Underwriting Operations Manager
The Mutual Group · Georgia, United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $160,000 / year
- Georgia, United States
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Job highlights
- Lead underwriting operations and team development.
- Optimize workflow, service delivery, and productivity.
- Manage Underwriting Assistants and foster growth.
- Ensure SLA adherence and operational efficiency.
- Drive continuous improvement and cross-functional collaboration.
About the role
About the Role
The Mutual Group is seeking an Operations Manager, Underwriting to lead and optimize the underwriting function. This role focuses on two main areas: developing the Underwriting Assistant (UA) team and managing workflow, service delivery, and operational productivity. You will ensure efficient workflow management, maintain capacity planning, and drive service delivery metrics for the underwriting operation. Partnering with the Underwriting Manager, you will align operational execution with business goals while upholding process discipline, service excellence, and continuous improvement.
Key Responsibilities
People Leadership & Workforce Planning
- Lead, develop, and retain a team of Underwriting Assistants, cultivating a pipeline into underwriting roles.
- Set clear performance expectations aligned with service and quality standards.
- Provide coaching and technical mentorship through regular feedback and audits.
- Conduct performance evaluations focusing on operational execution, workflow, decision-making, documentation, and productivity, collaborating with underwriting leadership on technical development.
- Develop clear progression pathways for UAs, Underwriting Technicians, and other operational staff into underwriting roles through training and shadowing.
- Create workforce capacity plans based on volume trends and business needs.
Workflow & Production Management
- Oversee end-to-end underwriting operational performance by driving consistent workflows, coaching staff, and enhancing productivity and capacity utilization.
- Ensure consistent achievement of service level agreements (SLAs) for new business, renewals, and endorsements.
- Monitor submission, renewal, and endorsement volumes, managing workload distribution and collaborating with Enterprise Operations.
- Identify and resolve workflow bottlenecks to improve throughput and responsiveness.
- Maintain production dashboards and operational reports for underwriting leadership.
- Establish feedback loops with distribution and agency partners to identify service improvements and enhance agent experience and turnaround times.
Process Optimization & Continuous Improvement
- Standardize underwriting support processes and documentation practices.
- Identify automation opportunities and collaborate with systems teams and Product for efficiency improvements.
- Implement workflow enhancements to reduce expenses and improve turnaround times.
- Drive consistency in file documentation and system usage.
- Support change management initiatives impacting underwriting operations.
Compliance, Controls & Data Integrity
- Ensure UA documentation in underwriting files meets audit standards.
- Maintain adherence to regulatory requirements and internal governance standards.
- Monitor quality control metrics and implement corrective actions.
- Partner with Underwriting leadership to maintain audit readiness.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate with Underwriting Managers to align operational capacity, workflow, and service performance with portfolio and production priorities.
- Coordinate with Underwriting, Sales, Enterprise Operations, Underwriting Technicians, Customer Service, Product, Claims, Finance, and IT to support underwriting workflow needs.
- Act as the operational liaison for agency service concerns related to processing.
- Track operational improvements resulting from agent feedback, including turnaround time, documentation quality, and service performance.
- Actively seek, analyze, and act on agent feedback to improve operational service delivery and responsiveness.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Insurance, Operations Management, Finance, or related field preferred.
- 7+ years of experience in insurance operations, underwriting support, or a related functional area.
- 2+ years of leadership or supervisory experience preferred.
- Demonstrated experience managing production workflows and service standards.
- Experience with commercial P&C underwriting operations preferred.
- Strong understanding of the underwriting lifecycle and policy processing workflows.
- Proficiency in underwriting systems and reporting tools.
- Experience analyzing production metrics and operational KPIs.
- Process improvement or Lean/Six Sigma exposure preferred.
- Strong operational and organizational leadership capability.
- Ability to manage competing priorities in a high-volume environment.
- Analytical mindset with a focus on efficiency and performance metrics.
- Effective communication, cross-functional collaboration, and interpersonal skills.
- Strong coaching and talent development ability.
Pay Range
Anticipated Hiring Range: $105,000 - $160,000 annual base salary depending on experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
Benefits
The Mutual Group offers a robust benefits suite for full-time employees, including a competitive base salary plus incentive plans, 401(K) with company match, life and disability insurance, medical, dental, and vision plans, wellness incentives, generous time off, educational assistance, and flexible work schedules/hybrid/remote options for eligible positions.
