Underwriting Enablement Lead (Chicago)

About Vouch:

Insurance... sounds slow, old-fashioned, and unexciting. Exactly. Insurance is broken, and it's failing fast-moving, innovative startups.

Vouch is a new, technology-first insurance company backed with $185M in funding from world-class investors. Like Stripe for payments or Brex for credit cards, Vouch is creating the go-to business insurance for high-growth companies.

We're doing this by making insurance fast, responsive, and focused on our high-growth and innovative customers. Instead of printed PDF applications and week-long waits, Vouch is building new technology to solve real problems, writing policies that actually cover relevant startup scenarios, and designing simple experiences in an otherwise frustrating industry.

Why should you join our team and Vouch?

Not only is this an exciting new team where you will have the ability to drive a real impact on our operational scalability, but Vouch is also the preferred insurance provider to customers of Y Combinator, Brex, Carta, and WeWork. We’re a quickly growing startup that believes in transparency and acknowledgment with our team members and cultivating a values-driven company. Our values are “Put People First,” “Listen, Challenge, and Grow,” “Face challenges head-on and win as a team,” and “Serve clients with integrity and excellence.”

What does a work environment look like at Vouch?

Vouch is a Virtual First Workplace with office locations in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. Although we’re open to remote, we prefer this team member to be based in Chicago to attend in-person collaboration and team events 2x+ a week periodically. In consideration of team members collaborating across various time zones, Vouch has core collaboration hours of (8:30 am-2:30 pm Pacific Time) when most internal meetings are held.

Role Responsibilities:  

We seek a dynamic and experienced professional to join our team as an Underwriting Enablement Lead in our Operations Services team. In this role, you will be critical in building and enhancing our underwriting processes' efficiency and effectiveness by driving underwriting consistency and rule adherence. The Underwriting Enablement Lead will be integral in building and upholding the processes, systems, and tooling our underwriters use daily. The primary objectives are to drive:

1. Underwriting process integration with system upgrades
2. Efficient underwriting 
3. Underwriting consistency 

If you are a systems thinker passionate about leveraging technology to enhance underwriting processes, we invite you to apply for this exciting opportunity. Join us in shaping the future of underwriting in our dynamic and innovative organization!

Job Duties:

• Underwriting Documentation:
• Ensure smooth implementation of the Underwriting File and its utilization
• Enhance ease of use and consistency of underwriting guidelines. Audit thereon for compliance and coach to success
• Identify additional areas for improvement and take action
• Process Improvement:
• Identify areas for process improvement within underwriting workflows and implement solutions to increase accuracy and speed
• Work closely with underwriters and analysts to understand pain points and develop streamlined processes
• Quality Assurance:
• Implement quality assurance measures to monitor and evaluate the accuracy and consistency of underwriting decisions
• Develop and maintain key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of underwriting enablement initiatives
• Technology Integration:
• Collaborate with engineering, product, and design teams to ensure seamless integration of underwriting systems with other relevant platforms
• Evaluate, implement, and optimize underwriting tools, software, and technologies to enhance overall efficiency
• Training and Development:
• Develop training programs for underwriters to ensure proficiency in using new tools and technologies
• Provide ongoing support and training to underwriting teams to enhance their skills and knowledge
• Cross-functional Collaboration:
• Collaborate with IT, risk management, and business development teams to align underwriting processes with overall business objectives
• Act as a liaison between underwriting and other departments to ensure seamless communication, problem-solving, and collaboration

About you:

• 5+ Years of underwriting experience within Commercial Lines or Specialty Underwriting
• 5+ Years of proven experience in underwriting operations with a focus on process improvement and technology enablement
• Familiarity with underwriting systems, automation tools, and emerging technologies in the insurance industry
• Proficient in simplifying complex issues to boost productivity
• Possesses a keen attention to detail to optimize systems and procedures
• Prioritizes problem-solving as the primary approach
• Demonstrated ability to lead and motivate change management efforts through high adoption rates, fostering a culture of continuous improvement
• Ability to analyze underwriting processes and determine priority based on urgency and impact
• Ability to work cross-functionally with technical teams to develop tooling and system enhancement specifications
• Strong communication skills, tailoring to different audiences in the business (underwriting to operations to product), both written and verbal
• Demonstrated ability to measure the impact of operational adherence and consistency to achieving overall team and organizational goals
• Comfort to deal well with ambiguity and maintain composure in complex situations
• Highly self-motivated and strong with time management skills to balance longer-term strategic projects and ad hoc requests

Nice to have:

• Project management or product management experience
• Exposure to and passion for early-stage startups and/or high-growth environments

Vouch provides a number of benefits to help you bring your best self to work:

• Competitive compensation and equity packages
• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Parental leave
• Flexible vacation time (Unlimited PTO)
• Wellness allowance ($80/month)
• Technology allowance ($100/month)

Salary Range:

The pay range for this role is: $140,000 to $160,000 per year. 

Our salary ranges are based on paying competitively for our size and industry and are one part of our total compensation package that also includes benefits and other perks. We also include stock options in all compensation packages and believe all Vouch employees should have the opportunity to become owners in the company. Individual pay decisions are based on a number of factors, including qualifications for the role, experience level, skill set, location, and business need. The base pay range provided is subject to change and may be modified in the future.

Vouch believes in putting our people first, and building a diverse team is at the front of everything we do. We welcome people from different backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and ranges of abilities. We are an equal-opportunity employer and celebrate the diversity of our growing team.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to [email protected]. #LI-Remote