Who Buys Commercial Insurance? A Job Title Guide for Targeting Buyers

A lot of commercial insurance outreach fails for a very basic reason. It goes to the wrong person. The person who feels the impact of a policy is often not the one handling the renewal. And depending on what you are selling, the right job title can change.

This guide focuses on who actually buys. It gives you a practical map of job titles so you can build better lists and make sure your outreach reaches the people who matter.

TLDR

• Commercial insurance decisions are rarely one size fits all. The roles involved change based on the type of coverage and the size of the company.

• In smaller businesses, the decision usually sits with the owner or president, sometimes alongside a finance lead.

• In larger companies, risk management often plays a central role and is closely involved in broker selection and program decisions.

• For benefits, the buyer is usually someone in HR or benefits.

• For cyber, decisions often need buy in across leadership, with security or IT working alongside finance or treasury.

The 3 Roles Behind Most Commercial Insurance Decisions

You will usually see some version of the same three roles show up in most commercial insurance decisions. They are not always the same titles, but the responsibilities are consistent:

1. Budget approver
   This is the person who signs off on the spend. Finance leadership is often involved in commercial insurance decisions and renewals, especially when premiums increase or coverage changes.

2. Risk owner
   This person owns the exposure. In larger organizations, someone in risk management is often directly involved in decisions about the insurance program and the broker relationship.

3. Process owner
   This person runs the renewal. They coordinate the data, paperwork, certificates, and vendor steps. This role varies the most by company size and is where job title differences matter the most.

Who To Target First By Company Size

The person responsible for insurance decisions changes with company size. As headcount grows, responsibility moves from a single owner to finance, then to risk, and eventually into formal, multi-team processes. Use the sections below to identify who typically leads the decision at each size and who supports it, so your outreach matches how insurance is really handled at that stage.

A) Micro companies with 1 to 9 employees

Primary targets are usually the owner, founder or co-founder, president, managing member for an LLC, principal, or CEO. Even very small firms often use the CEO title.

Secondary targets can include an office manager or a bookkeeper.

At this size, insurance responsibility usually sits with the same person who controls the money and makes big vendor decisions. There is rarely a separate finance or risk role, so the decision stays at the top.

B) Small companies with 10 to 49 employees

Primary targets are usually the owner or president, CFO or fractional CFO, controller, finance manager, or an operations or general manager.

Secondary targets can include an office manager or an HR manager. HR is mainly involved for benefits and sometimes helps with workers comp workflows.

C) Lower mid market companies with 50 to 199 employees

Primary targets are most often the CFO, controller, director of finance, or VP of finance.

You should also add one risk owner title based on the coverage you are selling. For example, workers comp often pulls in people from safety, operations, or HR alongside finance approval.

D) Mid market companies with 200 to 999 employees

Primary targets usually include a risk manager, director of risk management, or an insurance manager if the role exists. You should also include the CFO, VP of finance, or treasurer.

At this size, risk managers are often central to broker selection and to setting expectations for the insurance program.

E) Enterprise companies with 1000 or more employees

Primary targets typically include a VP of risk management or chief risk officer, director of risk management, corporate insurance manager or insurance risk manager, and the treasurer or assistant treasurer. Procurement or strategic sourcing is also often part of the process.

As companies get larger and more structured, insurance decisions often start to look like procurement. Data quality, documentation, and process discipline become critical.

Who Buys Each Type of Commercial Insurance By Coverage Line

Use this as a quick routing guide. The “Also target” column is where most outreach wins actually happen.

Title Targets By Coverage Line

Coverage line	Primary titles to target first	Also target (influencers and process owners)
General Liability	CFO, Controller, Finance Director, Risk Manager	Operations Director, Contracts Manager, General Counsel
Workers' Comp	CFO/Controller for smaller companies, Risk Manager for larger ones	Safety Director, EHS Manager, Operations leader, HR
Commercial Auto	Risk Manager or CFO/Controller	Fleet Manager, Transportation Manager, Safety/EHS
Property	Risk Manager or CFO/Controller	Facilities Director, Plant/Site Manager
Cyber	Risk Manager and finance leadership	CIO/IT Director, Security leadership
EPLI	Risk Manager or CFO	HR Director, General Counsel
Employee Benefits	HR leadership	Finance
D&O	CFO, General Counsel and Risk	Corporate Secretary, Board-facing finance/risk roles
Umbrella	Risk Manager or CFO	Safety/EHS, Legal

Note that these are common patterns, not hard rules. They are meant to prevent the biggest mistake of all, which is sending the same pitch to the same title for every line and every company size.

Commercial Insurance Job Titles List With 70+ Roles To Target

These title clusters reflect how commercial insurance decisions are actually spread across a company. Very few decisions sit with one role alone. Instead, ownership depends on the type of coverage, the size of the business, and where risk or cost shows up day to day.

Use each cluster as a building block when you create lists or route outreach. Start with the cluster most likely to own the decision, then add one or more supporting clusters based on the coverage. This helps you reach both the person who approves the insurance and the people who influence the outcome.

A) Executive leadership commonly seen in SMBs

• Owner

• Founder

• Co-Founder

• President

• CEO

• Managing Partner

• Partner

• Principal

• Managing Member

• General Manager

• COO

• VP Operations

• Director of Operations

• Operations Manager

B) Finance and approval roles that are almost always relevant

• CFO

• VP Finance

• Finance Director

• Director of Finance

• Controller

• Corporate Controller

• Assistant Controller

• Accounting Manager

• Finance Manager

• Treasurer

• Assistant Treasurer

• FP&A Manager

• Head of Finance

• Bookkeeper

C) Risk and insurance roles for mid market and enterprise companies

• Chief Risk Officer (CRO)

• VP Risk Management

• Director of Risk Management

• Risk Manager

• Risk Analyst

• Insurance Manager

• Corporate Insurance Manager

• Insurance Risk Manager

• Risk and Compliance Manager

• Enterprise Risk Manager

• Claims Manager

• Risk Program Manager

These titles matter because broker selection is often a core responsibility of risk leaders. O'Connors points out that choosing the right broker is one of the most important decisions a risk manager makes, which is why these roles are of high value when they exist.

