Director, Underwriting

We saw a problem within the life insurance industry: getting covered took too long, involved too much paperwork, and required too many in-person meetings with sales agents. Having lost his father at a young age, our CEO, Jamie, was determined to make it easier for people to get the coverage they needed to provide for their families. So, we got to work. We developed a method of real-time underwriting leveraging AI and, in doing so, reduced the months-long process of applying for life insurance to minutes. Our digital experience is quick (instant decisions!), loved by users (check out our Trustpilot or Google reviews) and prolific ($74 billion+ in coverage provided).

We believe life insurance innovation must happen in the context of sound underwriting decisions. The Director, Underwriting will lead Ladder’s underwriting team.

• Manage 3 UW teams and develop their skill sets in line with our underwriting philosophy and guidelines
• Production UW  (Analyze medical, non-medical, and financial data to accept, modify, or decline risks on applications referred to manual underwriting)
• Auditing UW (both requirements from our carriers - and also small special audits we need to run to improve the product)
• Projects UW (subject matter experts providing input into any changes to our digital instant UW to improve the business while being wise on the risk)
• Maintain relationships and stay on the cutting edge of new third party data offerings. Identify, pilot, and engage new tools to improve underwriting
• Communicate with our insurance partners in concert with Ladder’s business development director who leads the relationship management of our reinsurers and carriers
• Partner with actuary to present mortality slippage each month to Ladder’s mortality team
• Serve as a subject matter expert to engineering and product teams as we build new insurance offerings

• An outstanding manager of people
• A strategic thinker and builder.  Someone who wants to apply their life insurance underwriting expertise to help drive Ladder’s success
• A data-driven and structured thinker. Someone who is comfortable with data and will look to translate findings into actionable insights
• An optimist, committed to continuous learning, iteration, and user-centered everything
• A great communicator who listens well, asks questions, and has a sense of humor.
• A thoughtful leader who empowers others, fosters accountability, and creates an environment where team members can do their best work

• 6 - 8 years of people leadership experience
• 10+ years of life insurance underwriting experience at a leading carrier or reinsurer
• Experience in developing underwriting guidelines and programs
• Demonstrated interest in innovation and better serving end users
• Experience with accelerated underwriting and third-party evidence providers is a plus