Commercial Property Underwriting Leader (Director)
Shepherd
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Job summary
Shepherd is seeking a Commercial Property Underwriting Leader to spearhead a new Retail Commercial Property vertical, shaping underwriting strategy, go-to-market plans, and long‑term profitable growth. The role requires a decade of property underwriting expertise, strong leadership, and a robust broker network to drive early submissions and scale the book with modern technology.
You will lead strategy, guidelines, pricing tools, and CAT exposure views, while partnering with Product, Engineering,
Qualifications
- 10+ years of commercial property underwriting, with deep expertise in retail middle market and large accounts across classes such as real estate, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and technology.
- A proven record of profitable growth: quoting, binding, and building a property book while managing to loss-ratio and combined-ratio targets.
- Strong technical command of risk selection, COPE analysis, valuation, pricing, coverage, primary and excess layering, and manuscript forms.
- Hands-on CAT modeling experience (RMS / AIR / Verisk) and disciplined aggregate and exposure management.
- Established retail broker relationships at the regional and national level that can drive submission flow from day one.
- People leadership experience leading, mentoring, or managing underwriters, including setting authority and running underwriting audits.
- Executive presence to present strategy and results to leadership, capacity partners, and reinsurers.
- Comfort with ambiguity: you make sound decisions with incomplete information and adapt quickly as the business evolves.
- Willingness to travel about 25% to meet brokers, partners, and the team.
- A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
Responsibilities
- Define the production strategy for retail commercial property, including target classes, TIV bands, geographies, appetite, and growth and loss-ratio targets.
- Support in writing the underwriting guidelines, authority framework, referral rules, and rating approach.
- Partner with Product, Engineering, and Data to design the submission‑to‑bind workflow, pricing tools, and CAT‑exposure views.
- Underwrite new and renewal primary and excess property within your authority.
- Own premium, profit, loss-ratio, retention, and expense results for the vertical.
- Use your retail broker relationships to drive submission flow in the first year, and serve as Shepherd's senior property voice with brokers, clients, and other stakeholders.
- Hire, coach, and grow a team of property underwriters and support staff as the book scales.
- Work with Corporate Underwriting to help set letters of authority, run underwriting audits, and coach from the results.
- Work with Claims, Actuarial, Customer Experience and Finance so the business is underwritten, serviced, and reported well.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Commercial insurance still runs on processes built decades ago. Underwriting is slow, and pricing leans on broad averages instead of the specifics of each risk. Technology can change how commercial risk is priced and managed, as long as it's paired with real underwriting expertise. The companies that get this right will shape the next era of the industry, and Shepherd intends to lead it.
Shepherd is a Managing General Underwriter (MGU) building the fastest and smartest AI-native commercial risk platform in the industry, where underwriters, data, and automation work together. The result is faster decisions for our broker partners and pricing that reflects the actual risk.
We started where the gap is widest: construction and energy, two of the most complex and highest-hazard segments in commercial insurance. Today we write Primary and Excess Casualty, Builder’s Risk, and Workers' Compensation distributed through a nationwide network of retail brokers. Our mission is to make risk frictionless for the builders and operators shaping the physical world, from concept through construction and into decades of operation.
Shepherd has raised over $67M, including a $42M Series B led by Intact Private Capital. Intact also partners with Shepherd to provide capacity across its insurance products. Shepherd is also backed by leading institutional investors, including Costanoa Ventures, Spark Capital, Susa Ventures, and Y Combinator.
Shepherd is launching a Retail Commercial Property vertical as an expansion to its current Property and Inland Marine offerings. The Commercial Property Underwriting Leader will play a lead role in building and shaping new industry segments from the ground up. This is an opportunity to help define the underwriting strategy, go-to-market, and drive long-term profitable growth for a core pillar of Shepherd’s business. We're looking for someone with 10+ years of commercial property underwriting experience, a proven track record of leadership, deep relationships in the retail channel, and an entrepreneurial mindset who is excited to build something new with modern technology and a forward-thinking team.
You are a builder who wants to shape the future of commercial insurance and do the best work of your career. You have deep property expertise, a loyal broker network, and the drive to turn a blank page into a profitable book.
You'd be a great fit if you have:
10+ years of commercial property underwriting, with deep expertise in retail middle market and large accounts across classes such as real estate, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, and technology.
A proven record of profitable growth: quoting, binding, and building a property book while managing to loss-ratio and combined-ratio targets.
Strong technical command of risk selection, COPE analysis, valuation, pricing, coverage, primary and excess layering, and manuscript forms.
