Underwriting Director - MassExpress Accelerated Underwriting Team

Underwriting Director – MassExpress South Central Underwriting Team

*THIS POSITION IS 100% REMOTE / VIRTUAL* 

Work from home anywhere in the United States

The Opportunity

As the Director for the MassExpress accelerated underwriting team, you will lead a dynamic group of underwriters dedicated to fulfilling the commitment of MassMutual's accelerated underwriting strategy. In this leadership capacity, you will create a culture where the team is inspired, engaged, and motivated to deliver quality underwriting within stated time standards. You will provide supervisory leadership, underwriting expertise, and deliver effective daily work distribution. You will serve as a mentor and coach, providing feedback to enhance team members' skills, confidence, and overall quality.

The Team

The Accelerated Underwriting Team consists of underwriters specializing in cases trending towards a fluidless underwriting outcome, as well as juvenile case submissions. This includes a diverse mix of both early-career and seasoned professionals, collectively contributing to the team's success. The accelerated underwriting challenge, involving decisions with limited information, demands a blend of analytical thinking, adaptability, and collaboration. The team will also play an important role in supporting the regional core teams, ensuring a smooth transition for cases determined to be not eligible for accelerated processing.

The Impact

As the Director, you will play a multifaceted role with a significant impact on the team and overall corporate strategy. You will be key in the acquisition, retention, and development of accelerated underwriting talent. Your responsibilities will include overseeing your team’s daily accelerated underwriting operations, ensuring adherence to service level agreements, underwriting process guidelines, and delivering optimal underwriting decisions. You will collaborate with fellow directors within and outside of the accelerated underwriting organization to ensure work volumes are balanced effectively across the teams as capacity allows. Additionally, you will integrate complex cases trending towards non-accelerated outcomes into the team workflow as capacity allows, providing valuable developmental opportunity for the team to continually grow and advance in their careers. You will develop and maintain key relationships with agents, advisors, and other firm staff to resolve escalations, discrepancies, or risk related concerns. You will be instrumental in identifying and developing individual talents within the team, creating opportunities for mentorship, training, and skills enhancement. You will work to foster a “best offer first” mentality, and a collaborative, customer-focused environment. This will align with MassMutual's corporate strategy of achieving consistency in accelerated underwriting decisions, as well as building up underwriting skills that are reflected in high quality review scores, as well as expanded underwriting approval authorities.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree or 6+ years of equivalent work experience

• 6+ years of life insurance underwriting experience

• Ability to travel as needed (estimated 10-15%)

• Minimum established approval authority of $3 million

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10+ years of life underwriting experience, to include 4+ of those years in accelerated underwriting

• 2+ years of people management experience

• Accelerated underwriting knowledge and experience is strongly preferred

• Strong understanding of operational and performance metrics as well as a proven ability to leverage data to make management decisions

• Excellent presentation and communication skills with a customer-focused mindset

• Commitment to professional development: adaptable to change; open to both receiving and providing feedback in a constructive manner; makes changes in behavior based on feedback and/or experience

• Excellent interpersonal and soft skills to effectively engage with internal and external partners and stakeholders

• Ability to multitask, prioritize work, and adapt to a changing environment

• Willingness to embrace technology and innovation

• Proven success in collaborating with other areas such as training, quality assessment, compliance, and other partners

• A leader who is willing to roll up their sleeves and jump into production if necessary

• Knowledge of accelerated and non-accelerated underwriting processes, including an understanding of the roles of underwriting rules, data models, data compiling and interpretation, slippage, and algorithmic underwriting

• Past experience in building rules within an automated process

• Ability to foresee future impacts and communicate effectively

• Industry exams, training, and designations are a plus

What to Expect as Part of MassMutual and the Team:

• Regular meetings with the Accelerated Underwriting Team

• Focused one-on-one meetings with your manager

• Networking opportunities including access to Asian, Hispanic/Latinx, African American, women, LGBTQ, veteran, and disability-focused Business Resource Groups

• Access to learning content on Degreed and other informational platforms

• Your ethics and integrity will be valued by a company with a strong and stable ethical business with industry leading pay and benefits

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MassMutual is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer Minority/Female/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity/Individual with Disability/Protected Veteran. We welcome all persons to apply. Note: Veterans are welcome to apply, regardless of their discharge status.

If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.