Kemper

Director, Underwriting

Kemper

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Remote

Location: Illinois • Iowa • United States

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Salary

💰 $111,900 - $186,700 per year

Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Define and execute the long-term underwriting strategy, balancing growth, profitability, and automation goals.
  • Provide enterprise oversight of underwriting risk across both manual and automated decisioning, with particular emphasis on governance, controls, and outcomes of rules-based and straight-through processing to ensure appropriate risk selection.
  • Establish enterprise-wide underwriting policies, standards, and risk frameworks that ensure regulatory compliance, financial integrity, and alignment with pricing assumptions and defined risk tolerances to support profitable growth.
  • Lead and develop underwriting leaders and teams, including direct supervision of the Business Systems Analyst, Underwriting.
  • Ensure seamless integration of underwriting policies with the UW Pro rules engine to support high STP rates and appropriate risk tolerances.
  • Set and monitor performance metrics for both underwriting outcomes and system-enabled efficiency.
  • Champion digital transformation by guiding the configuration and optimization of the UW Pro system in partnership with the BSA and IT teams.
  • Drive initiatives to automate underwriting decisions, leveraging analytics and business rules engines to improve speed, accuracy, and customer experience.
  • Oversee testing, change management, and audit readiness for system updates and enhancements.
  • Partner with executive leadership, actuary, product, legal, and IT to inform risk selection, pricing strategies, and product development.
  • Represent the underwriting organization in strategic planning, vendor negotiations, and external stakeholder meetings.
  • Stay current on industry trends, regulatory developments, and emerging underwriting technologies, and lead the evaluation and implementation of tools and capabilities that enhance risk assessment, efficiency, and customer experience.
  • Build a high-performing, inclusive underwriting culture with clear succession planning and leadership development.
  • Provide coaching and career development for managers, underwriters, and the BSA to foster continuous improvement and innovation.

Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, actuarial science, or related field; advanced degree or professional designations (e.g., FALU, FLMI, CLU) strongly preferred.
  • 10+ years of progressive life insurance underwriting experience, with at least 5 years in senior management or executive leadership.
  • Demonstrated success integrating underwriting strategy with technology platforms and automation initiatives.
  • Deep expertise in life underwriting principles, risk assessment, and regulatory requirements.
  • Strong understanding of business rules engines or decisioning tools.
  • Experience with Sapiens UW Pro and STP (Straight Through Processing) is preferred.
  • Exceptional strategic thinking, analytical ability, and executive-level communication skills.
Benefits
  • Qualify for your choice of health and dental plans within your first month.
  • Save for your future with robust 401(k) match, Health Spending Accounts and various retirement plans.
  • Learn and Grow with our Tuition Assistance Program, paid certifications and continuing education programs.
  • Contribute to your community through United Way and volunteer programs.
  • Balance your life with generous paid time off and business casual dress.
  • Get employee discounts for shopping, dining and travel through Kemper Perks.
Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools
underwriting strategyrisk assessmentautomation initiativesbusiness rules enginesdecisioning toolsperformance metricsdigital transformationchange managementaudit readinesslife underwriting principles
Soft Skills
strategic thinkinganalytical abilityexecutive-level communicationleadership developmentcoachingcareer developmentteam developmentinclusive culturecontinuous improvementinnovation
Certifications
Bachelor’s degreeadvanced degreeFALUFLMICLU