AI Program Manager (Insurance)

Inspire is working with a leading Life Insurance organisation embarking on a strategic initiative to modernise their underwriting function through the application of artificial intelligence and advanced data analytics. This is a high-visibility, enterprise-wide program aimed at enhancing risk selection, improving speed-to-quote, and driving operational efficiency.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experiencedIT Program Manager with a proven track record of delivering large, complex, enterprise scale programs within the insurance industry . In this role, you will be responsible for the end-to-end delivery of an AI-driven underwriting transformation program. While the program leverages AI technology, we are not seeking an AI expert . Rather, we need an experienced Insurance IT Program Manager who can orchestrate complex workstreams, manage senior stakeholders, mitigate risk, and drive execution across technology, data, and business teams.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership & Delivery

1. Lead a large-scale, multi-year underwriting transformation program with significant technology, data, and process change components.
2. Manage the end-to-end program lifecycle, including scope definition, milestone planning, budget management ($10M+), resource allocation, and governance.
3. Orchestrate multiple concurrent workstreams, which may include:
4. Data platform modernization to enable advanced analytics
5. Integration of AI/ML models into underwriting workflows
6. Changes to core policy administration systems (e.g., Guidewire, Duck Creek)
7. Organizational change management and underwriter adoption
8. Establish and maintain rigorous program governance, including steering committee presentations, status reporting, risk registers, and issue escalation.

Insurance Domain & Stakeholder Management

1. Serve as the primary liaison between Technology , Data , Underwriting Operations , Actuarial , and Compliance functions.
2. Partner with senior business leaders (e.g., Chief Underwriting Officer, VP of Underwriting) to ensure program outcomes align with business strategy and underwriting objectives.
3. Navigate the complexities of the insurance regulatory environment, ensuring program activities comply with applicable governance, model risk management, and fair lending standards.
4. Manage relationships with external vendors, system integrators, and technology partners, holding them accountable for delivery commitments.

Risk Management & Execution Excellence

1. Proactively identify and mitigate risks common to large insurance transformations, including:
2. Integration complexity with legacy core systems
3. Data quality and availability challenges
4. Organizational resistance to changes in underwriting processes
5. Regulatory and compliance exposure
6. Drive decision-making across competing priorities, ensuring the program remains on track despite ambiguity and evolving requirements.
7. Champion disciplined execution leveraging Agile methodologies appropriate to the workstream.

Qualifications

Required Experience

1. 10+ years of IT Program / Project Management experience.
2. 5+ years of experience delivering large, complex programs within the insurance industry (Life, P&C, Health, or Specialty).
3. Proven experience managing programs with $10M+ budgets , cross-functional teams , and multiple external vendors .
4. Demonstrated success in programs involving core insurance systems , data transformation , or underwriting process modernization .

Insurance Domain Knowledge

1. Deep understanding of insurance operations, particularly underwriting , policy administration , and the flow of data across the insurance lifecycle.
2. Familiarity with insurance core systems (e.g., Guidewire, Duck Creek, custom mainframe solutions) and the integration challenges they present.
3. Awareness of the regulatory landscape impacting underwriting (e.g., fair pricing, model governance, data privacy).

Program Management Competencies

1. Strong governance and discipline—able to establish structure and clarity in complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
2. Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and align senior executives, underwriters, actuaries, and technical teams.
3. Excellent risk management capabilities—able to anticipate, articulate, and mitigate risks before they become issues.
4. Proficient in Agile delivery models, with the flexibility to apply the right approach for each workstream.

Education & Certifications

1. Bachelors degree in Information Systems, IT, Computer Science or related field
2. PMP, PgMP, or SAFe certification strongly preferred.
3. Strong communication skills in English and Chinese are necessary for this role.

What We Are NOT Looking For

1. We are not seeking a data scientist, ML engineer, or AI technical expert .
2. This role does not require hands-on AI/ML development skills or deep algorithmic knowledge.
3. The successful candidate will leverage their insurance program delivery expertise to manage the complexity of the initiative, relying on technical SMEs (data scientists, architects, engineers) for AI-specific details.