Regional Vice President, Global Surety Claims

Role Overview

• Own and oversee a portfolio of high-severity contract and commercial surety claims, typically $10M+ CAD exposure.
• Drive end-to-end claims’ strategy — from initial assessment through resolution, balancing client outcomes with financial performance and organizational risk.
• Lead critical decision-making on defaults, directing mitigation, resolution, and recovery strategies with a focus on long-term business impact.
• Ensure the consistent implementation of Corporate, SBU, and Global Surety policies and procedures, fostering a culture of compliance and accountability across the claims function.
• Serve as a market-facing thought leader, delivering executive presentations and industry-facing sessions on surety law and claims issues – while monitoring and interpreting legal developments that may impact the surety landscape.
• Provide Surety Canadian market insight to inform and shape broader global strategy and governance.
• Drive enterprise-level influence through strong executive presence, credibility, and cross-functional engagement.
• Provide strategic leadership to a multidisciplinary claims team spanning legal, technical, and operational functions.
• Build, develop, and mentor top talent while fostering a high-performance, accountable culture aligned with organizational values.
• Set regional objectives, manage budgets, and drive continuous improvement across the claims function.
• Operate as a senior decision-maker, applying rigorous judgment across legal, contractual, and financial risk on complex, high-exposure claims.
• Direct the team in establishing and maintaining reserves, proactively identifying and escalating high-risk exposures to senior leadership.
• Deliver strong financial outcomes through disciplined oversight of loss ratios, expenses, and regional performance metrics.
• Lead litigation strategy and direct the engagement of external counsel, consultants, and technical experts to ensure optimal outcomes.
• Serve as a key legal and contractual advisor on complex, high-stakes matters, ensuring strong representation of organizational interests at the highest levels.
• Cultivate and manage critical external partnerships in close collaboration with senior leadership, reinforcing Global Surety's market presence and reputation.
• Develop and execute sophisticated recovery strategies across indemnitors, principals, and third parties to maximize financial outcomes.
• Anticipate and mitigate risk through the implementation of proactive loss prevention strategies for distressed and high-exposure accounts.
• Lead decisive, high-impact action to minimize losses and drive optimal recovery outcomes in complex and challenging scenarios.
• Serve as a trusted strategic partner to senior Surety leadership on complex, evolving, and high-stakes claims’ issues.
• Represent Liberty Mutual at industry and legal forums, strengthening market presence, credibility, and thought leadership.
• Advance organizational knowledge by sharing expertise through internal and external forums, while maintaining a leading edge on legal, regulatory, and industry developments.
• Navigate highly complex surety scenarios, including contractor defaults, bond claims, disputes, and construction-related matters, with precision and strategic clarity.
• Apply strong commercial judgment and executive acumen across nuanced legal, financial, and operational environments to drive sound, defensible outcome.

Requirements

• Law degree (LL.B. or J.D.) with membership in good standing with a Canadian provincial law society.
• 8–12+ years of progressive legal experience, ideally at a leading law firm with advancement to senior associate or equivalent, focused on surety, construction, or complex commercial matters.
• Deep expertise in construction law, contract law, surety practices, claims operations, and regulatory frameworks within the Canadian market.
• Significant experience managing the full claims lifecycle — including investigation, litigation, resolution, and recovery — across complex, high-exposure files.
• Advanced knowledge of claims handling practices, including coverage analysis, liability assessment, and risk evaluation.
• Broad understanding of insurance law and regulatory considerations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Proven ability to operate and influence at the executive level, driving alignment across senior stakeholders and cross-functional partners.
• Demonstrated success leading litigation strategy and directing external legal counsel, consultants, and advisors.
• Executive presence with exceptional communication skills and credibility across internal and external audiences.
• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to balance legal risk, client outcomes, and broader business objectives.
• Highly developed analytical, decision-making, and negotiation capabilities, with demonstrated sound judgment, resilience, and confidence in navigating complexity and ambiguity in high-stakes environments.
• Collaborative and results-driven, with a strong bias for action, decisive leadership, and a track record of operating with autonomy and accountability.
• Business-level bilingual proficiency in French is considered a strong asset.
• Willingness and ability to travel as required (approximately 25%).

Benefits

• A premier flexible work environment (hybrid) supporting our employees in their pursuit of a healthy work-life balance.
• Competitive health & dental benefits plan
• Market-leading pension plan
• Competitive time off policy
• External education & tuition reimbursement programs
• Employee & Family Assistance Programs
• An opportunity to get involved and become a member of one of our national employee committees – social responsibility, employee engagement, diversity, equity & inclusion.