About the Role
The VP, Product & Underwriting Practice Leader is a strategically critical leader responsible for driving profitable growth and technical excellence across all Hiscox USA channel business. This role combines product management and underwriting leadership, overseeing the full product lifecycle, risk selection, and innovation for both digital and intermediated channels. The successful candidate will own and deliver the P&L for their product(s) by setting vision and strategy, driving strong change management and fostering a culture of collaboration, customer-centricity, and continuous improvement.
Responsibilities
- Lead the Cyber and Technology E&O product portfolio by establishing underwriting strategy, risk appetite, pricing and coverage direction, while driving profitable growth, market relevance, and underwriting excellence through portfolio management, broker engagement, product innovation, and technical leadership of the underwriting team.
- Monitor industry trends, market conditions, and regulatory changes, making recommendations for insurance policy and pricing adjustments and developing and underwriting adjustments.
- Set individual risk, concentration risk, and aggregate limit strategies.
- Manage underwriter authority and deliver technical training as needed.
- Build and maintain underwriting tools for risk evaluation, including applications, guidelines, risk scoring, and data utilization.
- Conduct market research and risk analysis to identify expansion opportunities, customer segments, needs, pain points, opportunities, trends, and emerging risks for your product(s) and can communicate key themes to internal/external stakeholders.
- Define and prioritize product and underwriting initiatives based on customer value, business impact, technical feasibility, and risk appetite.
- Implement strategies for risk selection, assessment, and robust underwriting controls.
- Work closely with marketing, distribution development, claims, actuarial, and underwriting operations teams to deliver innovative, competitive, and compliant insurance solutions to enable market growth.
- Identify, build and maintain tools for product management and risk evaluation, including applications, guidelines, risk scoring, and data utilization – using 3rd party vendors where appropriate.
- Partnering with channel leads, manage product launches, go-to-market activities, and underwriting rollouts—including positioning, messaging, pricing, distribution, and authority management.
- Measure and monitor performance, profitability, and customer satisfaction using quantitative and qualitative methods.
- Solicit and incorporate feedback from customers, underwriters, stakeholders, and users to continuously improve product quality, underwriting, pricing and user experience.
- Adjust and update policy language and practices in response to industry trends, profitable growth opportunity, regulatory changes, claims experience and loss ratio insights.
- Identify training topics, wet training agendas, deliver technical and product training, and develop best practices for knowledge sharing for underwriting operations.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in product management and/or underwriting of Cyber/Tech E&O products
- Bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, computer science, or related field; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- Strong knowledge commercial insurance, customer segments, competitors, and trends for Cyber/Tech E&O product(s).
- Exceptional skills in product visioning, strategy formulation, roadmap development, prioritization, and execution.
- Strong strategic thinking and sound decision-making skills to drive sustainable profitability and long-term growth.
- Innovative and entrepreneurial outlook with commercial sensibilities.
- Highly analytical, data-driven, and adept at problem-solving.
- Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with ability to influence senior executives, internal stakeholders and key customers/brokers.
- Experience with Lloyd’s of London, CPCU or RPLU designation a plus.
Skills
- Product Management
- Underwriting
- Cyber/Tech E&O Products
- Commercial Insurance
- Product Visioning
- Strategy Formulation
- Roadmap Development
- Prioritization
- Execution
- Strategic Thinking
- Decision-Making
- Problem-Solving
- Communication
- Presentation
Location
- NYC
- Atlanta
- Chicago
- Hartford
- Boston
Work Type
- Permanent
- Hybrid
Experience Level
- 10+ years
Education Level
- Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, computer science, or related field
- MBA or advanced degree preferred
Salary/Compensations
- $200k-$250k
Benefits
- 401(k) with competitive company matching
- Comprehensive health insurance, vision, dental and FSA plans
- Company paid group term life, short-term disability and long-term disability coverage
- 24 Paid time off days plus 2 Hiscox days
- 10 paid holidays plus 1 paid floating holiday
- Ability to purchase up to 5 PTO days
- Paid parental leave
- 4-week paid sabbatical after every 5 years of service
- Financial Adoption Assistance and Medical Travel Reimbursement Programs
- Annual reimbursement up to $600 for health club membership or fees associated with any fitness program
- Company paid subscription to Headspace
- Gold level recipient of Cigna’s Healthy Workforce Designation for having a best-in-class health and wellness program
About the Company
- As an international specialist insurer, we are far removed from the world of mass market insurance products. Instead, we are selective and focus on our key areas of expertise and strength - all of which is underpinned by a culture that encourages us to challenge convention and always look for a better way of doing things.
- We insure the unique and the interesting. And we search for the same when it comes to talented people. Hiscox is full of smart, reliable human beings that look out for customers and each other. We believe in doing the right thing, making good and rebuilding when things go wrong. Everyone is encouraged to think creatively, challenge the status quo and look for solutions.
- Scratch beneath the surface and you will find a business that is solid, but slightly contrary. We like to do things differently and constantly seek to evolve. We might have been around for a long time (our roots go back to 1901), but we are young in many ways, ambitious and going places.
- Some people might say insurance is dull, but life at Hiscox is anything but. If that sounds good to you, get in touch.
- Hiscox USA was established in 2006 to focus primarily on the needs of small and middle market commercial clients, via both the broker and direct distribution channels and is today the fastest-growing business unit within the Hiscox Group.
- Today, Hiscox USA has a talent force of about 500 employees mostly operating out of 6 major cities - New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles and Scottsdale. Hiscox USA offers a broad portfolio of commercial products, including technology, cyber & data risk, multiple professional liability lines, media, entertainment, management liability, crime, kidnap & ransom, and terrorism.
- You can follow Hiscox on LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Instagram (@HiscoxInsurance)
Equal Opportunity
- Work with amazing people and be part of a unique culture
