Director, Underwriting Product Technology

Role Overview

The Director, Underwriting Product Technology is a hands-on builder and translator, responsible for turning commercial underwriting vision into working software in a fast-moving MGA environment. This role personally owns the definition, documentation, and validation of business and product requirements, working side-by-side with underwriters and engineers to launch products quickly while preserving underwriting discipline. This role relies heavily on experience with go-to-market insurance product technology, while being a tech and underwriting 'how to' thought leader, facilitator and doer.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the Product Foundation
  • Continually consider product vision, emerging tech and roadmap for the underwriting lifecycle tech stack including Client, rating, underwriting workflows, portals, integrations.
  • Continually consider build vs. buy vs. configure decisions.
  • Prioritize speed-to-market while establishing patterns that will scale.
• Own Business Requirements & Product Artifacts
  • Lead requirements discovery with underwriters through whiteboards, workshops, and working sessions.
  • Translate underwriting guidelines and judgment into:
    • Business & Product Requirements Documents (BRDs)
    • User stories, workflows, and decision logic
    • Explicit edge cases and referral scenarios
  • Ensure all requirements are clear, explicit, and reviewed with software engineers before build begins.
• Testing, Validation & System Hands-On Ownership (Core Accountability)
  • Lead underwriters through defining test scenarios that validate underwriting intent across the end-to-end policy lifecycle (submission → triage → quote → bind/issue → endorsements → renewals/cancellations).
  • Own the creation and management of test artifacts in partnership with underwriting.
  • Facilitate testing events (e.g., sprint demos, UAT cycles) where underwriters execute scripts and confirm outcomes match business requirements.
  • Serve as a hands-on power user of the platform: actively use the system to validate flows, identify gaps, and confirm user experience is workable for underwriting teams.
  • Partner with engineering to translate test findings into clear backlog items (bugs vs enhancements), ensuring fast iteration and minimal rework.
• Embedded Engineering Partnership
  • Work daily with engineers to clarify intent and resolve ambiguity.
  • Participate directly in backlog grooming, sprint planning, and release validation.
  • Review builds against underwriting intent and requirements.

What Success Looks Like

• Products launch quickly with minimal rework.
• Underwriters trust the system reflects their intent.
• Engineers rarely ask "what does the business want?”
• The MGA avoids tech debt.

Ideal Background

• Commercial Insurance Tech Product Manager, Product Owner, or Business-to-Tech lead who has:
  • Written BRDs/PRDs themselves
  • Worked closely with engineers
  • High tolerance for ambiguity
• Commercial Insurance / MGA underwriting experience specifically with product documentation and workflow design is required. Understanding how commercial insurance is underwritten is also critical.