Westfield Insurance Jobs


Venture Leader (Concept/Venture Development)

Westfield Center, Ohio

 

About 1848 Ventures, LLC


1848 Ventures was established in Jan 2018 to expand Westfield business portfolio. Our efforts complement the innovation opportunities pursued by the insurance operations to evolve or advance the capabilities of the P&C insurance business.


We deliver tangible customer growth and financial results by developing and monetizing a portfolio of innovations. These innovations may or may not be traditional insurance products but are consistent with Westfields brand and reinforce our right to win in a given market.


We are located at Westfields corporate office in Westfield Center, Ohio (near Cleveland), and we enjoy the employee benefits offered by Westfield. Westfield offers a Total Rewards program that focuses on compensation, benefits and wellness, including 401(k), pension plan, annual incentive, education reimbursement, flex-time, onsite fitness center and casual dress. Work-life balance, recognition, and learning and career development are all part of a rewarding career with us.



About Westfield

Westfield provides commercial and personal insurance in 21 states and surety services to customers in all 50 states including the District of Columbia, through a network of more than 1,000 leading independent insurance agencies. We have over $5 billion in consolidated assets and $1.8 billion in written premium. We are the largest writer of contract performance bonds in Ohio, and among the top writers of farm insurance in the United States.


Our mission is to enable the peace of mind and financial stability of our customers. We are guided by our core values which are: knowledge, trust, integrity, respect and stewardship. Our vision is to be admired as a leading personal and commercial lines property-casualty insurance company enabled by an exceptional team known for experience and caring. We will be distinguished by excellence in commercial insurance, and customers will choose us for our insight about risk and the value we deliver.



Venture Leader Job Summary

Salary Range: $141,440.00-$162,656.00-$183,872.00


Westfield established 1848 Ventures, LLC in January, 2018 to lead the companys efforts to expand beyond conventional property and casualty insurance by understanding and addressing the broader risks that customers face. The efforts of 1848 Ventures complement the innovation opportunities that are championed by the insurance operations to evolve or advance the capabilities of the P&C insurance business.


A Venture Leader is responsible for various initiatives and leadership functions within the Innovation team. A Venture Leader will typically have a specific focus and expertise in one or more of the following areas:

Partnership Development

Concept Development

Venture Development

Talent Strategy

Strategic Insights and Investments


While a Venture Leader may have a specific focus and expertise in one or multiple areas, they are ultimately responsible for collaboration within the 1848 Ventures to contribute to the teams success.


Essential Functions (primary functions and/or reasons the job exists in order of importance)

1. Responsible for various initiatives and leadership functions within the Innovation team. A Venture Leader will typically have a specific focus and expertise in one or more of the following areas:

Partnership Development

Enables innovation by building valuable partnerships

Engages in the innovation ecosystem on a day-to-day basis to build relationships and generate partnership deal flow and partnership opportunities

Assesses attractiveness and the potential strategic value of partnerships.

Accountable for and participates in partnership due diligence and vetting partnership opportunities

Provides new insights from regular interactions in the innovation ecosystem to inform the innovation strategy

Concept Development

Provides strategic direction and insight for research projects

Engages in and leads a diverse team of internal employees and external partners responsible for the research, ideation and concept viability testing of these new opportunities

Maintains a keen understanding of customer needs and skillfully operates at the intersection of human-centered design, emerging and evolving trends, and business strategy

Collaborates to support the later stages of the innovation process

Venture Development

Provides strategic direction and insight to transform concepts into new ventures and business models

Engages in and leads a diverse team of internal employees and external partners responsible for the prototyping, launching and scaling new opportunities.

Maintains a keen understanding of customer needs and skillfully operates at the intersection of venture development, emerging and evolving trends, and business strategy.

