Commercial Lines Account Manager

Job Description

Job Description

Most commercial lines Account Managers are either stuck somewhere they’ve outgrown or buried in work nobody else wants to own. This role is a third option.

Steffens Insurance Group is a family-owned independent agency in Waterford, WI. We've been doing complex commercial and personal lines work for 44 years. The third generation — Derik, Jake, and Katie — is running the business now. And the one hire that makes everything else possible is a Commercial Lines Account Manager who can take a real book and own it.

WHAT MAKES SIG DIFFERENT

Most agencies either do financial planning or P&C insurance. SIG does both — sophisticated tax, legacy, and liquidity work through V3 Financial alongside a full commercial and personal lines book, for the same clients across decades. The families who’ve been with Mike for 39+ years refer their kids and their business partners. They have real complexity, and they expect to be known, not handed off to whoever picks up the phone.

Derik needs someone who can take that responsibility seriously. Not someone who will service accounts while someone else holds the relationship. Someone who takes ownership of the relationship.

THE PATH

Commercial Lines Account Manager (Day 1): $65,000–$83,000 base + retention and growth bonuses

Senior Commercial Lines Account Manager (12–18 months): $70,000–$93,000 base + retention and growth bonuses

The bonus is tied to what actually matters: account retention rate and growth. If your book stays and your work is accurate, you earn it. If the book grows because you know clients well enough to round out their coverage, that gets noticed.

WHAT THE WORK ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE

This is not a role where someone else handles the hard stuff, and you manage the paperwork. You own the renewals. That means pulling expiration reports, running carrier conversations, preparing submissions, and delivering the package to the client — without a principal reviewing it first. When a client calls with a coverage question, you give them the answer. Not a callback. Not a transfer.

You'll manage a book that includes businesses with real complexity — contractors, manufacturers, retail, and professional services. These aren't simple BOP accounts. When a client calls at 8 am because they have a claim and need to know what happens next, you'll need to know what happens next.

Renewal cycles stack. The carrier requests land at the wrong time. If you’ve worked in commercial service, none of that is new information — the question is whether you want to do it at an agency that’s growing rapidly.

If you need someone to review everything you do before it goes out the door, this isn't the right fit. If you work best when you're trusted to handle it and asked to flag what's outside the ordinary — keep reading.

WHO BELONGS HERE

The SIG team operates on five values, and they're not decoration:

• Relationships Before Revenue. Derik walked a business owner through his P&L at a renewal meeting last year — not to sell more coverage, but because he noticed something. That's the standard. You know clients' businesses well enough to have a real conversation, not just a service call.
• Ownership Without Permission . When Katie hands you an account, it's your account. You don't wait for someone to tell you the renewal is coming up. You already know, and you're already working it.
• Clarity Over Complexity. Every project here gets run through a five-step filter before it moves: question whether it’s needed, cut what isn’t, simplify what remains, speed it up, then automate it. That order matters. We don’t add process to look busy.
• A-Players Only. One person on a small team who doesn't carry their weight affects everyone. The people here hold a high standard and expect the same in return. There's no tolerance for "good enough."
• Family First — this is a Strategy. Katie working 70-hour weeks is not a badge of honor here — it's a problem we own. This role exists specifically because the team is stretched. We are not looking to temporarily band-aid it; you're a permanent solution for it.

WHAT YOU NEED

• Current Wisconsin P&C license (must be in good standing)
• 1+ years in commercial lines account management or servicing
• Experience managing a real renewal cycle, not just processing changes
• Proficiency with agency management software (AMS360, Epic, or similar)
• Ability to work onsite in Waterford, WI

You do NOT need:

• No financial planning background required — that's Jake's lane
• No production or sales quota — this is a service role
• No specific carrier experience — if you know commercial lines, you can learn the carrier mix

WHY SIG

• $65,000–$83,000 starting base
• Annual performance bonus tied to retention and accuracy.
• Full benefits package: Health, Dental, Vision, STD, Life
• 90-day milestone bonus: $500 for completing the initial transition clean
• Extended holiday weekends and agency outings
• Career path to Senior AM and eventually a supervisor role — both are real if SIG grows the service team, which is the plan
• Direct working relationship with Derik — no layers, no bureaucracy

THE HIRING PROCESS

Here's what happens after you apply:

• We review your application. If your background fits, you'll hear from us within 3 business days.
• 15-minute phone call with Katie. Two-way — you'll ask questions too.
• Seven written questions. Email reply format — takes about 20 minutes. We want to know how you think and how you work.
• 45-minute in-person or video interview. We'll ask about real work you've done — not hypotheticals.
• Half-day working session at our Waterford office. You'll look at real accounts, talk through some scenarios, and meet the team. By the end, you'll know if this is where you want to work.
• Offer and start date.

$65,000 - $83,000 yearly

• Own the commercial renewal cycle end-to-end — expiration reports, carrier submissions, proposal preparation, and client delivery — without requiring principal oversight on standard accounts.
• Serve as the primary service contact for an assigned book of commercial accounts — coverage questions, endorsements, certificates, and claims follow-up handled without escalation.
• Prepare accurate quotes, applications, and policy comparisons for new and existing clients across commercial property, liability, and workers' compensation lines.
• Maintain complete, accurate account records in the agency management system — every activity logged, every document filed, every follow-up tickled so nothing falls through and the next person who opens the account knows exactly where things stand.
• Identify and surface cross-sell and rounding opportunities to Derik based on genuine knowledge of the accounts you manage.
• Stay current on carrier appetites, coverage changes, and market conditions that affect the commercial book.

Required:

• Current Wisconsin P&C license in good standing
• 3+ years of commercial lines account management or servicing experience
• Demonstrated experience managing a renewal cycle independently
• Proficiency with agency management software
• Must be able to work onsite in Waterford, WI

You do NOT need:

• No financial planning or securities licensing required
• No production quota or new business development requirement — this is a service role
• No specific carrier experience required

Steffens Insurance Group is a family-owned independent agency in Waterford, WI. Mike Steffens spent 44 years building it. Derik, Jake, and Katie are running it now. We handle the complexity most small-market agencies hand off — full commercial and personal lines P&C through SIG, combined with sophisticated financial planning through V3 Financial, for clients who’ve been with us long enough to refer their kids. They’re not shopping for the cheapest policy. They’re paying for continuity with people who know them. We hire A-players because one wrong hire in a firm this size affects everyone, and because the people here hold a standard they’re not willing to lower.