Manager, Life & Complex Claims

Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company; United States; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangements

Job summary

Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company seeks a Life & Complex Claims Manager to lead a specialized team handling life claims, contestable investigations, foreign deaths, complex legal requests, and living benefit rider claims. You will drive risk management, policy interpretation, and process optimization while delivering transparent service to beneficiaries and partners.

The role oversees Complex Claims Roundtables, partners with Legal, Underwriting, and Compliance, and mentors examiners in

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred (or equivalent professional experience).
• 5+ years of relevant claims experience in Life, Disability, Contestable and/or Living Benefit Riders.
• 2+ years of direct people leadership or supervisory/mentorship experience.
• Lean, Six Sigma or process-improvement experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Provide secondary review and financial approval on life claims, contestable investigations, policy rescissions and living benefit rider claims within authority.
• Direct end-to-end medical investigation during the contestability period, ensuring compliance with guidelines and fair claims practices.
• Lead the weekly Complex Claims Roundtable with Underwriting, Legal and Compliance; act as escalation point for complex claims and regulatory inquiries.
• Oversee vendor and partner oversight with IME services, FCE vendors, retrieval services, investigation partners, and reinsurers.
• Mentor and upskill examiners in investigative techniques, medical record analysis, fraud indicators, and policy provisions.
• Establish and monitor metrics (cycle time, audit quality, aged pending) and drive corrective actions.
• Manage workload planning to balance caseloads and maintain SLA compliance; reduce cycle times and mitigate risk.
• Ensure governance and SOPs for life, living benefit and complex claim adjudication; extract insights from data.

Skills

Critical Thinking

Regulatory Acumen

Communication

Leadership

Cross Functional Collaboration

Life/Disability Claims

Strategic Goal Setting

Education

Bachelor degree preferred

LOMA/ICA designations preferred

Job description

Job Summary

The Life & Complex Claims Manager provides leadership and technical oversight for a specialized team of Claim Examiners handling life insurance, contestable investigations, foreign deaths, complex legal requests, and living benefit rider claims (Critical, Chronic, and Terminal Illness).This role is responsible for ensuring rigorous investigative standards, accurate contractual interpretation, and sound risk mitigation while delivering compassionate, transparent service to beneficiaries and partners.The Manager leads the operational execution of the Complex Claims Roundtables, acts as a primary liaison with Legal and Underwriting and drives continuous process optimization to reduce cycle times and mitigate risk.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Claim Approval & Adjudication: Provide secondary review and financial approval on life claims, contestable investigations, policy rescissions and living benefit rider claims within established authority limits.
• Contestable Investigation Oversight: Direct end-to-end medical investigation during the contestability period, ensuring adherence to claim guidelines, and state-specific fair claims practices.
• Lead and facilitate the weekly Complex Claims Roundtable, collaborating with Underwriting, Legal, and Compliance to evaluate high-risk or litigated files and serve as the primary point of claim escalation for complex claims, appeals, contested denials, and state insurance Department/regulatory inquiries, ensuring decisions are thoroughly reasoned and documented. Occasionally communicate directly with claimants/agents on specific claim cases and escalations.
• Vendor & Partner Oversight: Manage operational workflows with specialized external partners, including Independent Medical Examination (IME) providers. Partner with Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) vendors, retrieval services, investigation partners, and reinsurers.
• Technical Coaching: Actively mentor and upskill specialized examiners in advanced investigative techniques, medical record analysis, fraud indicators, contractual policy provisions, and other claim technical skills.
• Performance Management: Establish and monitor quantitative and qualitative metrics (e.g., investigative cycle time, audit quality, aged pending) through structured 1:1s, documented development plans, and timely corrective action when needed.
• Capacity & Demand Planning: Manage workload allocation and queue segmentation across complex workflows, balancing examiner caseloads to maintain SLA compliance and prevent aged inventory.
• Regularly evaluate complex claim workflows, letters, and forms (e.g., Attending Physician Statements, Living Benefit intake forms) to eliminate operational bottlenecks, reduce cycle times, and improve customer experience. Provide oversight of comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs), job aids, and training documentation for life, living benefit, and complex claim adjudication. Leverage claims data and Business Intelligence dashboards to identify root causes of claim delays, quality trends, and fraud patterns, presenting actionable insights to senior leadership.
• Oversee all aspects of the life and complex Claims functions, ensuring operational compliance with state and industry regulations.
• Model and maintain a strong culture of accountability and transparency at all levels of the department, taking ownership of decisions, outcomes, successes, and challenges. Oversee quality review and control processes for all claims activities. Ensure appropriate claims governance, including authority levels, escalation protocols, and proactive identification and mitigation of risk issues or events to minimize impact and recurrence.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This role has people leadership responsibilities, including managing performance, developing talent, and supporting engagement and team effectiveness.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Critical Thinking & Analytical Rigor: Exceptional ability to synthesize dense medical records, legal documents, trust agreements, and historical application data to make sound claim decisions.
• Contractual & Regulatory Acumen: Experience with state contestability statutes, unfair claims settlement practices regulations, HIPAA standards and policy rider language.
• Communication: Ability to communicate complex medical, technical, and legal determinations clearly, professionally, and empathetically with claimants, sales partners, legal counsel, and senior leadership.
• Decisive Leadership: Proven track record of addressing performance and behavioral gaps directly, fostering a culture of ownership, continuous learning, and high accountability.
• Cross Functional Collaboration: Skilled at building strong partnerships with internal stakeholders across Underwriting, Legal, Compliance, Operations Controls, and Distribution Partners.
• Strong life and/or disability claim expertise, with in-depth knowledge of contestable and accelerated benefit claims.
• Ability to establish goals, structures, and processes that translate strategic vision into clear team objectives and measurable outcomes.
• Maintains current knowledge of life and annuity regulations, including state claims handling requirements, unclaimed property laws, and evolving compliance obligations.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred (or equivalent professional experience)
• 5+ year of relevant experience
• 5+ years of progressive claims adjudication experience in Life, Disability, Contestable, and/or Living Benefit Riders Claims (Critical/Chronic Illness).
• 2+ years of direct people leadership or proven technical supervisory/mentorship experience within a specialized claims environment.
• Combination of education and experience considered in lieu of degree.
• Professional designations through LOMA (e.g., FLMI, ALMI) or the International Claim Association (ICA) (e.g., FLHC) preferred.
• Experience in Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous process improvement methodologies is preferred.

Other Requirements

• This position primarily involves sedentary work, requiring long periods of sitting, regular use of a computer, and occasional standing or walking, with reasonable accommodations available.
• Perform other functions, duties and projects as assigned
• Regular and punctual attendance

Ability to travel up to:

10% of the time

Additional Information

Work Environments

F&G believes in an employee-centric flexible environment, which is why we offer the ability for in-office, hybrid and remote work arrangements. During the hiring process, you’ll work with your leader to decide what works best for your role.

F&G complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants and candidates with disabilities, unless such accommodation would cause an undue hardship for F&G. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact [e-mail].

Join our employee-centric hybrid work environment: F&G Careers

About F&G

Since 1959, Fidelity & Guaranty Life Insurance Company (F&G) has offered annuity and life insurance products to those who are seeking security in retirement and protection during life’s unexpected events.

As a national Top Workplace1, an Iowa Top Workplace2 and a proud equal opportunity employer, F&G team members are empowered, collaborative, dynamic and authentic. We believe that by embracing these values, we will continue to build and strengthen the company while continuing to be a great place to work.

1 Top Workplaces USA 2022 – 2023

2 Des Moines Register Top Workplaces 2018 – 2022

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