working with insurance carriers, TPAs, brokers, and legal counsel
• Experience with contractual insurance and risk transfer requirements
• Strong analytical and reporting experience

Preferred

• 5-10 years of progressively responsible experience in risk management, risk assessment, insurance, claims, or related field
• Juris Doctor (JD)
• ARM, CRM, CPCU, RIMS-CRMP or similar professional designation
• Experience in construction, heavy lift, crane, transportation, logistics, rigging, or industrial services industries
• Experience supporting a decentralized, multi-location organization
• Experience with captives, large deductible programs, or alternative risk financing structures

Skills

• A servant leadership orientation and genuine interest in helping the branches succeed
• Ability to translate insurance and risk concepts into plain language for field and operations audiences
• Strong negotiation and relationship management skills
• Advanced ability to analyze statistical claims and financial data
• Ability to interpret insurance policies and coverage language
• Ability to prioritize and handle multiple functions with accuracy and attention to detail
• Executive-level presentation skills
• Project management capabilities
• Proficiency with claims management systems, Excel, and reporting tools

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role means the branches see Risk Management as a partner that helps them work safely and profitably rather than a corporate function that shows up after something goes wrong. It means claim frequency and severity trending down because loss data is driving real prevention work with Safety, third-party claims resolved efficiently and on favorable terms, an insurance program that is well structured and well received in the market, and leadership with a clear, data-driven view of Barnhart's total cost of risk. The Risk Manager works as one team with the Senior Transactions Counsel so that the branches experience Legal and Risk as a single, aligned resource.

Barnhart Offers

• Competitive pay
• 401(k) with company match up to