Director Underwriting Strategy and Capabilities – Program Manager

USAA•San Antonio, VA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

USAA is seeking a dedicated Director UW Strategy and Capabilities – Program Manager to join their Underwriting Strategy and Capabilities team. This role is crucial for driving technological change within the personal lines of business, focusing on reinventing underwriting through modern technology. The ideal candidate will be a self-directed, analytically minded business subject matter expert capable of bridging underwriting challenges with complex systems engineering to achieve greater speed, precision, and market responsiveness. The position requires leading and managing resources for efficient program execution, overseeing departmental programs, mentoring project managers, and ensuring alignment with corporate and line of business strategies. The role involves managing multimillion-dollar IT budgets, architecting long-term strategic roadmaps, and supporting cross-functional teams in change management. The Director will be accountable for the development and integration of multiple business programs, managing program scope, schedule, and budget, and ensuring benefit realization. They will also provide consultation to executives, stay abreast of industry trends, and build and manage a high-performing team. Adherence to governance, risk management, and USAA's change management methodology is essential.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree; OR 4 years of relevant education and/or experience.
8 years project and/or program management experience, including experience defining a new program and/or managing large scale projects.
3 years of direct team lead or management experience.
Demonstrated experience using Waterfall or Agile methodologies to execute program strategies and deliver complex work efforts.
Advanced understanding and demonstrated application of risk management policies and procedures.
Comprehensive knowledge of program management methodology and techniques and program performance evaluation.
Proficient experience in USAA's change management methodology or similar industry change management methodology.
Extensive experience developing, maintaining, and reporting on large cost work effort(s)/program budgets.

Nice To Haves

Proven experience driving the execution of high-maturity, multi-million dollar ($6–8M+) tech modernization backlogs, enforcing strict "Definition of Ready" gates.
Proven experience building agile solution management frameworks to support business and IT solutions.
Direct experience optimizing and dynamically shifting IT capability build spend to fund high-value AI and modeling opportunities.
Mastery of lean portfolio "ways of working" and Business PI Planning, perfectly synchronizing business readiness with fast-paced IT sprint cycles.
Track record of designing and running centralized resource capacity models that maximize team throughput and eliminate delivery bottlenecks.
Ability to seamlessly handle required enterprise portfolio tracking, milestone reporting, and metrics without letting administrative overhead slow down innovation velocity.
Proven ability to manage high level stakeholders across different functional areas with relevant, polished, high-quality communication.
US military experience through military service or a military spouse/domestic partner.

Responsibilities

Lead and manage resources for efficient and effective program or work effort(s) management.
Provide departmental program oversight, including mentoring and directing program and/or teams of project managers.
Assign individual program/project manager responsibilities.
Identify and resolve appropriate business plan and integration issues.
Ensure execution of efforts are aligned and integrated with corporate and line of business strategies, plans, programs, and initiatives.
Adhere to Association PMO processes, procedures, controls, standards, tools, and templates.
Support cross-functional teams in the development and execution of change plans.
Be accountable for the development and integration of multiple business programs, associated work efforts, and discrete work efforts to achieve strategic business goals and operational objectives.
Manage the overall program and/or discrete work efforts road map, including multi-million-dollar complex, strategic programs within a portfolio(s).
Facilitate sequencing, prioritization, and scheduling for programs; manage program scope, schedule, and budget.
Participate in work effort closure activities to determine benefit/business impact realization, including retrospective management.
Provide consultation to program executives and senior/functional area management across USAA to plan and execute departmental programs.
Make recommendations for process improvements to ensure effectiveness.
Keep abreast of industry trends and best practices and on developing business strategies, identifying benefits, and defining alternatives across departmental programs and across USAA programs and/or discrete work efforts.
Build and manage a team of employees for assigned functional area through ongoing execution of recruiting, development, retention, coaching and support, performance management, and managerial activities.
Adhere to governance rigor required for work efforts.
Drive the adoption and sustainment of changes within the organization in compliance with USAA's Change Management methodology.
Ensure risks associated with business activities are effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled in accordance with risk and compliance policies and procedures.