D) Safety and EHS roles for workers comp and loss driven lines

• Director of Safety

• Safety Manager

• Safety Director

• EHS Manager

• EHS Director

• HSE Manager

• HSE Director

• Environmental Health and Safety Manager

• Loss Control Manager

• Loss Prevention Manager

• Safety Coordinator

• Risk Control Manager

EHS teams often play a central role in incident management and workers comp related processes. They tend to coordinate closely with HR and risk teams, especially in organizations where loss history and safety performance drive insurance decisions.

E) Operations, fleet, and facilities roles for property, auto, and general liability

• Plant Manager

• Site Manager

• Warehouse Manager

• Logistics Manager

• Transportation Manager

• Fleet Manager

• Director of Fleet

• Facilities Manager

• Director of Facilities

• Maintenance Manager

• Operations Director

• Supply Chain Manager

• Head of Operations

F) HR and benefits roles for benefits, EPLI, and some workers comp workflows

• VP Human Resources

• HR Director

• Director of HR

• HR Manager

• Benefits Manager

• Benefits Administrator

• Total Rewards Manager

• Compensation and Benefits Manager

• People Operations Manager

• HR Business Partner (HRBP)

Benefits administration usually sits within HR, and benefits administrators are commonly part of the HR team.

G) IT and security roles for cyber coverage

• CIO

• CISO

• IT Director

• Director of IT

• IT Manager

• Information Security Manager

• Security Manager

• Head of Security

• GRC Manager

• Compliance Manager

• Privacy Officer

Cyber insurance decisions often involve multiple teams and require approval from senior leaders. WTW specifically points out that the CIO, treasurer, and CFO are commonly part of these decisions.

H) Legal and contracts roles for general liability, cyber, and D&O

• General Counsel

• Chief Legal Officer (CLO)

• Corporate Counsel

• Associate General Counsel

• Contracts Manager

• Contract Administrator

• Corporate Secretary

I) Procurement and sourcing roles that show up more often as companies get larger

• Procurement Manager

• Strategic Sourcing Manager

• Category Manager

• Vendor Manager

• Purchasing Manager

When insurance decisions follow a procurement style process, data quality and documentation matter a lot. That shift changes who gets pulled into the decision internally.

Helpful negative titles that are usually not insurance buyers

• SDR / BDR

• Marketing Manager

• Sales Manager

• Account Executive

• Customer Success Manager

• Recruiter

How To Build a Commercial Insurance Target List By Job Title

Use the steps below as a simple workflow for building lists and routing outreach. Each step narrows who you should contact and how you should talk to them, so your message lines up with how insurance decisions actually get made.

Step 1: Choose the line you are selling.

Do not start with titles, instead start with the coverage.

Step 2: Choose a company size band.

This tells you whether to expect risk roles, procurement involvement, or just leadership and finance.

Step 3: Pick one primary cluster and one supporting cluster.
Examples:

• Workers comp for companies with 50 to 500 employees: Finance cluster with Safety or EHS cluster.

• Cyber for companies with 200 or more employees: Risk or Finance cluster with IT or Security cluster.

• Benefits for companies with 25 or more employees: HR or Benefits cluster with Finance cluster.

Step 4: Add industry and location filters.
If you are building a list, an industry with size and titles is usually far more accurate than titles alone.

Step 5: Write messaging that matches the title cluster.

The goal is to match the message to the role, so you are speaking to what that person actually cares about and is responsible for.

• Finance cares about renewals, budget control, and coverage gaps.

• Risk cares about program structure, broker performance, and how well risk is transferred.
  

• HR cares about benefits administration and employee impact.

Commercial Insurance Job Title Pitfalls

Use the pitfalls below as a quick check before you build a list or launch outreach. If any of these show up in your targeting, you are likely talking to the wrong person even if the offer itself is strong.

Pitfall 1: Using a single title when the market uses many versions of the same role.
If you only target Safety Manager, you miss EHS Manager and HSE Director. If you only target Benefits Manager, you miss Total Rewards roles.

Pitfall 2: Ignoring two-cluster lists
Workers’ comp is a classic case where safety or EHS and finance both play a role, but in different ways.

Pitfall 3: Treating cyber as a finance only decision.
Cyber insurance usually requires buy-in across leadership and multiple functions. WTW specifically calls out roles like the CIO, treasurer, and CFO in these decisions.

How Emarketnow Helps You Reach Commercial Insurance Buyers

If you are building outbound for commercial insurance, such as for targeting accountants, the fastest results usually come from fixing who you are targeting before you start messaging. Getting the right titles in your list matters more than rewriting emails.

Emarketnow builds human-verified, custom B2B contact lists that can be filtered by company size, location, and industry, then layered with the exact title clusters you need.

FAQ

Who is the main decision-maker for commercial insurance at a small business?

At a small business, the main decision maker for commercial insurance is usually the owner or president. In some cases it is a finance lead like a CFO or controller. Smaller companies often have one person who approves the spend, manages the renewal, and works directly with the broker.

How do I avoid targeting the wrong titles?

To avoid targeting the wrong titles, build your list in clusters instead of betting on one job title.

Use a two cluster approach. Start with a primary buyer cluster, usually finance or risk. Then add the influencer cluster tied to the coverage. That way you catch the real decision maker and the people who shape the decision.