Information about the Role, Line of Business and Team:
The Chief Operating Officer is responsible for translating the Accident & Health strategy into disciplined execution across the enterprise. The role provides enterprise leadership across Claims, Cost Containment, Technology, Data and Operational Excellence, ensuring A&H has the capabilities, infrastructure and service discipline required to scale profitably while delivering a differentiated experience for customers and business partners.
Reporting to the President of Accident & Health, the COO is accountable for operational and service performance, including ensuring A&H expenses perform at or better than plan through process simplification, standardization, automation, technology, data and effective claims and cost-containment strategies. Equally important, the COO is accountable for ensuring these functions strengthen the end-to-end customer journey and consistently deliver service at a level that differentiates A&H in the marketplace.
The COO partners closely with business unit and functional leaders and maintains a strong external orientation toward customers, distribution partners, administrators and other key relationships. Because the promise at the heart of insurance is the promise to pay claims, this leader sets an exceptionally high bar for claims quality, responsiveness and service. The COO also ensures technology, data and communications make A&H easier to do business with, strengthen client satisfaction and retention, and reinforce the A&H value proposition in the market.
What you will do:
Operations & Business Performance
- Lead the operating capabilities required to support A&H’s strategic, growth and financial objectives.
- Continuously drive expense efficiency while protecting service quality, customer experience and the capabilities required for growth.
- Drive operational excellence through process simplification, standardization, automation and continuous improvement.
- Leverage Claims, Cost Containment, Technology and Data to improve operational, financial and customer outcomes.
- Establish appropriate performance metrics, service levels and operational dashboards.
- Lead operating reviews and execution governance, identifying risks, dependencies and performance issues requiring executive intervention.
- Partner with business leaders to ensure operations enable profitable growth, superior service and strong customer and partner outcomes.
- Build scalable operating capabilities that strengthen the long-term value of A&H.
Customer, Partner & Market Experience
- Own the operating dimensions of the end-to-end customer and business-partner journey, ensuring service delivery is responsive, consistent and differentiated in the market.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with key customers and partners, actively seeking feedback and translating it into service, process and technology improvements.
- Ensure claims, technology, data and operational capabilities work together to make A&H easy to do business with and to strengthen satisfaction, retention and long-term partnerships.
- Partner with business development, distribution and marketing leaders to articulate and demonstrate A&H’s service, claims, technology and data capabilities as competitive differentiators.
- Ensure external communications, digital touchpoints, reporting and service interactions reinforce the A&H brand and value proposition.
- Use customer and partner insights, service metrics and market feedback to identify opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement.
Claims & Cost Containment
- Provide executive leadership and oversight of the A&H Claims and Cost Containment organizations.
- Ensure a long-term claims and cost-containment strategy is established and aligned with divisional objectives and A&H’s growth plans.
- Establish appropriate performance standards, benchmarks and management reporting.
- Ensure effective governance, quality standards, controls and regulatory compliance across A&H claims.
- Ensure effective management of claims partners, administrators and vendors, including alignment with divisional objectives and standards.
- Drive continuous improvement across claims processes, capabilities and cost containment while elevating claimant, customer and partner experience.
- Ensure appropriate oversight and escalation of material, complex and high-exposure claims.
- Use claims and cost-containment insights to identify opportunities to improve portfolio performance and business outcomes.
Technology & Data
- Provide executive leadership for A&H Technology and Data, working in partnership with business, enterprise and customer-facing leaders.
- Establish and maintain A&H technology and data roadmaps aligned to divisional priorities and the evolving needs of customers and business partners.
- Prioritize investments based on business value, operational need and financial return.
- Drive modernization of A&H platforms, data, reporting and digital capabilities, including the tools and interfaces through which customers and business partners interact with A&H.
- Increase the use of technology, data, automation and AI to simplify operations, improve business performance and create a more seamless customer and partner experience.
- Ensure technology and data investments deliver intended business outcomes, measurable value and meaningful improvements in service and ease of doing business.
Operational Excellence
- Establish a disciplined approach to process improvement across A&H.
- Simplify and standardize processes to reduce complexity, unnecessary handoffs and operational friction.
- Identify and implement automation opportunities that improve efficiency, service and controls.
- Establish operating standards and performance measures for critical capabilities.
- Lead cross-functional operational improvement initiatives in partnership with business and functional leaders.
- Ensure improvements are sustainable, measurable and capable of supporting A&H as it scales.
Executive Partnership
- Serve as a strategic operating partner to the President and Executive Leadership Team.
- Provide recommendations on operating model, investment and resource allocation decisions.
- Partner with business and functional leaders to remove operational barriers to profitable growth.
- Build alignment and accountability across functions while maintaining clear business ownership.
- Develop high-performing teams and scalable capabilities that support A&H’s long-term growth.
Success Measures:
- Expense efficiency over time
- Claims performance, quality, responsiveness and customer service outcomes.
- Customer and partner satisfaction, retention, service-level performance and ease of doing business.
- Effectiveness of the end-to-end customer journey, including external technology, communications and service touchpoints.
- Market recognition of A&H’s claims, service, technology and data capabilities as competitive differentiators.
- Cost containment effectiveness and measurable savings.
- Technology roadmap delivery, business-value realization and improvement in customer and partner experience.
- Data quality, accessibility and use in decision-making.
- Measurable process simplification, standardization and automation.
- Operational productivity, service performance and customer satisfaction.
- Successful delivery of agreed operational and transformation priorities.
- Leadership confidence in execution and operating discipline.
What YOU will bring to C&F:
Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
- 15+ years of leadership experience within insurance or financial services.
- Executive leadership experience across complex operational environments, including claims, technology and/or data.
- Demonstrated track record of improving operational and financial performance.
- Experience leading significant operational transformation, process improvement and technology-enabled change.
- Experience building and leading high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated experience improving customer or partner experience and building strong external relationships in a complex business environment.
- Experience partnering with commercial, distribution and marketing leaders to translate operational capabilities into market-facing value.
Skills & Capabilities
- Strategic, commercial and customer-focused mindset.
- Strong operational and execution discipline.
- Financial and analytical acumen.
- Technology and data fluency.
- Strong performance-management orientation.
- Executive communication, relationship-management and influencing skills.
- Ability to lead effectively across organizational boundaries.
- Change leadership.
- Customer journey and service-excellence orientation.
- Strong external relationship-management and market-facing leadership capabilities.
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What C&F will bring to you
- Competitive compensation package
- Generous 401K employer match
- Employee Stock Purchase plan with employer matching
- Generous Paid Time Off
- Excellent benefits that go beyond health, dental & vision. Our programs are focused on your whole family’s wellness, including your physical, mental and financial wellbeing
- A core C&F tenet is supporting your career development, so we provide a wealth of ways for you to keep learning, which may include tuition reimbursement, industry-related certifications and professional training to keep you progressing on your chosen path
- A dynamic, ambitious, fun and exciting work environment
- We believe you do well by doing good and want to encourage a spirit of social and community responsibility, matching donation program, volunteer opportunities, and an employee-driven corporate giving program that lets you participate and support your community
