Are you passionate about being part of a team at a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales that delivers extraordinary care to help individuals and businesses prepare for and protect their future? If so, then Nationwide Financial could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers and partners are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.
Nationwide is looking for an experienced life underwriting leader to step into a high-impact role as Sr. Director, Producer Group Life Underwriting and Broker Relations.
This is a highly visible leadership role for a market-savvy underwriting professional who thrives in complex, high-touch environments. The Sr. Director will provide strategic leadership for Producer Group Underwriting, large-case oversight, producer and broker relationship management, and cross-functional partnership across underwriting, sales, medical, operations, and reinsurance.
The leader in this role will serve as a trusted partner to the field, guiding high-stakes underwriting decisions, managing key relationship escalations, and helping position Nationwide competitively in the market. This is an opportunity for someone who combines strong technical underwriting depth with leadership capability and a relationship-first mindset.
What You’ll Do
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Provide strategic leadership for Producer Group Underwriting and Broker Relations within Life New Business
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Lead, coach, and develop senior underwriting talent while helping shape team structure, capability, and succession planning
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Serve as a senior escalation point for complex medical, financial, and high-face-amount life insurance cases
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Guide underwriting strategy and decision-making in alignment with mortality objectives, reinsurance strategy, service expectations, and regulatory requirements
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Build strong partnerships with producers, brokers, broker-dealers, reinsurers, and internal stakeholders to support strong case outcomes and trusted relationships
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Navigate complex case negotiations and market-facing underwriting decisions in a highly competitive environment
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Sponsor process improvement and modernization efforts that enhance service delivery, cycle time, and underwriting efficiency
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Represent Nationwide with confidence and credibility in field-facing conversations, presentations, and strategic business discussions
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Help strengthen leadership continuity and future-state organizational capability within the underwriting organization
What We’re Looking For
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Deep experience in life insurance underwriting, including complex medical and financial risk assessment
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Strong large-case underwriting judgment and meaningful experience handling or overseeing high-face-amount cases
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Experience in producer group underwriting, BGA, brokerage, broker-dealer, or similarly competitive life insurance distribution environments
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Leadership experience with the ability to develop talent, influence others, and lead through change
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Strong reinsurance partnership experience and the ability to navigate complex case structures with confidence
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A sales-friendly, relationship-oriented mindset with the ability to balance risk discipline and service excellence
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Strong negotiation skills, sound business judgment, and the ability to operate effectively in a high-pressure, highly visible role
Additional Role Information
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Regular travel is expected, primarily domestic, with possible and occasional broader market-facing travel
- This role is open to full remote work
This role does not qualify for employer-sponsored work authorization. Nationwide does not participate in the Stem OPT Extension program.
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Job Description Summary
Our underwriters work hard to provide the exceptional customer experience for which Nationwide is known. Actively engaging with our firms and financial professionals to get to know their clients and their needs builds our understanding of the market, what is needed to win business and put our best offer out first.
If you thrive working autonomously, making decisions on a variety of impactful issues and continuing to learn and adapt to grow, we want to know more about you!
As a Senior Director, you'll set, monitor, measure and achieve the established goals for the assigned channel. The work will include developing and implementing the channel's strategic plans and objectives. To succeed, we'll count on you to build and manage relationship with distribution partners and other customers and to direct associates, functions and activities associated with the life underwriting and broker dealer relations operation. It will be up to you to approve or deny requests that exceed Underwriting staff’s authority, due to level of complexity, premium or coverage provided. The business mix consists mostly of universal life, term, long term care and variable universal life. The team handles the largest mortality risks within underwriting.
Job Description
Key Responsibilities:
Drives overall strategy and day-to-day leadership of the underwriting staff which assesses sophisticated medical history and financial data to bind Nationwide and its reinsurers to life coverage; provides oversight and direction regarding sophisticated risk appraisal issues. Leads all aspects of team providing seamless service to new and existing customers.
Directs the development of life underwriting practices and procedures. Ensures compliance with state and federal regulations. Develops and implements strategic underwriting plans. Provides business forecasting related to trends, and profitability within channel.
Provides consultation and advice about underwriting requirements as new products are developed. Directs the evaluation of strategies to grow life insurance business with key brokerage firms.
Serves as the primary liaison to sales leadership and business channel customer group. Builds relationships with brokerage general agency firms. Maintains relationships with key business partners; identifies business needs and service requirements.
Consults to resolve service issues. Provides alternative solutions to meet client requests.
