Finance role
Insurance Controller Recruiters
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
Financial Headhunters: Hire an Insurance Controller who produces precise statutory filings and maintains the solvency data your board requires.
This is what we do all day: recruit accounting, finance, banking and insurance professionals.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- Statutory Controller
- Controller (Insurance Carrier)
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Accounting, finance, banking and insurance
- We reach people who aren’t on job boards
- Replacement terms on standard searches
01
What does this hire really come down to?
Your controller dictates the accuracy of all regulatory filings and state reports. You need a person who builds the link between the general ledger and insurance balance sheet rules. Ask them how they handled a recent difference between cash receipts and premium recognition on the ledger. If they cannot describe the valuation method for a specific asset class, they will not recognize a solvency risk when it appears in your data. You require someone who turns granular policy data into exact filings for state regulators.
This role protects the solvency position of the carrier. If your team misses a change in reinsurance recovery or an error in claims liability accruals, you have no warning of a capital shortage. We look for individuals who treat every regulatory requirement as an operational checklist rather than a suggestion. The right person owns the narrative of your financial health. They provide you with accurate data that confirms your capital matches the risks you hold.
02
What do we check before you see anyone?
- 01Ask them to show their process for updating NAIC annual statements when new state mandates appear. We check if they know the specific penalty codes for late filings in your primary states of operation.
- 02We ask how they reconcile a premium ledger against a bank statement. If they rely on the underwriting system to report revenue without checking it against cash, they will fail to catch missing policy payments.
- 03We test their process for reconciling reinsurance cessions against assumed business. We look for a history of identifying net loss volatility before it hits the monthly P&L.
- 04We ask them to explain their last dispute with an actuary over reserve levels. We look for evidence that they forced a re-evaluation of the data rather than accepting an unsupported estimate.
- 05We verify they know the difference between GAAP and Statutory reporting. We ask for specific examples where they had to adjust a valuation to satisfy state capital requirements.
- 06We verify their history managing month-end close schedules. We look for a person who creates the calendar and forces the team to meet the date without carrying over unresolved variances.
03
Where do we find them?
We contact controllers at regional carriers and managing general agencies who file in more than ten states. These professionals manage the specific rigors of state exams and quarterly cycles. They often look for a new role when they reach the top of their current department and see no way to take on more oversight of the insurance financial strategy. We identify those who are ready to own the entire accounting function for a carrier.
We also recruit from the insurance-specific groups at national accounting firms. These people start by auditing the balance sheets of many different carriers. They seek a move into industry to take ownership of the accounting processes they once critiqued for clients. They bring a sharp eye for audit risks and are often ready to focus on the financial health of one company instead of managing multiple client files.
04
Which hiring mistakes should you watch for?
- 01Hiring someone with general corporate accounting experience who has never produced a statutory filing. You end up with a person who uses standard depreciation schedules that do not apply to insurance assets.
- 02Assuming a candidate with a CPA knows how to calculate loss reserves. You risk finding out months later that your claims liabilities were calculated using incorrect actuarial data.
- 03Ignoring how a candidate handles input from the underwriting system. If they do not verify that the ledger data matches the actual claims paid, they are missing the source of your largest balance sheet risks.
05
The search in three steps
- 01We map your specific state filing requirements and lines of business to find a person who has already filed those specific reports for another carrier.
- 02We conduct a deep vetting of their past audits, specifically asking how they resolved findings regarding reserve accuracy and reinsurance reconciliation.
- 03We introduce only those who have managed a finance team through a year-end closing cycle, verifying their ability to direct staff through the crunch of regulatory deadlines.
How your Insurance Controller search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
One sequence, from a well-defined seat to a shortlist you can judge.
Search Calibration
We start with a call about the seat, the books, the owners and the people the hire will work with. We learn what the role must fix in the first year and what would make a candidate wrong even if the resume looks right.
You get: A written search brief: scope, must-haves, deal-breakers and the pay range, agreed with you.
Market Mapping
We map the companies and institutions where the right people already work: similar size, similar ownership, similar complexity, in your market and in others.
You get: The target list of companies and institutions we will search, reviewed with you before outreach.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We find direct ways to reach the people on the map. Most are employed and not reading job boards, so reaching them takes real research.
You get: Direct routes to people who are not on job boards, researched for your search.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We call and write to people individually and follow up. Interest varies, so we discuss the actual opportunity rather than promising a particular response.
You get: One-to-one conversations about your actual role, followed up, never a mass email blast.
Live Candidate Qualification
We speak with every candidate before you do. We check scope, systems, reporting lines, compensation expectations, location and why they would move.
You get: Only candidates we have spoken with, checked on scope, systems, pay, location and motive.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You receive a short written brief on each finalist covering what they have done, where they are thin and what they want. Then we help with interviews, references and the offer.
You get: A short written brief on each finalist, plus help with interviews, references, counteroffer risk and the offer.
Questions people ask
How soon can we expect to review candidates given our strict technical requirements?
We start outreach immediately after defining the scope. The time to shortlist depends on how quickly your hiring team commits to interview slots.
How do you confirm a candidate's ability to lead through high-pressure statutory filing cycles?
We ask for specific examples of how they handled a missed regulatory deadline in a past role. We verify they personally managed the communication with the state insurance department.
How do you minimize the chance of losing a hire to a counteroffer?
We ask the candidate about their exact salary threshold and any recent non-monetary shifts in their current office. We keep these factors updated throughout the search to prevent surprises during the offer stage.
Can we control when and how our company identity is revealed to prospects?
We screen all candidates using a generic profile until you approve the interview. You decide when we reveal your company name to the prospect.
Is there an upfront fee for initiating this search?
We charge no upfront fees to start the search. We only bill upon the successful hire of a candidate from our shortlist.
What is your guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your Insurance Controller job and forward whoever applies. We do not send stacks of unscreened resumes, and we do not recruit outside accounting, finance, banking and insurance.
Start a search
Tell us about the seat.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Not ready to start a search?
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What does the published pay data show?
$166,570 national annual median. SOC 11-3031: Financial Managers.
BLS reports Insurance Controller within a broader occupation. It does not publish separate wages for this exact title, credentials, seniority or industry. Compare the listed SOC duties with your actual role before using this range.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Released 2026-05-15. This is not a separately measured salary for this exact title.
Read the full salary guide