Hands-on CAT modeling experience (RMS / AIR / Verisk) and disciplined aggregate and exposure management.
Established retail broker relationships at the regional and national level that can drive submission flow from day one.
People leadership experience leading, mentoring, or managing underwriters, including setting authority and running underwriting audits.
Executive presence to present strategy and results to leadership, capacity partners, and reinsurers.
Comfort with ambiguity: you make sound decisions with incomplete information and adapt quickly as the business evolves.
Willingness to travel about 25% to meet brokers, partners, and the team.
A bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
Shepherd's underwriting approach is client‑centric with a heavy emphasis on an efficient process using our AI-native platform. Our goal is to leverage our technology and data to make quick, informed underwriting decisions tailored to our clients' specific needs.
In this role, you will:
Define the production strategy for retail commercial property, including target classes, TIV bands, geographies, appetite, and growth and loss-ratio targets.
Support in writing the underwriting guidelines, authority framework, referral rules, and rating approach.
Partner with Product, Engineering, and Data to design the submission‑to‑bind workflow, pricing tools, and CAT‑exposure views.
Underwrite new and renewal primary and excess property within your authority.
Own premium, profit, loss-ratio, retention, and expense results for the vertical.
Use your retail broker relationships to drive submission flow in the first year, and serve as Shepherd's senior property voice with brokers, clients, and other stakeholders.
Hire, coach, and grow a team of property underwriters and support staff as the book scales.
Work with Corporate Underwriting to help set letters of authority, run underwriting audits, and coach from the results.
Work with Claims, Actuarial, Customer Experience and Finance so the business is underwritten, serviced, and reported well.
This is a position based in our New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Dallas-Fort Worth offices.
The base salary range for this role is $250,000 – $350,000, plus an annual performance bonus and equity in Shepherd. Offers within the range depend on location, experience, and the relationships and market following you bring.
Shepherd runs on four values. Here's what each one means in this seat.
Think big, build big. We exist to protect progress and the industries that rely on it. You're building a casualty vertical meant to scale nationally, so the guidelines, team, and tools get designed for where the book is going, not just where it starts.
Win together. We rise as one. We support each other, raise the bar, and celebrate collective success. As the first leader of this vertical, you set the standard every casualty underwriter after you inherits.
Cross the aisle. Collaboration wins. We listen deeply, work across boundaries, and prioritize shared success over individual lanes. The best underwriting tools here come from underwriters who sit with engineers and data scientists, and much of this job is making that partnership work.
Go get it. We act with urgency, move with confidence, take smart risks, and push forward with intention. Nobody hands you the appetite, the broker list, or the first submission. You build the plan, make the calls, and bind the first deal.
Premium Healthcare
100% contribution to top‑tier health, dental, and vision
Fertility Benefits & Family Building Support
Unlimited PTO
Flexibility to take the time off, recharge, and perform
Daily Lunches, Dinners & Snacks
We work together, and enjoy meals together too
SF, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago & LA Offices
Professional Development
Access to premium coaching, including leadership development
Competitive 401(k) Plan
Dog-Friendly Office
Plenty of dogs to play with and make friends with in the SF office
#LI-Onsite
Shepherd runs on four values. Here's what each one means in this seat.
Think big, build big. We exist to protect progress and the industries that rely on it. The work here is aimed at a system that runs on its own, and the roadmap gets sequenced backward from that rather than forward from what's easy.
Win together. We rise as one. We support each other, raise the bar, and celebrate collective success. Come set a standard the rest of the team inherits.
Cross the aisle. Collaboration wins. We listen deeply, work across boundaries, and prioritize shared success over individual lanes. The best product calls here come from engineers who've sat with underwriters and underwriters who understand where the model breaks, and much of this job is listening closely enough on both sides to make that happen.
Go get it. We act with urgency, move with confidence, take smart risks, and push forward with intention. Nobody hands you the roadmap, the data, or the meeting invite. You pull the failing runs, book the time with the underwriters, and decide what matters.
Premium Healthcare
100% contribution to top‑tier health, dental, and vision
Fertility benefits and family building support
Unlimited PTO
Flexibility to take the time off, recharge, and perform
Daily lunches, dinners, and snacks
We work together, and enjoy meals together too
SF, NYC, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago and LA Offices
Professional Development
Access to premium coaching, including leadership development
Competitive 401(k) Plan
Dog-friendly office
Plenty of dogs to play with and make friends with in the SF office
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