Equal Opportunity Employer
The Mutual Group is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected characteristic.
Key skills/competency
- Operations Management
- Underwriting Operations
- Team Leadership
- Workflow Optimization
- Process Improvement
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Performance Management
- Capacity Planning
- Insurance Operations
- Continuous Improvement
Skills & topics
- Operations Manager
- Underwriting
- Insurance
- Operations Management
- Team Leadership
- Workflow Management
- Process Improvement
- Service Delivery
- Capacity Planning
- Performance Management
- Commercial P&C
- Underwriting Assistant
- Financial Services
- Management
- Operations
- Supervision
- Reporting
- Analytics
- Optimization
- Efficiency
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight your experience in insurance operations, underwriting support, team leadership, and workflow management. Use keywords from the job description like 'operational performance,' 'workflow optimization,' and 'service delivery.'
- Showcase leadership skills: Emphasize your experience in people leadership, coaching, performance management, and talent development, particularly within an operations or underwriting context.
- Quantify achievements: Provide specific examples of how you improved efficiency, met SLAs, reduced costs, or enhanced agent experience using data and metrics.
- Highlight technical proficiency: Mention your experience with underwriting systems, reporting tools, and analyzing production metrics and KPIs.
- Prepare for interviews: Be ready to discuss your approach to managing teams, resolving bottlenecks, driving process improvements, and collaborating cross-functionally.
Technical preparation
Familiarize yourself with underwriting systems and reporting tools.,Study insurance operations and policy processing workflows.,Review concepts of Lean/Six Sigma and process improvement.,Analyze production metrics and operational KPIs examples.
Behavioral questions
Describe leading and developing a team.,How do you optimize workflow and productivity?,Share an example of driving continuous improvement.,How do you ensure service level agreements are met?
Frequently asked questions
- What is the primary focus of the Underwriting Operations Manager role at The Mutual Group?
- The Underwriting Operations Manager role at The Mutual Group primarily focuses on ensuring the operational performance of the underwriting function. This includes leading and developing the Underwriting Assistant team, as well as managing and optimizing workflow, service delivery, and overall operational productivity.
- What kind of leadership experience is preferred for the Underwriting Operations Manager position?
- The Mutual Group prefers candidates with at least 2 years of leadership or supervisory experience for the Underwriting Operations Manager role. This experience should ideally involve managing production workflows and service standards within an insurance or underwriting support environment.
- What are the main responsibilities regarding team leadership for this role?
- For team leadership, the Underwriting Operations Manager is responsible for attracting, selecting, retaining, leading, and developing a team of Underwriting Assistants. This includes establishing clear performance expectations, providing coaching and mentorship, conducting performance evaluations, and developing pathways for career progression into underwriting roles.
- How does this role contribute to process improvement at The Mutual Group?
- This role drives process optimization by standardizing underwriting support processes, identifying automation opportunities, implementing workflow enhancements to improve efficiency and reduce costs, and ensuring consistency in documentation and system usage. Continuous improvement is a core aspect of the position.
- What is the anticipated salary range for the Underwriting Operations Manager position?
- The anticipated hiring range for the Underwriting Operations Manager position is $105,000 to $160,000 annual base salary. The final salary will depend on the candidate's experience, qualifications, and geographic location.
- What kind of cross-functional collaboration is expected in this role?
- The Underwriting Operations Manager is expected to collaborate closely with Underwriting Managers, Sales, Enterprise Operations, Underwriting Technicians, Customer Service, Product, Claims, Finance, and IT. This collaboration ensures alignment on operational capacity and workflow, and it includes acting as an operational liaison for agency service concerns.
- What is the work arrangement for this Underwriting Operations Manager role?
- Employees living within 30 miles of The Mutual Group's home office are expected to follow a hybrid or in-office schedule. An initial training period may require additional in-office days.
- What qualifications are preferred for the Underwriting Operations Manager job?
- Preferred qualifications include a Bachelor’s degree in a related field, 7+ years in insurance operations or underwriting support, 2+ years of leadership experience, demonstrated workflow management skills, experience with commercial P&C underwriting, proficiency in underwriting systems, and exposure to process improvement methodologies like Lean/Six Sigma.