Underwriting Director

Full-time Exempt

Hybrid Schedule

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Underwriting for the Life & Investment Division is responsible for leading the underwriting function across a broad portfolio of life insurance and investment-linked products. This role ensures the application of sound risk assessment principles, supports product innovation, and maintains underwriting standards that align with the company's risk appetite and profitability goals.

The ideal candidate brings deep technical underwriting knowledge, strong leadership skills, and experience working closely with product, actuarial, distribution, and operations teams to ensure consistent, fair, and compliant underwriting decisions and processes.

This position is responsible for defining, maintaining, and ensuring consistent application of the company's underwriting philosophy and guidelines across all lines of business, as well as building, managing, and developing a high-performing underwriting team.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

• Lead the underwriting strategy, policies, and procedures for life and investment-linked insurance products across individual and/or group lines of business.
• Define, maintain, and enforce underwriting guidelines and standards to ensure consistent application across all underwriters and product lines.
• Oversee the daily operations of the underwriting team, ensuring timely and accurate case assessments in accordance with company guidelines and regulatory standards.
• Build, lead, and develop the underwriting team, including recruitment, performance management, coaching, and succession planning.
• Collaborate with product development and actuarial teams to evaluate underwriting implications of new products and riders, pricing assumptions, and target markets.
• Continuously assess and update underwriting guidelines, risk tolerance levels, and reinsurance arrangements to align with emerging trends and business goals.
• Act as a key decision-maker or escalation point for large, complex, or high-risk cases, balancing risk exposure with customer experience and business needs.
• Partner with distribution and sales teams to support case placement, clarify underwriting decisions, and improve advisor experience.
• Lead the evaluation and implementation of underwriting technology solutions, including automated and accelerated underwriting tools.
• Develop and maintain relationships with reinsurers, ensuring effective use of facultative support and treaty structures.
• Provide training, mentorship, and development opportunities to underwriters, fostering a high-performance and learning-focused culture.
• Monitor underwriting performance metrics and quality assurance results; identify and address areas for improvement.
• Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and internal policies, and support internal/external audits as needed.

Other Responsibilities

• Stay current on industry trends, regulatory changes, and medical advances that impact underwriting philosophy or guidelines.
• Contribute to strategic planning, forecasting, and risk management within the Life & Investment Division.
• Participate in cross-functional projects, including digital transformation initiatives, product launches, and operational process improvements.
• Represent the underwriting function in internal committees, leadership meetings, and cross-departmental collaborations.

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs)

• Turnaround time and accuracy of underwriting decisions.
• Quality assurance and audit compliance results.
• Case placement rates and advisor satisfaction metrics.
• Portfolio persistency and loss ratio performance.
• Adoption rate of underwriting automation and straight-through processing.
• Employee engagement, retention, and performance within the underwriting team.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

• Strategic Vision and Risk Governance.
• Technical Mastery in Life & Investment-Linked Underwriting.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Communication.
• Change Management and Digital Enablement.
• Ethical Decision-Making and Compliance Stewardship.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Insurance, Health Sciences, or a related field; professional underwriting designations (FALU, FLMI) strongly preferred.
• 8-10 years of progressive underwriting experience, including at least 3-5 years in a leadership or managerial role.
• Deep knowledge of life and investment-linked insurance products, including medical, financial, and risk-based underwriting.
• Experience managing underwriting teams and enforcing underwriting guidelines.
• Proven ability to implement technology-driven underwriting solutions and digital workflows.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to explain complex underwriting rationales to non-technical stakeholders.
• Familiarity with international life insurance and reinsurance markets (e.g., Latin America, Caribbean, Europe) preferred.
• Experience with treaty negotiation, facultative case handling, and cross-border regulatory environments desirable.
• Experience implementing and monitoring adherence to underwriting manuals, rules, and governance frameworks is strongly preferred.

OUR BENEFITS

We believe our people are our greatest asset, and we're committed to supporting their well-being both inside and outside of work. Our comprehensive benefits package includes:

• Competitive medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Generous paid time off and company holidays
• Retirement savings plan with company match
• Professional development and career growth opportunities
• Employee wellness programs and mental health resources
• Flexible work arrangements and a supportive team culture

We're proud to offer benefits designed to help you thrive personally and professionally.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The following job-related working conditions are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential function.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The role primarily operates in an indoor, climate-controlled office setting working in close proximity to others. Noise level in the work environment is low to moderate. Light level provides adequate brightness for reading, computer work, and other tasks without causing glare or strain.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The job primarily involves sedentary work with prolonged periods sitting at a desk. While performing the duties of this job, employees may occasionally be expected to:

• Exert up to 10 pounds of force and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.
• Operate standard office equipment such as copiers, computers, telephones, printers, etc.

TRAVEL

Occasional travel (up to 10%) may be required for reinsurer meetings, training, or cross-office collaboration.

SAFETY HAZARD OF THE JOB

Minimal Hazards including potential ergonomic risks from prolonged sitting or repetitive motions.

EEO STATEMENT

VUMI Group is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to an inclusive environment for all employees.

NOTE

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee(s) incumbent in this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related instructions and to perform any other job-related duties requested by any person authorized to give instructions or assignments. All duties and responsibilities are subject to possible modification to reasonably accommodate individuals with disabilities. The requirements listed in this job description are the minimum levels of knowledge, skills, or abilities necessary. This job positing does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at will" relationship.

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