Subcontractor Default Underwriting Lead

Shepherd; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 200,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium Healthcare

Fertility Benefits & Family Building

Flexible PTO

Daily meals & snacks

Professional Development

Competitive 401(k) Plan

Dog-friendly office

Job summary

Shepherd is seeking a Subcontractor Default Underwriting Lead to shape and grow the new SDI product. You will define strategy, govern underwriting guidelines, and work with brokers to drive early submissions while partnering with Product, Engineering, and Data to build scalable processes.

In this high-impact role, you will own the SDI portfolio’s financial results, lead a growing team of underwriters, and leverage expert broker networks to accelerate growth across multiple major markets in the

Qualifications

• 8+ years of underwriting experience with significant SDI exposure.
• Strong knowledge of general contractors and construction managers.
• Proven record of building and growing SDI portfolios, from origination to renewal.

Responsibilities

• Define and build Shepherd’s SDI strategy, including target contractor profiles and program sizes.
• Establish underwriting guidelines, authority framework, and rating approach for the product.
• Collaborate with capacity partners to secure and structure paper behind the program.
• Design submission-to-bind workflow with Product, Engineering, and Data.
• Underwrite new and renewal SDI programs within your authority; include financial reviews and audits.
• Monitor in-force programs for changes in contractor financial health and take action when risk changes.
• Own premium, profit, loss, and retention for the SDI book.
• Hire, coach, and grow a team of SDI underwriters as the book scales.
• Track market trends to keep Shepherd profitable and competitive.
• Collaborate with Risk, Actuarial, Claims, and Finance to ensure well‑serviced underwriting.

Skills

SDI underwriting

Broker relationships

Team leadership

Financial analysis

Contractor prequalification

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

SDI program structure

Job description

What we do

Build the insurance behind the physical world.

The world is building data centers, energy projects, hospitals, schools, and critical infrastructure. Every one of those projects needs insurance to move forward. Yet the process of getting that insurance still depends on scattered documents, manual work, and weeks of back-and-forth.

Shepherd is rebuilding commercial insurance with software, data, AI, and deep underwriting expertise. We started in construction and energy, where understanding the specifics of a project matters and better decisions have consequences far beyond a screen.

We develop insurance products, decide which risks to insure and how to price them, and partner with established insurers to back the coverage. We own the platform our team uses to turn complex submissions into coverage for the builders and operators shaping the world around us.

Real problems. Real ownership.

Our engineers, designers, underwriters, and actuaries build together. The problems span turning messy documents into reliable data, making pricing more precise, and designing AI agents that can take on increasingly complex underwriting work.

The ambition is a platform where experts spend more time on judgment and relationships, supported by software that handles the work around them. Join us to build systems whose decisions help real projects get built.

630+ customers / $500B+ insured project value

Our investors

Capital to build. Partners to grow with.

$67M total funding / $42M Series B in March 2026

Shepherd is backed by Intact Private Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Spark Capital, Susa Ventures, and Y Combinator. In March 2026, we announced a $42M Series B led by Intact Private Capital, bringing our total funding to $67M.

Intact is also a capacity partner. Alongside its investment, Intact works with Shepherd to bring insurance products to market. That relationship connects our platform and underwriting expertise with the resources of a global insurer.

A bigger opportunity ahead

We are investing in new insurance products, our underwriting team, and the path toward autonomous underwriting. For the people joining Shepherd, that means the chance to shape both the technology and the business it makes possible.

Our backing brings together investors who build technology companies and partners who understand insurance. We are building a company that earns the confidence of both.

Subcontractor Default Underwriting Lead

Shepherd is launching a Subcontractor Default Insurance (SDI) product in support of its existing Construction vertical. The Subcontractor Default Underwriting Lead will play a lead role in building and shaping the new SDI product expansion, and define how we best evaluate subcontractor prequalification controls and subcontractor management practices. This is an opportunity to help define the underwriting strategy, go-to-market, and drive long‑term profitable growth for the core pillars of Shepherd’s business. We're looking for someone with 8+ years of SDI underwriting experience, a proven track record of leadership, deep broker relationships, and an entrepreneurial mindset who is excited to build something new with modern technology and a forward‑thinking team.

About You

You are a builder who wants to shape the future of commercial insurance and do the best work of your career. You have deep subcontractor default insurance 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:

• 8+ years of underwriting experience, with significant direct experience underwriting Subcontractor Default Insurance at an established SDI carrier or program. Contract surety underwriters with meaningful SDI exposure will also be considered.

• Deep knowledge of general contractors and construction managers across the construction industry.

• A proven record of building and growing an SDI portfolio profitably: originating new business, quoting, binding, and scaling premium while managing to loss‑ratio and combined‑ratio targets.

• Strong financial analysis skills, including reviewing contractor financial statements, work‑in‑progress (WIP) schedules, backlog, working capital, and bank lines, and judging a contractor's capacity to perform.

• Deep understanding of how general contractors prequalify, select, and manage subcontractors, and the ability to evaluate the strength of a contractor's prequalification, monitoring, and default‑management practices.

• Technical command of SDI program structure, including enrollment, per‑loss deductibles, co‑pays, per‑loss and aggregate limits, project and annual programs, and how SDI compares to subcontractor bonds.

• Sound judgment on policy wording, direct and indirect cost coverage, and default, cure, and completion scenarios, working closely with claims on complex losses.

• Established 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. A background in construction accounting, finance, or law is a plus.

About the Role

Shepherd's underwriting approach is client‑centric with a heavy emphasis on an efficient process. 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 and build Shepherd’s SDI strategy,including target contractor profiles, construction sectors, program sizes, limits and retentions, geographies, appetite, and growth and loss‑ratio targets.

• Help establish the underwriting guidelines, authority framework, referral rules, and rating approach for the product.

• Work with capacity partners to secure and structure the paper behind the program, and keep those partners informed on results.

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Data to design the submission‑to‑bind workflow, contractor financial and prequalification analysis tools, and portfolio views.

• Underwrite new and renewal SDI programs within your authority, including financial review, prequalification audits, and meetings with contractor leadership.

• Set up procedures for monitoring in‑force programs for changes in contractor financial health, backlog, and subcontractor enrollment, and take action when the risk changes.

• Own premium, profit, loss‑ratio, and retention results for the book.

• Use your broker relationships to drive submission flow in the first year, and actively market Shepherd's SDI product at broker and client meetings, industry events, and through targeted business development.

• Hire, coach, and grow a team of SDI underwriters as the book scales.

• Track construction market trends, including labor, materials, and subcontractor financial stress, to keep Shepherd profitable and competitive.

• Work with Risk Engineering, Actuarial, Corporate Underwriting, Claims, 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.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $200,000 – $240,000, plus an annual performance bonus and equity in Shepherd. Offers within the range depend on experience and the relationships and market following you bring.

How We Work

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 an SDI vertical meant to scale nationally, so the guidelines, products, 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 underwriter in this vertical, you set the standard every SDI 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.

Benefits

Premium Healthcare
100% contribution to top-tier health, dental, and vision

Fertility Benefits & Family Building Support

Flexible 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