Vice President, Claims

Agribusiness Risk Underwriters ( ARU) is a startup insurtech company that began development in 2016 and launched to consumers July 1, 2018. ARU was founded on principles of creativity and innovation, with a goal to use engineering and technology to disrupt the legacy marketplace. Our core mission is to deliver a superior experience to our policyholders, while also maintaining sustainability and consistency writing historically-challenging classes of business. To do so, we build and deploy 100% proprietary insurance products, we invest heavily in property loss prevention engineering and research, and we develop home-grown software and other technology. We also focus on collaborative broker and policyholder relationships, which allow us to deliver shared victories for all stakeholders.

To learn more about ARU, check out our web page here: https://agrisku.com

NOW HIRING: VICE PRESIDENT – CLAIMS

This is a new position — when ARU launched, we utilized a TPA relationship for our claims; we have now grown to the point where it makes more sense to bring claims in-house.

We are now seeking an experienced claims manager to develop our internal claims processes, spearhead relationships with a regional network of independent adjusters, and lead our claims operations. We are seeking a dynamic professional who will help us ensure the claims department achieves three primary objectives: 1) ARU handles policyholder claims FAST and FAIR, with the utmost accuracy, thoroughness, and professionalism, 2) Our policyholders’ claims are handled so well, ARU develops a reputation as a “policyholder-first” company, which helps us achieve our ambitions to be the #1 writer in our space, and 3) We learn from every loss, with the intention of reducing the risk of future similar losses, via improved Underwriting and Loss Control mechanisms.

The Vice President of Claims will work very closely with Underwriting and Loss Control. At ARU, Claims, Underwriting, and Loss Control are the “three legs o f the stool,” and we depend on tight-knit collaboration among these departments for a cycle of continuous feedback and improvement, forming the foundation for company growth and underwriting profitability. As a claims professional, have you ever adjusted a loss and thought “what the heck are they doing over there at Underwriting?” Well, at ARU, we make sure Claims, Underwriting, and Loss Control are communicating and learning from each other – constantly. Some of the best improvements to our policy and coverage forms have come from lessons learned from claims.

The right fit for our Vice President of Claims will share our team’s culture and values: we work quickly, accurately, and thoroughly; we are excellent critical thinkers and creative problem solvers; we demand excellence from ourselves and those around us; we contribute cheerfully to ARU’s environment of collaborative problem solving; we love to explore and experiment, and we are comfortable occasionally blazing a trail that ends up actually being a “ bridge to nowhere” — just as long as we fail fast, pivot appropriately, and become tougher and smarter as a result; we love to learn, read, and grow as human beings; we believe in science-based truths, and we know there is no such thing as an alternative fact.

WHAT WE’RE OFFERING TO YOU

• Leadership position in a progressive, fast growing company, where your contribution will be critical to the company’s success
• Resume-building position in the fast-paced and challenging insurtech space
• Competitive salary commensurate with experience and skill set
• Group health insurance, PTO, and retirement plan with company match

WHAT WE REQUIRE – YOUR EXPERIENCE AND SKILLSET

• 10+ years of property and casualty claims experience (commercial or agricultural PROPERTY experience strongly preferred)
• 5+ years as a claims manager, supervising t he work of field adjusters; a n existing network of independent adjusters in the midwest and eastern U.S. is strongly preferred
• 5+ years handling the entire claims administration life-cycle, including setting up claims files, writing required correspondence (reservation o f rights, coverage declinations, etc), maintaining excellent documentation, networking with counsel as necessary, maintaining full compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements, making payments to policyholders
• Active adjuster license (any state OK – we will expand as necessary)
• Undergraduate degree from an accredited 4-year college or university
• Awesome negotiation and relationship-building skills. Must be able to work with policyholders in a professional, tactful, and fair manner, through challenging circumstances. Additionally, must be able to source, recruit, and train independent adjusters.
• CPCU, AFIS, or other industry designations strongly preferred
• Proficient with modern business technology
• High intellectual curiosity, with an enjoyment of learning and self-improvement
• Excellent critical thinker and problem-solver under pressure
• Exceptional personal organization and time-management skills, with demonstrable ability to manage teams with high logistical challenges
• High ability to self-manage and take absolute and complete ownership o f assigned responsibilities and accompanying results
• Graceful, tactful, and professional under pressure, in the spoken word and in written form

OFFICE LOCATION

• Effective December 1, 2019, ARU is moving to offices inside of the startup accelerator Flywheel, at 500 W 5th St., Winston-Salem, NC. (old GMAC building, downtown Winston-Salem)

• Prior to that date, ARU’s office is at 127 Marketplace Dr, Mocksville, NC.

Job Type: Full-time

Salary: $0.00 /year

Experience:

• property and casualty claims: 10 years (Required)

Work Location:

• One location

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Retirement plan
• Paid time off