Director of Underwriting Operations

About Ethos

Ethos was built to make it faster and easier to get life insurance for the next million families. Our approach blends industry expertise, technology, and the human touch to find you the right policy to protect your loved ones. 

We leverage deep technology and data science to streamline the life insurance process, making it more accessible and convenient. Using predictive analytics, we are able to transform a traditionally multi-week process into a modern digital experience for our users that can take just minutes! We’ve issued billions in coverage each month and eliminated the traditional barriers, ushering the industry into the modern age. Our full-stack technology platform is the backbone of family financial health.

We make getting life insurance easier, faster and better for everyone. 

Our investors include General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Google Ventures, SoftBank, and the investment vehicles of Jay-Z, Kevin Durant, Robert Downey Jr and others. This year, we were named on CB Insights' Global Insurtech 50 list and BuiltIn's Top 100 Midsize Companies in San Francisco. We are scaling quickly and looking for passionate people to protect the next million families! 

About The Role

This pivotal role involves leading the training of the underwriting team, managing our audit processes, handling escalations and investigations, and maintaining all standard operating procedures (SOPs). The ideal candidate will ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of our underwriting practices while upholding the highest standards of compliance and risk management.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Team Training and Development: 
  • Lead the development of a production underwriting team, ensuring they are well-trained and equipped to handle their roles effectively. 
  • Organize regular training sessions and workshops to enhance skills and knowledge.
  • Design and implement onboarding of new hires
• Audit and Compliance Oversight: 
  • Oversee the audit team, ensuring all underwriting activities comply with internal policies and external regulations. 
  • Develop strategies to increase efficiency and accuracy in audit processes.
• Escalations and Investigations Management: 
  • Serve as the key point of contact for all escalated underwriting issues. 
  • Lead investigations into complex cases to resolve them effectively and mitigate any associated risks.
• Carrier Partnership Oversight: 
  • Collaborate with the Head of Underwriting Partnership to ensure successful completion of carrier and reinsurance audits
• Maintenance of SOPs: 
• Ensure all standard operating procedures are up-to-date and aligned with current regulations and business needs. 
• Regularly review and revise SOPs to improve workflow and compliance.
• Strategic Planning: 
• Participate in strategic planning with senior management to align the underwriting operations with broader business objectives.
• Performance Metrics: 
• Monitor key performance indicators to gauge team efficiency and effectiveness.
• Work cross functionally with production underwriting to implement improvements as necessary.
• Stakeholder Communication: 
• Maintain continuous communication with key stakeholders, including senior management and external regulators, to keep them informed of underwriting activities and developments.

Qualifications and Skills:

• 10+ years of life insurance underwriting experience
• 5+ years of experience managing life new business or life underwriting
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills. 
• Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills.
• Extensive knowledge of life insurance trends and new technology
• Sharp focus on execution and an owner mentality with a track record of delivering success in a timely manner
• Experience with automated rules engines, industry case management and SalesForce.com a plus
• Established relationships or experience working with industry vendors 
• Data oriented decision making skills and great intuition 

#LI-Remote #JA-1

The US national base salary range for this full-time position is $142,000 - $251,000. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and