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The work we do has an impact on millions of lives, and you can be a part of it.
We help protect our customers against life's uncertainties. Regardless of where you work within the company, you'll be helping provide protection and peace of mind when our customers need it most.
Protective Insurance Company is seeking an experienced and strategic Director of Underwriting to lead underwriting operations within our Employee Benefits Division, with a focus on statutory benefit programs. This role is responsible for overseeing risk evaluation and pricing for statemandated programs such as Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML), Disability Benefits Law (DBL), and Paid Family Leave (PFL) across multiple jurisdictions.
The Director of Underwriting will lead a team of underwriters and support staff, ensure compliance with evolving state regulations, and develop underwriting strategies that support profitable growth and competitive positioning. In addition to managing daily underwriting operations, this role plays a key role in process modernization, digital transformation, and crossfunctional initiatives, partnering closely with actuarial, product, sales, legal, compliance, claims, and operations teams.
This position combines technical underwriting expertise, people leadership, and strategic project leadership to help shape the future of statutory benefits underwriting in a fastevolving regulatory landscape.
Key Responsibilities:
Leadership & Talent Development
- Lead, coach, and develop a team of statutory benefits underwriters and support staff
- Mentor and cultivate team members to support succession planning and future leadership development
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and professional growth
Underwriting Oversight & Strategy
- Oversee underwriting for new and renewal statutory benefits business, including complex and high-exposure cases
- Ensure underwriting decisions align with Protective's risk appetite, pricing guidelines, and regulatory requirements
- Develop and execute underwriting strategies to support profitable growth and competitive positioning in statutory markets (e.g., NY, NJ, MA, CT)
- Monitor portfolio performance, identify emerging trends, and recommend adjustments to pricing, guidelines, or underwriting approaches
Subject Matter Expertise & Collaboration
- Serve as the escalation point and SME for statutory benefits underwriting matters
- Collaborate with actuarial, product, sales, legal, compliance, claims, and operations teams to support end-to-end delivery
- Represent underwriting in internal committees, broker discussions, audits, and regulatory reviews, as needed
Operational Excellence & Modernization
- Lead or co-lead enterprise and divisional initiatives, including:
- New statutory product launches or market expansion
- System enhancements, workflow optimization, and underwriting tool development
- Readiness for legislative and regulatory changes
- Identify process gaps and inefficiencies; lead re-engineering efforts to streamline workflows and reduce manual touchpoints
- Partner with technology and operations teams to drive automation, optimize underwriting systems, and enhance scalability
- Support development and maintenance of underwriting guidelines, tools, rules engines, and documentation
Performance & Governance
- Develop, implement, and maintain underwriting performance metrics and quality assurance standards
- Ensure consistent underwriting practices and adherence to compliance requirements
- Manage vendor relationships where applicable (e.g., BPOs, MGAs), including performance and compliance oversight
Additional
- Occasional travel for internal meetings, training, industry events, or broker/client engagements
- Deep expertise in underwriting statemandated benefit programs, including PFML, DBL, and PFL, with strong knowledge of multistate regulatory environments and compliance requirements
- Ability to develop and execute underwriting strategies that balance risk, profitability, and competitive positioning while monitoring portfolio performance and identifying emerging trends
- Proven leadership capability to lead, coach, and mentor underwriting teams; develop future leaders; and foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and professional development
- Demonstrated strength in identifying underwriting process gaps and leading modernization efforts that streamline workflows, reduce manual touchpoints, and improve scalability
- Experience partnering with technology and operations teams to optimize underwriting systems, workflow tools, and rules engines, leveraging automation and datadriven decisionmaking
- Strong crossfunctional collaboration skills, working effectively with actuarial, product, sales, legal, compliance, claims, and operations partners to support endtoend statutory benefits delivery
- Ability to interpret evolving legislative and regulatory requirements, ensure underwriting readiness and compliance, and serve as a subject matter expert and escalation point
- Experience leading or coleading crossfunctional projects, including new product launches, market expansions, and system or process enhancements
- Strong analytical and decisionmaking skills with the ability to assess complex risk scenarios, evaluate data trends, and make sound underwriting and business decisions
- Effective communication, negotiation, and influence skills when engaging with internal stakeholders, brokers, vendors, regulators, and external partners
- Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and underwriting tools, with working knowledge of workflow, rating, and underwriting systems within a carrier, TPA, or large group benefits environment
Minimum Requirements:
- 7+ years of group underwriting experience, including at least 3 years focused on statutory benefits
- 2+ years of direct leadership experience with staff management responsibilities
- Experience leading projects or cross-functional initiatives
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Insurance, Risk Management, Finance, or a related field
Preferred Qualfications:
- Master's degree in a related field.
- Professional designations such as PMP, CLU, AINS, AIM, CEBS, ARM, or similar
- Experience managing relationships with BPOs and/or MGAs
- Familiarity with ancillary products (e.g., STD, LTD, Life)
Protective's targeted salary range for this position is $92,000 to $130,000. Actual salaries may vary depending on factors, including but not limited to, job location, skills, and experience. The range listed is just one component of Protective's total compensation package for employees. This position also offers additional incentive opportunities through an annual incentive based on individual and Company performance. Employee Benefits:
We aim to protect the wellbeing of our employees and their families with a broad benefits offering. In addition to offering comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance, we support emotional wellbeing through mental health benefits and an employee assistance program. Work/life balance is important and Protective offers a variety of paid time away benefits (
e.g.
, paid time off, paid parental leave, short-term disability, and a cultural observance day). The financial health of our employees is just as important as physical and emotional health. Some of the financial wellbeing benefits include contributions to healthcare accounts, a pension plan, and a 401(k) plan with Company matching. All employees are encouraged to protect their overall wellbeing by engaging in ProHealth Rewards, Protective's platform to improve wellbeing while earning cash rewards.
Eligibility for certain benefits may vary by position in accordance with the terms of the Company's benefit plans.
Accommodations for Applicants with a Disability
:
If you require an accommodation to complete the application and recruitment process due to a disability, please email eric.hess@protective.com. This information will be held in confidence and used only to determine an appropriate accommodation for the application and recruitment process.
Please note that the above email is solely for individuals with disabilities requesting an accommodation. General employment questions should not be sent through this process.
We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to being inclusive and attracting, retaining, and growing an inclusive workforce.
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Protective Life Insurance Company
vision insurance, parental leave, paid time off, 401(k)
Apr 13, 2026