Head of Underwriting

Posted Yesterday
Be an Early Applicant
Hiring Remotely in San Francisco, CA, USA
In-Office or Remote
175K-200K Annually
Expert/Leader
Insurance
Insurance provider for catastrophe regions, protecting people's homes through coverage and risk mitigation.
The Role
Lead and scale underwriting function for catastrophe-exposed homeowners risks. Define strategy and guidelines, manage underwriting team, optimize portfolio performance and pricing, integrate data-driven models, coordinate with actuarial/reinsurance, ensure regulatory compliance, and advise executive leadership on risk and growth.
Summary Generated by Built In

About Delos Insurance Solutions

Delos Insurance Solutions is a tech-enabled MGA focused on underwriting complex homeowners risks, particularly in catastrophe-exposed regions. We combine proprietary risk models with a modern tech stack and deep insurance expertise. Backed by top-tier VCs, we’re growing rapidly and are looking for high-impact team members to help us scale.



Position Overview:

The Head of Underwriting is responsible for leading the company’s underwriting function, driving risk selection, pricing discipline, and portfolio performance. This role combines strategic ownership with team leadership, ensuring underwriting excellence through strong guidelines, data-driven decision-making, and consistent execution.

The Head of Underwriting plays a critical role in balancing growth and profitability, particularly in catastrophe-exposed portfolios, while building a high-performing underwriting team.  This role also proactively identifies opportunities to streamline processes and implement automation, leveraging a forward-thinking approach to position the organization for long-term success in an evolving industry.


Key Responsibilities

Underwriting Strategy & Leadership

       Define and execute underwriting strategy aligned with company risk appetite and growth goals

       Establish clear underwriting frameworks, guidelines, and authority structures

       Lead and develop the underwriting team to ensure consistent, high-quality decision-making


Team Management & Development

       Manage, mentor, and scale a team of underwriters

       Set performance expectations, KPIs, and accountability standards

       Foster a culture of discipline, collaboration, and continuous improvement


Portfolio Management

       Own portfolio performance, including loss ratio, exposure, and concentration risk

       Monitor trends and adjust underwriting strategy based on performance and market conditions

       Actively manage catastrophe exposure, including wildfire and other perils


Pricing & Risk Selection

       Ensure alignment between underwriting decisions and pricing models

       Partner with actuarial and data teams to refine segmentation and risk selection

       Maintain balance between growth targets and profitability


Data & Analytics Integration

       Drive adoption of data-driven underwriting tools, models, and risk scores

       Collaborate with data science teams to improve model performance and usability

       Ensure underwriting decisions are informed by robust analytics and insights


Reinsurance & Risk Alignment

       Partner with reinsurance to align underwriting strategy with risk transfer programs

       Ensure portfolio construction reflects reinsurance structures and constraints

       Support optimization of retention and exposure

 

Governance & Compliance

       Ensure underwriting practices meet regulatory requirements and internal controls

       Maintain clear documentation, auditability, and consistency

       Support regulatory interactions and internal reviews

       Cross-Functional Leadership

       Collaborate with claims, finance, and revenue teams to align on performance and strategy

       Provide insights into loss drivers and emerging risks

       Serve as a key advisor to executive leadership on portfolio risk and growth

 

Qualifications:

  • 10–15+ years of underwriting experience, preferably in property insurance
  • Active Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance license in at least one U.S. state is required. If not currently licensed in California, candidates must be able to obtain a California Non-Resident Property & Casualty license within 90 days of hire.
  • Proven leadership experience managing and developing underwriting teams
  • Strong expertise in catastrophe-exposed risks; wildfire experience strongly preferred
  • Deep understanding of underwriting, pricing, and portfolio management
  • Experience in insurtech or data-driven underwriting environments preferred
  • Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks


Compensation and Benefits

       Competitive salary plus equity stock options

       Flexibility to work from anywhere in the United States

       Unlimited PTO, including sick leave and company holidays

       Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. (25% paid by employee, 75% covered by Delos including dependents)

       401(k) retirement savings plan

       Professional development opportunities and tuition assistance 

Skills Required

  • 10-15+ years of underwriting experience, preferably in property insurance
  • Active Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance license in at least one U.S. state (able to obtain California Non-Resident P&C license within 90 days if not currently licensed in California)
  • Proven leadership experience managing and developing underwriting teams
  • Strong expertise in catastrophe-exposed risks; wildfire experience
  • Deep understanding of underwriting, pricing, and portfolio management
  • Experience in insurtech or data-driven underwriting environments
  • Familiarity with regulatory and compliance frameworks
Am I A Good Fit?
beta
Get Personalized Job Insights.
Our AI-powered fit analysis compares your resume with a job listing so you know if your skills & experience align.

The Company
HQ: San Francisco, CA
41 Employees
Year Founded: 2016

What We Do

Delos Insurance Solutions, a pioneering Managing General Agent (MGA), is at the forefront of transforming property insurance in climate-affected regions. Delos is currently active in California, writing policies in areas that other insurance providers are avoiding for wildfire exposure. Traditional insurance models have proven inadequate in an era marked by the impacts of climate change. Delos has embarked on a groundbreaking approach, integrating climate and catastrophe modeling expertise at every level of an insurance provider. Delos' innovative programs leverage proprietary AI risk models (patented) developed by world-renowned professors within our team. Beginning with wildfire risk, these models have consistently outperformed industry standards, allowing Delos to underwrite policies profitably in areas where legacy carriers are swiftly withdrawing. This enables Delos to provide insurance coverage to millions of homes that would otherwise have limited options.

Similar Jobs

Pluralsight Logo Pluralsight

Director Analytics Engineering

Edtech • Information Technology • Software
Remote or Hybrid
USA
1000 Employees
167K-220K Annually

Garner Health Logo Garner Health

Provider Sales Director

Big Data • Healthtech • HR Tech • Machine Learning • Software • Telehealth • Big Data Analytics
Easy Apply
Remote
USA
350 Employees
230K-260K Annually

Upstart Logo Upstart

Senior Software Engineer

Artificial Intelligence • Fintech • Machine Learning • Social Impact • Software
Easy Apply
Remote
United States
1500 Employees
167K-242K Annually

CSC Logo CSC

Accountant

Fintech • Legal Tech • Software • Financial Services • Cybersecurity • Data Privacy
Remote or Hybrid
2 Locations
8500 Employees
79K-90K Annually

Similar Companies Hiring

Globe Life Thumbnail
Insurance • Financial Services
McKinney, TX
3000 Employees
MassMutual India Thumbnail
Big Data • Fintech • Information Technology • Insurance • Financial Services
Hyderabad, Telangana
Granted Thumbnail
Mobile • Insurance • Healthtech • Financial Services • Artificial Intelligence
New York, New York
23 Employees

Sign up now Access later

Create Free Account

Please log in or sign up to report this job.

Create Free Account