Vice President - Life Underwriting

You spend at least a third of your day at your job. You might as well spend it doing something you really love while working with a team you really enjoy being with, right? That’s the kind of atmosphere we offer at Pekin Insurance—fun, fast-paced, gratifying, supportive, and collaborative. 

 Of course, it’s not all fun and games. Insurance is a serious business, and we pride ourselves on making people’s lives whole again after a major disaster or even a fender bender.  It’s that sense of helping people that makes our team want to do our best every day. 

If you want to be excited about starting your workday and are ready to make a real difference in people’s lives, this could be the right spot for you.

See what Pekin Insurance has to offer by viewing a short video here.  

Position Overview

This position is a senior executive responsible for overseeing the company’s underwriting strategy, ensuring risk assessment aligns with corporate goals, profitability targets, and regulatory compliance.  This role provides strategic leadership, innovation, and oversight of the underwriting function, optimizing processes, technology, and talent to drive efficiency and growth.  The Vice President collaborates closely with the executive leadership team, actuarial/product management, claims/policy administration, sales, and distribution partners to ensure underwriting excellence and market competitiveness. 

Essential Job Functions

Strategic Leadership and Underwriting Excellence

• Develops and executes the long-term underwriting strategy, aligning with corporate objectives, market trends, and risk appetite
• Oversees and refines underwriting policies, guidelines, and risk selection frameworks to drive sustainable profitability and sound risk management
• Provides final decision authority on high-value, complex, or escalated underwriting cases
• Monitors mortality, morbidity, and industry trends, proactively adjusting underwriting strategies as needed

Operational Oversight and Process Optimization

• Leads the underwriting operations team, ensuring efficiency, quality, and scalability through workflow optimization and technology adoption
• Drives the implementation of underwriting automation, AI-driven risk assessment, and electronic health record (EHR) integration to enhance efficiency
• Establishes and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) for underwriting performance, operational efficiency, and risk outcomes
• Collaborates with IT, data analytics, and actuarial teams to leverage insights for underwriting process improvements

Team Development and Leadership

• Leads, mentors, and develops a team of underwriting leaders, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous learning
• Oversees the development of training programs to enhance underwriters' technical expertise, decision-making, and risk assessment skills
• Ensures the underwriting team remains adaptable to industry trends, regulatory changes, medical advancements, and evolving risk factors

Enterprise Collaboration and Industry Engagement

• Partners with product development, distribution, actuarial, and marketing teams to align underwriting strategies with business growth initiatives
• Serves as a liaison with key distribution partners to optimize underwriting collaboration and market responsiveness
• Represents the company at industry conferences, regulatory discussions, and professional associations to enhance visibility and influence industry best practices
• Develops and maintains strong reinsurer relationships, negotiating favorable terms and collaborating on innovative risk solutions

Risk Management and Compliance

• Ensures compliance with all state, federal, and internal regulations and industry best-practices
• Establishes and oversees underwriting governance frameworks to ensure consistency, fairness, and regulatory adherence
• Collaborates with regulatory compliance to navigate evolving regulations and industry changes

Education & Experience

Required

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Finance, Insurance, Actuarial Science, or a related field
• 15 years of life underwriting experience, with at least 7 years in a leadership role
• Typically requires 7 years of experience leading and managing teams

Preferred or Specialized

• Master’s Degree in business-related field 

Certifications & Licenses

• Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), or Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI) preferred
• Active participation in industry organizations such as AHOU, SOA, or ALU is preferred

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Underwriting & Risk Expertise: Deep knowledge of life insurance underwriting principles, financial underwriting, and medical risk factors.
• Leadership & Strategic Vision: Proven ability to lead large teams, drive organizational change, and implement best-in-class underwriting practices.
• Analytical & Decision-Making Skills: Strong ability to assess complex risk scenarios, interpret medical and financial documents, and make data-driven decisions.
• Regulatory & Compliance Knowledge: Strong understanding of insurance regulations, anti-fraud measures, and industry compliance standards.
• Business & Market Acumen: Ability to align underwriting practices with market conditions, distribution needs, and company profitability goals.
• Technology & Innovation: Experience implementing underwriting automation, predictive modeling, and digital transformation initiatives.
• Communication & Relationship Management: Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills for interacting with executives, reinsurers, and key distribution partners.

 Salary Range 

$170,000  to  $225,000 per year

•  This range is based on the expected level of experience and skills for this position. Final compensation will depend on individual qualifications.
• This position is bonus eligible. 

Benefits:

• Health, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Generous 401(k) with company match
• Paid Time Off (PTO) with Paid Holidays
• Flexible/Hybrid Work Schedule
• Paid Volunteer Program

For more information about the benefits we offer, please visit our Careers Page. 

Salary : $170,000 - $225,000