AVP Circle Lead, Underwriting Automation & Artificial Intelligence

Who Are We?Taking care of our customers, our communities and each other. That's the Travelers Promise. By honoring this commitment, we have maintained our reputation as one of the best property casualty insurers in the industry for over 160 years. Join us to discover a culture that is rooted in innovation and thrives on collaboration. Imagine loving what you do and where you do it.

• Lead, define, communicate and champion a large and complex body of work spanning multiple agile teams (i. e. Team of Teams) working toward common business outcomes typically impacting the entire line of business.
• At this level, you generally lead:
• 5-15 teams (100 - 150 total people)
• Multiple complex business units or product lines/assets
• Extensive interdependencies
• Heightened delivery risk
• Emerging technologies
• Help to shape technology strategy/capability and accountable for holistic application of the strategy and roadmap for achieving the strategy, vision and business outcomes; articulate the Circle / Team of Teams vision and strategy effectively to teams and executive-level stakeholders; stewardship of technical assets to ensure stability, availability, scalability and maintainability.
• Partner with business Circle Lead to effectively plan and deliver technical solutions that support business outcomes.
• Effectively drive, manage, implement and track one or more complex portfolios of deliverables, features and capabilities as well as 'test and learn'/experimentation targeted at defining/refining future deliverables, measuring performance, automating across life cycles, and adjusting the overall roadmap of deliverables as needed.
• Support the prioritization of interdependent team technology backlogs, addressing risks and dependencies (Often spanning multiple Circles and Lines of Businesses) to defined outcomes and ensuring overall alignment with technology and business strategy; Make trade-off decisions to balance quality, cost, and timelines to maximize value; utilize and adhere to technology standards.
• Identify innovative solutions both internally and in the external marketplace; ensure competitive and industry benchmarking of critical technical knowledge and capabilities.
• Responsible for technical resource allocation, including vendor management, on-boarding, performance management, and offshore approach/structure.
• Lead positive team dynamics, encourage collaboration and drive appropriate levels of self-organization; Assess, utilize, and partner with external resources and partners to meet agreed upon expectations, as needed.
• Manage multi-team dynamics; remove impediments to teams' success and assist in conflict resolution, issue and dependency management; collaborate with other team members and neighbors to improve team velocity.
• Build and foster collaborative relationships across other Circles, business areas and with key partners (e. g. technology architects), with the ability to influence executive-level leadership.
• Help grow agile maturity within and across teams.
• People-management responsibilities for technology team members and may manage other Technology Circle Leads as well.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Solid understanding of Rate-Quote-Issue (RQI) systems, work intake (submissions) processes, and underwriting practices
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong leadership abilities with the desire to lead a team to deliver cutting-edge solutions
• Passion for technology
• Six years of experience in an agile/execution leadership role delivering technology solutions on a demanding schedule preferred.
• Five years of people leadership/ management experience preferred.
• Strong technical skills and a deep strategic mindset preferred.
• Proven analytical skills and experience making decisions based on hard and soft data preferred.
• Strong knowledge of the Line of Business with the ability to develop and leverage business and/or vendor partnerships, consult on business priorities, and optimize value through solution identification aligned with business objectives preferred.
• Agile Mindset: Embody Agile core values of openness, courage, respect, focus, and commitment. Infuse Agile principles, practices and methodologies to achieve team success.
• Product Mindset: Focus on defining a product value proposition that aligns with and supports the circle/value stream objectives and which is the north star for the Circle.
• Change Agent: Expert change leadership skills including the ability to create an inclusive environment, manage conflict and develop solutions to mitigate risk.
• Influence: Ability to influence behaviors of leaders at all levels and without traditional hierarchy.
• Servant Leadership: Foster an environment where individuals thrive as empowered and equal members of a team.
• Communication: Ability to communicate thoughts, concepts, practices effectively at all levels, adjusting as needed to a target audience.
• Collaboration: Expertise working with others in a cross-functional multi-team environment.
• Continuous Improvement: Demonstrate a commitment to continually improve, share learning with others and encourage team development.

• Seven years of relevant technology experience required.
• Four years of people leadership/ management experience required.

• Health Insurance: Employees and their eligible family members - including spouses, domestic partners, and children - are eligible for coverage from the first day of employment.
• Retirement: Travelers matches your 401(k) contributions dollar-for-dollar up to your first 5% of eligible pay, subject to an annual maximum. If you have student loan debt, you can enroll in the Paying it Forward Savings Program. When you make a payment toward your student loan, Travelers will make an annual contribution into your 401(k) account. You are also eligible for a Pension Plan that is 100% funded by Travelers.
• Paid Time Off: Start your career at Travelers with a minimum of 20 days Paid Time Off annually, plus nine paid company Holidays.
• Wellness Program: The Travelers wellness program is comprised of tools and resources that empower you to achieve your wellness goals. In addition, our Life Balance program provides access to professional counseling services, life coaching and other resources to support your daily life needs. Through Life Balance, you're eligible for five free counseling sessions with a licensed therapist.
• Volunteer Encouragement: We have a deep commitment to the communities we serve and encourage our employees to get involved. Travelers has a Matching Gift and Volunteer Rewards program that enables you to give back to the charity of your choice.