QBE Insurance Group is now recruiting for key posts ahead of the international insurer’s further expansion in Europe by way of a Netherlands branch.

“We have been steadily building our offering in Continental Europe, providing a credible alternative to established markets,” said Cécile Fresneau, insurance managing director at QBE Europe. “We have the financial backing of a global enterprise but retain the agility of a smaller operation.

“This enables us to offer a flexible approach and new solutions to the market and has underpinned our success so far in Europe. We see great potential in the Dutch insurance market and are excited to get started.”

According to QBE, it is hiring across underwriting, claims, operations, and finance to set up the unit. The plan is for the new branch in the Netherlands to write business incepting from January 2023. Overseeing the creation of the local team is strategy executive Sebastiaan Lambalk.

For the upcoming branch, which will have a multi-national offering, QBE initially intends to offer core commercial liability, financial lines, and property coverage for mid-market to large corporates solely through intermediaries.

Vacancies for the Dutch operations include underwriting manager, operations manager, respective heads of the various business lines, and claims manager.

The expansion is subject to regulatory approval.