Director Underwriting Capabilities and Tools - Dwelling

USAA•San Antonio, VA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

USAA is seeking a dedicated Director UW Capabilities and Tools - Dwelling. This role is part of the Underwriting Strategy and Capabilities team, which drives technological change for personal lines of business. The position involves leading tech-savvy teams to design modular, cross-product solutions, managing IT budgets, and architecting long-term strategic roadmaps to reinvent underwriting through modern technology. The ideal candidate will be a self-directed, analytically minded business subject matter expert who can bridge the gap between underwriting problems and complex systems engineering to deliver speed, precision, and market responsiveness. The Director will manage a team responsible for overseeing and managing the launch and maturation of new products into target strategic markets, serving as a cross-functional expert, and providing leadership, product expertise, and support for initiatives related to product development, compliance, operational and process improvements, claims management, vendor management, product documentation, fulfillment, and/or system releases. The role focuses on the development of digital-first products supporting member needs and risks, overseeing the development and launch of innovative product offerings and enhanced features, and developing recommendations for new products and buy/build/ally decisions. The Director will also be responsible for maintaining knowledge of business and underwriting performance, post-launch maintenance of new products, leveraging cross-functional resources for product strategy formulation and competitive intelligence, and developing the new product value proposition. Ensuring product development teams deliver sales support to all distribution channels and directing the analysis of new product performance metrics are also key responsibilities. The role requires coordination with control partners (Legal, Compliance, Risk Management) to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and coaching and developing employees to drive performance and engagement. Ensuring risks are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled is also a critical aspect of the role.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Supply Chain, or Statistics; OR 4 years of relevant education and/or experience.
8 years relevant industry experience in Actuary, Underwriting, Marketing, or Operations to include direct product management experience.
3 years of direct team lead or management experience.
Experience developing product strategies, product plans and product roadmaps.
Demonstrated experience in developing, deploying and supporting product and/or integrated suite of products.
Knowledge and application of Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC).
Experience leading an agile product development process, managing multiple products simultaneously.
Exceptional communicator and engaging storyteller with a flair to communicate effectively with executives.

Nice To Haves

Deep knowledge of personal lines property products (e.g. HO, Fire, Renters) from both a product management and product development perspective.
Tech-savvy leader with a proven ability to implement UW solutions across legacy and modernized platforms (e.g. Guidewire, Earnix).
Experience implementing advanced geospatial data, aerial imagery, and 3P data solutions.
Extensive experience designing and embedding complex predictive models, machine learning algorithms, and AI solutions into core UW decision engines.
Exceptional skill in leading a team of SMEs to translate intricate UW business problems into buildable functional requirements for IT.
Master level ability to define clean MVP parameters vs full scale builds, maximizing speed to market for new technical capabilities.
Experience working in an agile development environment with the ability to coach a team of Product Owners through feature development and establish benefits realization plans.
Experience working across functional area verticals to build and implement solutions with the ability to recognize and activate natural and needed stakeholder engagement points.
US military experience through military service or a military spouse/domestic partner.

Responsibilities

Manage a team of individual contributors responsible for overseeing and managing the launch and maturation of new products into target strategic markets.
Serve as a cross-functional expert, provide leadership, product expertise and support for initiatives related to product development, compliance, operational and process improvements, claims management, vendor management, product documentation, fulfillment, and/or system releases.
Responsible for development of digital first products supporting the needs and risks of USAA Members.
Oversee the development and launch of new innovative product offerings as well as auxiliary/enhanced features/services for existing products.
Develop and finalize recommendations to launch new products and the evaluation and decision to buy/build or ally for the line of business.
Generate creative product and coverage solutions for member needs to ensure a dynamic product development pipeline exists.
Maintain a thorough level of knowledge of business and underwriting performance for products in scope (e.g. trends, results, etc.).
Responsible for post-launch maintenance and underwriting of 'new in market' products based on product performance, member needs and competitive changes in the market including but not limited to product rules, rates, and forms.
Leverage cross-functional resources to gather data and member information to support formulation of product strategy and acquire competitive intelligence.
Lead a team to analyze internal and external data and member information to support formulation of product strategy and enhance competitive intelligence.
Develop and communicate the new product value proposition for the line of business across teams and levels of leadership.
Ensure product development team delivers sales support to all distribution channels (e.g., .com, mobile, contact center) so that the new product is properly positioned to members.
Direct the analysis and evaluation across multiple new product performance metrics to adapt offerings, if necessary, prior to full launch.
Coordinate with relevant control partners (to include Legal, Compliance, and Risk Management) to ensure product offerings are designed and implemented in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Coach and develop employees belonging to the product development team, on an ongoing and real-time basis, to drive maximum performance and engagement levels to achieve desired business results.
Ensure risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.