The OpportunityAs Medical Director, Disability Insurance Underwriting Governance, you will serve as a senior clinical leader for the Disability Income (DI) underwriting organization, within the Office of the Corporate Chief Underwriter (OCCU) responsible for advancing the medical underwriting framework, enhancing risk selection, and modernizing underwriting guidelines.
This role combines deep clinical expertise with disability insurance knowledge to evaluate how medical conditions impact functional capacity and the risk of future disability. The physician will partner across underwriting, claims, and risk governance teams to ensure consistent, evidence-based decision-making aligned with company risk appetite when researching and updating medical guidelines in our proprietary disability income underwriting manual.
The TeamYou will report directly to the Corporate Chief Underwriter and become part of a team focused on strengthening underwriting discipline, guideline governance, and risk selection for the disability income business. The work is highly collaborative and requires partnership with production underwriting, claims, actuarial, legal, and compliance partners.
The Impact- Lead the development, modernization, and ongoing maintenance of DI medical underwriting guidelines
- Translate clinical evidence into practical, field-applicable underwriting standards
- Drive consistency in risk assessment across the organization through clear, structured guideline design (content, format, and decision logic)
- Ensure alignment with emerging medical trends, longevity, and disability incidence experience
- Serve as a key contributor to broader underwriting manual strategy and modernization efforts
- Evaluate and synthesize medical literature related to morbidity, functional outcomes, and work disability risk
- Provide clinical perspective on emerging risks and conditions impacting DI portfolios
- Support morbidity monitoring and post-implementation reviews of underwriting changes
- Partner with pricing, analytics, and governance teams on experience studies and risk segmentation
- Develop and deliver targeted training for underwriters and stakeholders, focused on disability risk evaluation
- Enhance underwriter capability in interpreting medical data and applying guidelines consistently
- Act as a clinical SME for DI underwriting initiatives, including digital transformation and underwriting workflow improvements
- Collaborate with Claims, Product, Legal, and Compliance to ensure alignment across the policy lifecycle
- Provide governance input into risk tolerance, exception handling, and emerging issues
The Minimum Qualifications - Required- MD or DO with active medical license
- Board certification in a relevant specialty (e.g., Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation preferred)
- Demonstrated experience in insurance medicine, disability underwriting, or disability claims
- Deep understanding of how medical conditions affect functional capacity, return-to-work outcomes, and disability duration
- Strong analytical and decision-making skills with the ability to translate complex clinical data into underwriting actions
- Proven ability to communicate effectively with both clinical and non-clinical stakeholders
The Ideal Qualifications - Preferred- Experience in Disability Income (DI) underwriting or Group/Individual disability products
- Familiarity with morbidity experience analysis and underwriting guideline development
- Experience in medical leadership, guideline governance, or underwriting transformation initiatives
- Knowledge of occupational demands and vocational assessment principles
Salary Range:$209,700-$275,100
At MassMutual, we focus on ensuring fair equitable pay, by providing competitive salaries, along with incentive and bonus opportunities for all employees. Your total compensation package includes either a bonus target or in a sales-focused role a Variable Incentive Compensation component.