Leads the administration and monitoring of overall client satisfaction and progress of life underwriting operation's projects.
Develops and leads the implementation of operational improvements to improve service delivery. Consults with all levels of internal and external partners regarding underwriting policy and practice. Develops strategic and business plans and helps identify operational opportunities and efficiencies.
Participates in industry organizations, evaluates industry trends, business drivers, market challenges and strategies.
Leads associate management including: performance management, salary planning and administration, training and development, workflow and organizational planning, hiring and placement and disciplinary actions.
Participates in discussions with reinsurers per department guidelines, verifying the appropriate use of all reinsurance facilities used by the department. Negotiates with reinsurers on customized, unique programs, lining up capacity. Engages actuary and staff underwriting for the most sophisticated, high-dollar policies. Maintains good working relationship with reinsurers.
Develops and implements customized programs. Collaborates with operations, sales, actuary and data science teams to build and implement guidelines that differ from our traditional approach for a particular set of customers.
Supervises trial application process. Ensures underwriters complete process in a comprehensive and timely manner, submitting the most competitive health classification to approve the case.
Handling up to $20,00,000 for life, up to $1,500,000 sign off for morbidity underwriting, and sign off authority for exceptions on Intelligent Underwriting.
May perform other responsibilities as assigned.
Reporting Relationships: Reports to Life Underwriting executive. Leads life underwriting professionals and leaders which is typically a mix of direct and indirect reports.
Typical Skills and Experiences:
Education: Undergraduate studies in Business Administration or related field.
License/Certification/Designation: EKG Certified preferred. Professional/technical studies or designation such as the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Fellow of Life Management Institute, (FLMI), or Fellow of the Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU) preferred. FALU (all AALU reqs, ALU 301, Three fellowship electives) preferred with CLU or advance sales concept training.
Experience: More than 15 years of life underwriting and brokerage experience, including five years management experience.
Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Proven technical underwriting ability to receive, evaluate and underwrite on a medical or non-medical basis. Extensive knowledge of life underwriting risk selection, brokerage experience and management experience. Knowledge of sophisticated life underwriting policies, practices, and procedures, and life insurance underwriting techniques. Knowledge of alternative rating methods and plans and pricing theory. Knowledge of reinsurance policies. Knowledge of regulatory issues, life insurance market conditions, and company operations. Knowledge of employment principles and practices. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Demonstrates sophisticated negotiation skills. Ability to direct a highly technical staff. Ability to work with the brokerage distribution system. Ability to analyze highly complex insurance risks to determine acceptability including policy language, alternative rating plans, methodologies, and reinsurance. Ability to devise business solutions to complex problems, implement the most appropriate and monitor effectiveness. Ability to make decisions on highly sophisticated issues and work with minimal direction. Ability to coach, train and mentor underwriting personnel.
Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.
Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and Human Resources Business Partner.
Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates Nationwide Values.
Job Conditions:
Overtime Eligibility: Not Eligible (Exempt)
Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Some travel required.
ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.
We currently anticipate accepting applications until 07/31/2026. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.
Benefits
We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more.
Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.
This position could be filled within any of the lower 48 U.S. states.
Smoke-Free Iowa Statement: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, its affiliates and subsidiaries comply with the Iowa Smokefree Air Act. Smoking is prohibited in all enclosed areas on or around company premises as well as company issued vehicles. The company offers designated smoking areas in which smoking is permitted at each individual location. The Act prohibits retaliation for reporting complaints or violations. For more information on the Iowa Smokefree Air Act, individuals may contact the Smokefree Air Act Helpline at 888-944-2247.
For NY residents please review the following state law information: Notice of Employee Rights, Protections, and Obligations LS740 (ny.gov) https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/02/ls740_1.pdf
NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES:
We value the partnerships we have built with our preferred vendors. Nationwide does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies. All resumes submitted by employment agencies directly to any Nationwide employee or hiring manager in any form without a signed Nationwide Client Services Agreement on file and search engagement for that position will be deemed unsolicited in nature. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is subsequently hired as a result of the referral or through other means.
Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. If a Sales job, Sales Incentives, based on performance goals are possible in addition to this range. Note on Compensation for Part-Time Roles: Please be aware that the salary ranges listed below reflect full-time compensation. Actual compensation may be prorated based on the number of hours worked relative to a full-time schedule.
The national salary range for Sr Director, Life Underwriting - 111560 : $136,000.00-$256,000.00
The expected starting salary range for Sr Director, Life Underwriting - 111560 : $136,000.00 - $228,000.00