Supports the earlier stages of the innovation process

Talent Strategy

Engages strategically throughout the talent and innovation ecosystem to raise the visibility of the 1848 Ventures brand with potential employees

Orchestrates a passive candidate cultivation process to ensure a highly qualified & diverse pool of candidates

Designs and manages a rigorous talent evaluation and selection process

Designs and oversees the onboarding and talent development processes

Collaborates with the Chief Venture Officer and Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer to refresh the organization design

Strategic Insights and Investments

Co-develops the portfolio investment objectives and strategy with the Chief Venture Officer, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer and Corporate Strategy Integration Leader

Generates deal flow for strategic investments initially focused on relevant VC funds, and expanding individual companies

Leads the strategic due diligence of potential investments in collaboration with Westfields Investments team (which will lead financial due diligence)

Participates as a strategic investor with VC funds and portfolio companies to gather relevant market insight and socialize it within Westfield and 1848 Ventures

Represents Westfield & 1848 Ventures in the VC ecosystem to provide thought leadership and contribute insight to VC Funds and portfolio companies

Leads the development of business cases (including strategic & market overviews, competitor analyses, and financial modeling) for growth initiatives and investments

Provides support, assistance and insights to the corporate strategy integration function (external trends insight, analysis for competitive business strategy evaluations, etc.)


2. Collaborates in the design of partnerships to increase the likelihood of success and clearly defines exit strategies in the case of failure.

3. Conducts analyses to support due diligence when vetting potential partners and/or structuring deals.

4. Provides hands-on support and troubleshoots initiatives within specific partnerships to remove process and policy roadblocks to success.

5. Monitors, analyzes and reports on the status of individual initiatives, projects, and/or other work streams.

6. Ensures after action reviews are performed and the insights are incorporated into future efforts.

7. Performs human capital management responsibilities including employee selection, performance management, coaching, and development. Manages priorities and workload distribution, and removes barriers that impede progress. Completes all personnel, salary administration and reporting duties.

8. Continually develops and refines the processes, tools, metrics, techniques, and technologies used in ensuring high quality results.

9. Responsible for Westfields reputation in the innovation ecosystem and managing the ongoing relationships with partners in the innovation ecosystem.

10. Travels as needed in order to perform essential functions. Depending on role and need this may include cross country travel where flying is required.


Desired Qualifications/Experience/Certification/Education (in order of importance)

1. 7+ years of business experience including the proven ability to apply broad strategic knowledge and experience to effectively address complex issues and make timely, high-quality, correct decisions.

2. 5+ years of experience leading change, managing stakeholders, achieving buy-in among disparate audiences, and delivering results in a variety of settings.

3. 5+ years of proven experience as a high performer, executing with speed and agility and applying outside the box thinking.

4. 5+ years of people leadership experience.

5. Experience cultivating an effective personal network across an organization, particularly with senior leadership, resulting in a high degree of organizational teamwork and agility.

6. Proven ability to sustain interest and effort toward long term goals.

7. Proven ability to embrace failure as a learning opportunity while continually striving to succeed.

8. Rapid learner and go-getter who thrives in an ambiguous environment.

9. Proven leadership and teamwork skills including mentoring others, encouraging development, and sharing credit.

10. Proven ability to organically build and leverage a network of people and professionals across new environments for the purposes of creating brand awareness, for the mutual benefit of others, and for personal and professional connections and development.

11. Demonstrated strong oral, written, interpersonal communication, and public speaking skills, including the ability to interact effectively internally at all levels of the organization and externally.

12. Demonstrated knowledge and experience leveraging external partnerships.

13. Proven ability to work with all levels of corporate management.

14. College degree OR commensurate experience.

15. Valid drivers license and a driving record that conforms to company standards.

16. Ability to travel including cross country flights.


Physical Requirements (specific to the role)

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Ability to work effectively in an office environment for 40+ hours per week (including sitting, standing and working on a computer for extended periods of time).

Ability to communicate effectively in a collaborative work environment utilizing various technologies such as: telephone, computer, web, voice, teleconferencing, e-mail etc.

Ability to drive for extended periods of time, under a variety of conditions, including night driving.

Ability to work outside the office which may include walking, driving, flying, and overnight stays.


This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed in this role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, skills, responsibilities, knowledge, etc. These may be subject to change and additional functions may be assigned as needed by management.


We are an equal opportunity employer/minority/female/disability/protected veteran.