Job Description:
Position Overview:
The Underwriting Director is a senior underwriting role responsible for managing underwriting production, quality, and people leadership.
Reporting directly to the Associate (VP) Chief Underwriter, this role provides expert subject matter guidance on complex cases, leading and developing a team of underwriters, and ensuring underwriting decisions align with company philosophy, quality standards, and profitability objectives.
The Underwriting Director combines deep technical underwriting expertise with strong people leadership, operational oversight, and decision-making authority, while supporting enterprise underwriting initiatives. This role requires close collaboration with underwriting leadership, new business operations, distribution partners and product to drive the company’s growth and success.
Responsibilities
- Serve as the Underwriting Director, reporting directly to the Associate (VP) Chief Underwriterand leading an underwriting team responsible for underwriting production.
- Oversee our largest life insurance applications, ensuring thorough and accurate assessments
- Make underwriting decisions within approval limits up to $20,000,000
- Work closely with Underwriting, New Business and Distribution teams to ensure cohesive operations
- Identify trends/issues and offers solutions on issues, including escalations to meet customer needs while ensuring alignment to business strategies
- Communicate and collaborates with the field and home office to provide top-tier service to our customers
- Coach and mentor individual underwriters. Accountable for underwriter development and career progression.
- Participate in department initiatives, assisting in recommending process improvements to enhance productivity, profitability, growth and quality
- Select and classify risks according to company philosophy and standards
- Assist others with resolving complex issues while ensuring adherence to underwriting standards and objectives
- Review and provide second level approvals on referrals from underwriters
- Manage retention, autobind and jumbo arrangements
- Maintain profitable mortality experience
- Participate in projects and initiatives to support our business plan
- Champion the responsible adoption of AI in underwriting, ensuring appropriate governance, quality controls, and integration into underwriting workflows.
- May represent the company at industry and customer meetings
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Extensive large case experience, working routinely on cases $20,000,000+
- Strong leadership capability with experience coaching, mentoring, and developing underwriting talent.
- Approaches our customer with a proactive mindset and with servant leadership
- Highly developed knowledge of financial and other non-medical underwriting factors including deep expertise in advanced financial underwriting concepts
- Highly developed knowledge of medical science, technology and terminology and their impact on mortality
- Strong knowledge of reinsurance marketplace with full understanding of retention, automatic, jumbo and reinsurance arrangements
- Excellent collaboration skills and the ability to create and build relationships and thrive in a team environment
- Strong knowledge of insurance products (plans, riders, benefits) and illustrations and how they are marketed and priced
- Experience in an accelerated underwriting environment including working with various data sources
- Ability to make a positive contribution as demonstrated by learning new skills and recommend process improvement
- Experience in field education and the ability to create and deliver effective PowerPoint presentations
- Strong organizational, communication and interpersonal skills
- Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills; ability to define, research and resolve problems
- Ability to prioritize and work effectively under deadlines balancing service levels with an appropriate customer focus
- Commitment to remaining current on emerging underwriting technologies, AI trends, and industry best practices.
- Solid knowledge of insurance contract law and state legislative requirements
- General awareness of current affairs, industry issues and trends, both corporate and external
Education
- College degree required, equivalent work experience in life Underwriting may be considered
Experience
- 10+ years of life underwriting experience
Certifications
- FLMI, FALU and ACS designations or current coursework toward earning certificates
Base Salary Range - $170,000-$190,000
For over 175 years, Penn Mutual has empowered individuals, families and businesses on the journey to achieve their financial goals. Through our partnership with Financial Professionals across the U.S., we help instill the confidence and reliability that comes from a stronger financial future. Penn Mutual and its affiliates offer a comprehensive suite of competitive products and services to meet the unique needs of Financial Professionals and their clients, including life insurance, annuities, wealth management and institutional asset management. To learn more, including current financial strength ratings, visit www.pennmutual.com.
Penn Mutual is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO). We provide employment and advancement opportunities to all qualified applicants and associates, according to applicable laws. This is reflected in our practices for hiring, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, layoff, termination, recruitment, compensation, selection or training, and all other terms and conditions of employment. All employment-related decisions and practices are free from unlawful discrimination. This includes: race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, citizenship age, gender (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, domestic partnership or civil union status, marital status, genetic information, disability, religious observance or practice, liability, veteran status or any other classification protected under applicable law.
