Agency and Policyholder Enablement Manager

Pay Philosophy 

The typical starting salary for this position is determined by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, acquired skills, experience, education, and certifications/designations. This position may be eligible for annual merit increases and participation in our bonus program.

What are we looking for?

Join our team as an Agency and Policyholder Enablement Manager. You would be responsible for setting the strategy, direction, and governance for Columbia’s agency and policyholder digital enablement capabilities, ensuring external facing platforms effectively support business growth, profitability, retention, and service efficiency

Who we are and what we do?

At Columbia Insurance, we believe our people are the heart of our success and our greatest strength. With robust benefits, a fun, family like atmosphere, and a culture that thrives on real connections, Columbia truly is the place to be. Our vision is to lead the industry in people first partnerships. The best way to achieve that is by bringing together a team of skilled, passionate, and talented individuals.

Why us?

• Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage
• 401(k) and company match
• Generous paid time off (PTO), paid company holidays, paid maternity/paternity leave, and supplemental sick leave
• Family like culture
• Year round wellness initiatives
• Company sponsored events
• Opportunities for professional development with conferences, events, and continued education

Company History

Our legacy has roots back to 1889 when we first became part of the mutual insurance movement in the Midwest. Today, our extensive heritage resonates nationwide, as we proudly serve customers in 14 states across the country.

Basic Function and Responsibility

This role is responsible for setting the strategy, direction, and governance for Columbia’s agency and policyholder digital enablement capabilities, ensuring external facing platforms effectively support business growth, profitability, retention, and service efficiency. The manager provides enterprise leadership and decision authority over experience design, prioritization, performance measurement, and cross functional alignment for agent and policyholder portals and their supporting infrastructure. Success in this role is measured by adoption, usability, and business impact, not day to day product execution. This role reports to the AVP of Underwriting Systems & Operations but will have related responsibilities to the VP – Small Commercial, VP – Claims, Director of Customer Service & Business Support, and VP – CIO. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Define and maintain the vision, strategy, and roadmap for Columbia’s external facing digital platforms and their supporting technology infrastructure, including the agent portal, policyholder portal, agency information center, and successor or replacement technologies.
• Align digital initiatives with company business objectives, including growth, profitability, retention, and service efficiency, ensuring prioritization decisions consider enterprise impact and return on investment.
• Establish and govern user personas for all agency and policyholder segments, ensuring end to end journeys are intentionally designed across digital platforms 
• Ensure end to end journeys support core transactions and interactions, including quote, bind, print, pay, endorse, cancel, contact, access date, with a consistent, intuitive experience across platforms.  
• Provide strategic oversight for the prioritization of digital enablement capabilities, including epics, features, and enhancements, to continuously improve the user experience.
• Collaborate with underwriting, distribution/sales, service/operations, and other business units to define enablement needs, surface constraints, and balance competing priorities. 
• Serve as primary business partner to IT Leadership, ensuring enablement solutions are feasible, saleable, secure, and delivered in alignment with company standards and timelines. 
•  Establish governance standards for business requirements, acceptance criteria, and release readiness across digital enablement solutions. Provide formal business ownership and approval for enablement features prior to production deployment, ensuring alignment with intended outcomes and user needs. 
• Partner with Underwriting and Sales/Distribution leadership to define and monitor key performance indicators for each digital platform, including adoption, usability, efficiency, and business impact.
• Use insight from KPIs, user feedback, and operational data to guide continuous improvement decisions across agency and policyholder enablement capabilities. 
• Oversee the successful rollout and adoption of new enablement features, including readiness, communication strategy, and training approach, ensuring changes are effectively adopted by agents, policyholders, and internal teams.
• Other duties are required.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of experience in digital product management, digital strategy, enablement, or related role
• Demonstrated leadership experience overseeing enterprise digital platforms or enablement capabilities, with accountability for outcomes rather than task execution. 
• Strong understanding of digital platforms, user experience principles, and agile delivery models, with the ability to apply these concepts at a strategic and governance level.
• Demonstrated ability to guide teams in translating business objectives into scalable digital solutions, ensuring alignment with company priorities and user needs. 
• Excellent stakeholder management, executive communication, and influence skills, including the ability to balance competing priorities across business and technology partners.

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s Degree required

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree, MBA, MIS and/or relevant certifications preferred, particularly those supporting leadership, strategy, or digital enablement. 
• Experience working in or supporting Property & Casualty insurance carrier, particularly in Commercial Lines distribution, underwriting, service, or claims enablement
• Experience leading or supporting implementation of a core insurance platform or major digital transformation initiative, with cross functional business impact
• Demonstrated experience in designing and leading enterprise level digital or enablement strategies, including governance, prioritization, and performance measurement

• Experience leveraging data, analytics, and KPIs to evaluate platform performance, user behavior, and business outcomes

EOE

Columbia Insurance prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you are unable to complete the electronic application for any reason, please contact Mandi Giboney: [email protected] 573-777-4087