Senior Manager, Underwriting Associates

The Senior Manager, Underwriting Operations is a strategic leadership role responsible for the comprehensive management, strategic direction, and operational excellence of the Underwriting Associate function. This role serves as a key member of the Underwriting Leadership team, driving enterprise-wide transformation through innovation, automation, and scalable process optimization. Responsibilities include leading a multi-tiered organization of Team Leads and Underwriting Associates, while aligning and collaborating with Underwriting Leadership in all opportunities that will benefit Underwriting, including: ad hoc projects, strategic planning, people and organizational initiatives, and data and performance analytics. This role requires strong interpersonal skills, a metrics-based approach to operations and the ability to influence across departments.  This individual must also be capable of representing Pie to and interfacing with senior management of agency partners.  In this capacity, there is accountability for developing and executing long-term strategic initiatives for the team that align with corporate objectives. This role is expected to embrace the Pie principles of Integrity, Ownership, and Curiosity. 

Manage the team’s underwriting functions:

• Ensure the Underwriting Associate team adheres to targeted service levels by coordinating “load balancing” and adjusting as necessary.
• Serve as the top level point of contact for UA questions and risk evaluations.  Requires professional maturity, clear communication, and an owner attitude.
• Be a sounding board for the UA Team Leads as they manage the day-to-day functions of the team.
• Oversee regular and frequent training to UA teams and ensure that team leads update training and SOP materials. Work with team leads to ensure the team is up to date on product appetite, pricing models, industry trends, etc.  
• Ensure UA Team Leads are managing queues and headcount capacity in order to meet SLAs.
• Utilize capacity model for continuous monitoring and forecasting of staffing needs based on growth

Strategy and process improvement:  

• Serve as a top subject matter expert on UA processes for internal and cross-functional needs. 
• Establish organizational design principles and structure to support scalable growth and operational excellence in policy processing
• Drive cultural transformation initiatives focused on accuracy, efficiency, customer service excellence, and regulatory compliance
• Oversee UA adherence to guidelines and procedures, while also evaluating processes and implementing improvements to better serve our partners and internal stakeholders.
• Works with Underwriting Leadership to identify opportunities and strategies to ensure the team can achieve their goals in service of Pie's overarching OKRs.
• Supports the creation of business cases and proposals for the advocacy of team requirements and business future needs.
• Collaborates on cross functional process improvement projects and teams as the advocate for the UA team.
• Implement business strategies to ensure the UA team meets and exceeds UA goals and OKRs.

Mentor, develop and grow team members for future needs and operational excellence:

• Support, mentor and coach as well as provide professional development for UA team leads. Provide continuous feedback and opportunities for career development. 
• Establish succession planning frameworks and talent pipelines to ensure organizational continuity and specialized expertise in policy administration
• Work in partnership with the People team and Team Leads on creating alignment in performance improvement and coaching plans.
• Identify hiring needs and be the hiring manager for recruiting high quality UAs. Partner with the Talent team to scale the UA team to align with company growth. 
• Work through conflict management and team member needs with help and direction from the People team. 
• Work collaboratively with the People Partner throughout the team member lifecycle, including, but not limited to hiring, onboarding, performance management, team member relations and offboarding. 

• High school diploma/GED required.
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience with some college coursework is preferred.
• At least 6 years in an underwriting associate or underwriting support role is required. Experience with Workers' Compensation and Commercial Auto  is preferred.
• At least 2 years in a team lead role or equivalent is required.
• Advanced communication (written, verbal and presentation) skills, to deliver complex information effectively and align people with the needs of the project/team.
• Advanced problem solving skills to be able to manage complex situations with multiple layers, and resolve to solution anticipating needs now and into the future.
• Advanced awareness of workflow, and project tradeoffs to make decisions based on needs now and into the future. 
• Advanced leadership skills with experience leading large or technical teams through deliverables. Ability to set productivity and performance goals, make hiring and termination decisions, assist in headcount forecasting and planning, leverage talent towards creating efficiency and innovation.
• Highly process oriented- demonstrated process improvement, building effective work processes, building reporting and metrics.
• Highly efficient, strong ability in prioritization of own work, as well as communicating priorities to direct reports to ensure teams are meeting UA objectives against set deadlines. 
• Advanced knowledge of the underwriting associate function, processes & strategic prioritization of departmental goals.
• Demonstrated ability to make decisions independently that improves productivity, while keeping the business impact in mind.
• Demonstrated ability to execute on deliverables with urgency while managing additional responsibilities. 
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to build rapport and relationships with individuals at all levels across the organization, as well as outside parties.
• Demonstrated ability to build partnerships and work collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.

The use of AI in Application Review: To support a fair, efficient, and consistent hiring process, we use AI-powered tools to assist in the initial screening of applications. These tools help us identify qualifications and prior work experiences that align with the requirements of the role. All AI-reviewed applications are still subject to human oversight and decision-making at multiple stages of the process. By submitting your application, you acknowledge and consent to Pie utilizing these AI technologies to assist in our evaluation process.