Manager Service Underwriting

Rite-Hite • Charlotte, NC

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Service Underwriting Manager leads the Service Underwriting team, ensuring timely, accurate parts sourcing, vendor coordination, and order execution while standardizing processes, improving team performance, and enabling field teams to focus on customers. This is a new function where the team will centralize customer quote intake, scope development, parts identification and sourcing, estimating, quote preparation, and customer follow up so service needs can be supported efficiently and consistently. This role is a critical operational and customer support function for the Service organization. Today, quoting is largely handled by sales representatives in the field. Over time, this function will evolve into a centralized and scalable customer solutions operation designed to support a large volume of quotes per month with speed, accuracy, and strong customer responsiveness. The Service Underwriting Manager reports to the Distribution Operations Excellence Leader, who sets strategy, priorities, and performance expectations for the function. The Service Underwriting Manager, in turn, leads the Service Underwriting team, driving performance, workload balancing, coaching, and continuous development across the team.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Supply Chain, Operations, or related field, or equivalent professional experience
• 5+ years of experience in parts sourcing, procurement, service underwriting, or related operations roles
• 5+ years of experience managing or leading a team
• Demonstrated experience managing vendor relationships and resolving sourcing/fulfillment issues
• Experience working cross-functionally with Service, Sales, and Supply Chain teams
• Ability to satisfy customer and company site safety, security, and access requirements
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound business judgment
• Eligibility to work in the United States
• Strong understanding of parts sourcing, quoting, and vendor management processes
• Ability to prioritize workload, improve productivity, and manage service levels across a team
• Ability to resolve complex sourcing and escalation issues involving supplier, pricing, availability, and fulfillment challenges within defined guardrails
• Experience improving vendor/supplier performance and driving accountability for fulfillment quality
• Ability to standardize workflows and drive continuous improvement in sourcing and order execution
• Strong KPI management, reporting, and operational decision-making skills
• Strong cross-functional collaboration skills, partnering effectively with Service, Sales, and Supply Chain teams

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management or Business Administration strongly preferred; advanced degree a plus
• 7+ years of experience (vs. the 5+ minimum) in service underwriting, procurement, or sourcing leadership roles
• Prior experience managing vendor performance programs at scale
• Experience in distribution, industrial, or B2B field service environments
• Experience partnering directly with Regional Service & Install Leaders on prioritization and escalations
• APICS/ASCM certification (e.g., CPIM, CSCP)
• Six Sigma or process improvement certification a plus
• Vendor/supplier management certification a plus
• Familiarity with procurement and sourcing analytics/reporting platforms
• Experience negotiating vendor terms related to lead time, fulfillment, and service levels (short of commercial pricing negotiation)
• Knowledge of inventory coordination and supply chain fulfillment strategy
• Experience building or improving quoting accuracy and turnaround time processes
• Familiarity with escalation management frameworks across sourcing and fulfillment issues

Responsibilities

• Lead the Service Underwriting team, driving performance, workload balancing, coaching, and continuous development
• Build the Service Writing process from the ground up, including intake, scoping, estimating, quote preparation, and follow-up.
• Centralize quote support currently handled by field sales representatives.
• Ensure customer requests are translated into clear, accurate, and executable quotes that meet customer requirements.
• Manage a high-volume quote environment while maintaining speed, accuracy, and consistency.
• Establish standards for quote quality, documentation, pricing assumptions, exclusions, approvals, and response times.
• Serve as an escalation point for complex quoting questions, customer issues, and scope clarification needs.
• Own parts sourcing standards and processes, ensuring consistent execution across ordering, quoting, and vendor management
• Oversee complex sourcing and escalations, resolving supplier, pricing, availability, and fulfillment issues within defined guardrails
• Build the team’s capability to accurately identify parts and materials required to support customer service and repair needs.
• Develop processes, tools, and reference materials that enable Service Writing team members to identify the correct parts based on equipment information, service requirements, technicians findings, and customer requests.
• Research alternative sourcing options when standard or OEM parts are unavailable, back-ordered, obsolete, or have extended lead times.
• Establish clear escalation paths for difficult to identify, obsolete, superseded, or unavailable parts.
• Develop and maintain institutional knowledge around common equipment, parts, suppliers, substitutions, and sourcing strategies to improve team speed and accuracy over time.
• Identify recurring parts and sourcing challenges and work cross functionally to develop longer term solutions that improve service execution.
• Partner with Service & Sales leaders, prioritizing work to support customer commitments and field execution
• Work closely with Supply Chain, Product Support, Tech Support, Sales, Service Support, and field teams to gather information and resolve quote-related issues.
• Partner with Supply Chain and Service Support to identify parts availability, sourcing questions, lead times, and vendor coordination as needed.
• Collaborate with Product Support to confirm product details, configuration questions, and technical requirements that impact quote accuracy.
• Work with Tech Support to resolve technical scope questions, repair feasibility concerns, and customer-specific service requirements.
• Support field sales teams by providing a centralized quoting resource and clear ownership for customer solutions.
• Communicate clearly with internal stakeholders regarding open issues, quote status, process changes, service risks, and improvement initiatives.
• Drive vendor performance and continuous improvement, improving sourcing efficiency, turnaround time, and process consistency
• Evaluate current quoting workflows to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, rework, and opportunities for standardization.
• Build standard work, SOPs, templates, checklists, training guides, and escalation paths to support consistent execution.
• Use data and performance metrics to manage priorities, monitor productivity, and improve team performance.
• Drive continuous improvement efforts that improve speed, reduce errors, increase visibility, and strengthen the customer experience.
• Help shift the function from a manual, reactive quoting process into a more proactive, scalable operating model.
• Partner with systems, operations, and field leadership to improve tools, reporting, and workflow automation where possible.
• Manage service underwriting reporting, monitoring KPIs, workload, quality, and opportunities for operational improvement
• Support the use of Salesforce Field Service and JDE in the customer solutions, quoting, and order management process.
• Ensure quotes, service requests, and related customer data are entered accurately and maintained with strong process discipline.
• Use Salesforce Field Service, JDE, and related systems to improve visibility, workflow management, and execution.
• Monitor quote aging, open quote status, follow-up activity, and reporting metrics to support operational performance.
• Identify opportunities to improve system usage, data integrity, and reporting quality across the function.
• Support and promote a culture of safety.
• Follow all Company and OSHA safety policies and procedures.
• Proper use of required personal protective equipment (PPE)
• Report hazards, near misses and incidents promptly

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
• life and disability insurance
• A robust well-being program with an opportunity to receive an extra day off and more.
• A strong retirement savings program with 401(k), company match, and profit sharing.
• Paid holidays, vacation time, and personal/sick days each year.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager