Operational Excellence Specialist

Job description

Position Summary: The Operations Excellence Specialist serves as a subject matter expert responsible for complex operational processes that support several business functions, including Payments, Renewals, Claims, and Commissions. This role partners with teams across the organization to drive operational excellence through process ownership, operational support, continuous improvement, and cross-functional collaboration. The Operations Excellence Specialist plays a critical role in managing specialized operational workflows, supporting strategic initiatives, maintaining operational controls, and ensuring accurate execution of key business functions. This position is responsible for handling complex operational activities, contributing to process improvements, supporting special projects, and helping drive efficiency, accuracy, and scalability across the organization. Key Responsibilities: Manage specialized operational processes across Payments, Renewals, Claims, and Commissions, ensuring activities are completed accurately, efficiently, and in accordance with established procedures and compliance requirements. Serve as a subject matter expert for complex operational workflows, partnering with internal stakeholders to support business initiatives and ensure consistent execution of operational processes. Manage complex payment and billing activities, including disputes, agency bill accounts, notices of cancellation, notices of rescission, cancellations, reconciliations, refunds, and other specialized operational processes. Research and resolve complex account and billing issues requiring detailed investigation, analysis, and coordination across multiple teams and systems. Support agency bill operations and agent servicing activities related to billing, payment processing, and account management. Support complex renewal-related operational processes, including rate increase inquiries, underwriting-driven non-renewals, policy servicing activities, and other specialized renewal functions. Support complex claims-related operational processes, including First Notice of Loss (FNOL), expense payments, Finance and carrier account processes, and other specialized claims functions in partnership with Claims and internal stakeholders. Administer commission-related processes, including commission reviews, adjustments, reporting support, unpaid commission outreach, and activities necessary to support accurate commission administration. Lead and support special operational projects and initiatives, including payment-related projects, workflow enhancements, testing efforts, system implementations, operational reviews, and process improvement initiatives. Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency, accuracy, scalability, and customer outcomes through process enhancements and workflow optimization. Analyze operational trends and recurring issues to identify root causes and recommend sustainable solutions. Maintain operational controls, audit readiness, and data integrity across supported business functions. Develop, document, and maintain operational procedures, workflows, and process documentation to support consistency, knowledge sharing, and operational excellence. Partner with Customer Care, Finance, Claims, Underwriting, Product, Engineering, and other departments to resolve operational challenges, improve processes, and support organizational goals. Participate in testing, business readiness activities, system enhancements, and other strategic initiatives that impact operational performance. Required Qualifications: Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience. 3+ years of experience in insurance operations, payment operations, billing, policy servicing, renewals, claims support, commissions administration, or related operational functions. Property & Casualty Producer License in home state or ability to obtain and maintain required licensing within established timelines. Knowledge of commercial insurance operations and compliance requirements. Experience managing complex operational workflows, investigations, reconciliations, and transaction processing. Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Experience with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel and SharePoint. Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across departments. Demonstrated ability to identify process improvement opportunities and contribute to operational excellence initiatives. Ability to work independently while maintaining a high level of accuracy and attention to detail. Preferred Qualifications (Bonus Experience): CPCU, CIC, CISR, ARM, AINS, AIC, or other insurance-related professional designations. Experience working with commercial insurance carriers, agencies, MGAs, or Insurtech organizations. Experience supporting payment operations, billing systems, agency bill programs, commissions administration, renewals, or claims servicing functions. Knowledge of workflow automation and process improvement tools such as Power Automate. Experience with Salesforce, Jira, Confluence, or other operational and project management platforms. Experience working with third-party vendors, integrations, or insurance technology platforms. Experience participating in operational audits, compliance reviews, quality assurance initiatives, or process improvement projects. Our interview process: Our hiring process generally consists of 3 phases. The goal is to provide an opportunity for us to learn more about our candidates while allowing them to get to know us as well! Phase 1 : Qualified candidates will first meet with a member of our People Operations team for a phone interview. This discussion is a high-level conversation to understand more about your background and interests and for us to share more about Coterie and the position. Phase 2 : Selected candidates will be invited to meet with our Hiring Manager for a 2nd interview via Teams video. This interview is designed to be more detail oriented and allows you to learn more about the role Phase 3 : Top candidates will receive an invite for our final interview series via Teams video. This series will include an experiential exercise project (provided in advance), 1:1 interviews with selected team members. The final series is roughly 1.5-3 hours in total but can be scheduled over a few days for flexibility. What's in it for you: Coterie has excellent benefits for all full-time employees. We offer the following: 100% remote Health insurance through Aetna (we pay 100% of premiums) Dental and vision insurance through Guardian (we pay 100% of premiums) Basic life insurance (we pay 100% of premiums) Access to flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA) (for those using HSA eligible plans) 401K plan (up 4% match with immediate vest). Must be 21 years of age or older to participate Flexible PTO policy offering employees up to 4 weeks of PTO in their first 12 months. Thereafter, PTO usage aligns with company standards and typically does not exceed 5 weeks per calendar year. 12 company-paid holidays each year Continuing education annual stipend Annual salary estimated to be $60,000-$62,500 (paid hourly) based on national data. Candidates who meet all the minimum requirements and possess additional relevant experience, as outlined in the job description, may be considered for a salary above the midpoint of the above range. Salary is based on internal equity; internal salary ranges; market data/ranges; applicant’s skills; prior relevant experience; degrees or certifications, etc. Work Authorization: At this time, Coterie Insurance is unable to consider candidates who require current or future visa sponsorship. Applicants must have authorization to work in the United States without the need for sponsorship now or in the future. Falsification of an application, including work authorization status, is immediate grounds for dismissal from consideration. Who we are: Through a partnership-based approach, Coterie helps insurance professionals unlock untapped revenue in the small commercial space. With an innovative quoting platform that delivers accurate pricing and bindable quotes in less than one minute, Coterie makes small business insurance effortless. We are on a mission to build and foster a world-class team to bring speed, simplicity, and service to commercial insurance. We value integrity, humility, passion, and intelligence. If you want to push yourself and reshape a $200B+ market, we’re excited to talk to you!