Manager, Operations - Alternative Risk/Captive

Description

Gregory & Appel is an independent, Indianapolis-based insurance agency with deep roots, a strong reputation, and a team that believes work should be both meaningful and enjoyable. We're growing, we're always looking for great people, and we'd love to have you be a part of what's next!

The Manager, Operations is responsible for leading and developing an internal service team while ensuring consistent, efficient, high-quality execution across the organization. This role provides day-to-day leadership and operational oversight, balancing people development, workload management, process excellence, performance accountability, and business objectives. The Manager, Operations partners closely with Producers, Account Executives, Account Managers, Senior Account Managers, and all levels of G&A leadership to ensure teams have the structure, resources, processes, and support necessary to deliver an exceptional employee and client experience. This role serves as a key connection point between frontline teams and the G&A, Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and Executive Leadership Team (ELT), translating organizational priorities into clear expectations and actionable plans for the team. The Manager, Operations serves as a strong people leader who builds accountable, collaborative, high-performing teams through clear expectations, meaningful coaching, ongoing development, effective workload management, and consistent performance management.

Practice Area Focus: This Manager, Operations will lead the service team supporting Alternative Risk and Captive programs. This work is highly technical and deadline-driven, involving complex program structures, multiple stakeholders, and recurring financial and compliance deliverables. The ideal leader brings a strong grasp of how captive and alternative risk programs operate and can build the structure and discipline needed for a team to deliver accurately and on time.

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Success in the Role

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Success in the Manager, Operations role is demonstrated by a high-performing, well-supported, and accountable team; consistent and efficient execution of operational processes; effective workload and resource management; measurable improvement in team performance and service delivery; strong employee development, growth and retention; and successful execution of organizational priorities.

The Manager, Operations should ultimately create a team and operating environment that can perform consistently and effectively without requiring the leader to personally execute the work.

Key Responsibilities

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People Leadership & Development

- Lead, coach, and develop direct reports, creating a culture of accountability, collaboration, professionalism, and continuous improvement.
- Establish clear roles, responsibilities, expectations, and performance standards for team members.
- Maintain a meaningful and consistent cadence of 1:1 meetings with each direct report, generally weekly or biweekly, focused on priorities, performance, development, obstacles, and support.
- Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, mentoring, and recognition to strengthen individual and team performance.
- Conduct formal performance reviews/reflections and develop and maintain Individual Development Plans (IDPs) as appropriate.
- Address performance concerns promptly and effectively, including setting expectations, providing coaching and corrective feedback, and administering formal performance management when necessary.
- Support career pathing and professional development, helping employees understand opportunities for growth and the skills required for advancement.
- Identify training needs and ensure team members receive appropriate technical, operational, and professional development.
- Evaluate staffing and resource needs based on workload, capacity, business growth, and service requirements.
- Recruit, hire, onboard, and develop high-performing team members aligned with organizational needs and culture.
- Foster a positive team environment that reflects G&A's Core Values and expectations for professionalism, behavior and collaboration.

Operational Leadership & Workload Management

- Oversee the day-to-day operations of the assigned team or department, ensuring work is completed accurately, efficiently, and within established service standards and timelines.
- Monitor and balance workloads and capacity across the team to ensure appropriate resource allocation and consistent service delivery.
- Establish and maintain disciplined processes and workflows that promote efficiency, consistency, quality, and scalability.
- Identify bottlenecks, backlogs, rework, and inefficiencies and take appropriate action to improve operational performance.
- Ensure team members follow established processes, procedures, documentation standards, and agency management system requirements.
- Conduct and/or oversee audits and quality assurance activities to promote accuracy, compliance, operational discipline, and service excellence.
- Establish appropriate metrics and scorecards to measure team performance, productivity, quality, workload, service levels, and other key operational indicators.
- Review metrics regularly, identify trends and opportunities, and hold team members accountable for achieving established expectations.
- Provide backup support to Senior Account Managers (SAMs), Account Managers (AMs), or other team members when needed to maintain service continuity.
- Ensure appropriate coverage and continuity of operations during periods of high workload, employee absence, or other business needs.
- Oversee the recurring operational calendar for captive and alternative risk programs, including premium and loss reporting, financial statement and audit support, collateral and letter of credit tracking, and regulatory and domicile filings.
- Ensure accurate, timely coordination with captive managers, fronting carriers, actuaries, auditors, reinsurers, and program participants.
- Maintain disciplined documentation and communication standards for board and committee deliverables, member or participant reporting, and renewal and program-structure timelines.
- Support loss control, claims oversight, and program performance reporting to help clients understand and manage their results.

Leadership Alignment & Collaboration

- Execute and operationalize the vision, priorities, and initiatives established by G&A's Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
- Translate organizational goals into clear team priorities, expectations, and action plans.
- Serve as a conduit between frontline teams and G&A leadership, communicating effectively in all directions—up, down, and peer-to-peer.
- Escalate issues, risks, resource constraints, and opportunities appropriately and in a timely manner.
- Serve as a collaborative business partner to Producers, Account Executives, Account Managers, Corporate Service functions, and all of G&A's leadership.
- Partner with other leaders to improve cross-functional processes, communication, workflow, and the overall employee and client experience.
- Act as an escalation point for complex operational, service, or team-related issues and work collaboratively toward effective resolution.
- Provide backup and support to other leaders or teams when appropriate and aligned with business needs.

Performance & Accountability

- Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable for results, behaviors, service standards, and adherence to established processes.
- Utilize operational metrics, scorecards, quality audits, and other data to assess performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
- Regularly communicate performance expectations and results with the team.
- Recognize strong performance and address performance gaps promptly and consistently.
- Ensure performance management practices are fair, consistent, well-documented, and aligned with company expectations.
- Identify trends in team or individual performance and develop appropriate action plans to address opportunities or concerns.

Process Improvement, Technology & Innovation

- Champion technology, automation, and new initiatives that improve efficiency, accuracy, scalability, and the employee and client experience.
- Evaluate existing processes and identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, automate, or improve workflows.
- Partner with leadership and appropriate internal resources to implement new technology, processes, and operational initiatives.
- Encourage a culture of continuous improvement and openness to new ideas and better ways of working.
- Ensure teams effectively adopt and utilize systems, tools, and processes designed to improve operational performance.

Financial & Administrative Management

- Manage the team's or department's budget and expenses in alignment with organizational financial objectives.
- Support annual planning, budgeting, staffing, and resource allocation processes.
- Manage the administrative processes associated with leading a team, including timekeeping, PTO/FTO, compensation and merit increase recommendations, performance reviews, IDPs, staffing, and other employee-related processes.
- Make thoughtful recommendations regarding staffing, compensation, organizational structure, and resource needs based on business requirements and performance data.
- Contribute to overall profitability through effective resource utilization, productivity, retention, operational efficiency, and process discipline.

Culture & Professional Leadership

- Serve as a role model for the organization and demonstrate G&A's Core Values in daily interactions and decision-making.
- Maintain a high level of professionalism, integrity, accountability, and discretion.
- Maintain an appropriate level of confidentiality regarding employee, client, financial, and business information.
- Promote a culture where employees understand expectations, take ownership of their work, support one another, and are empowered to perform at a high level.
- Contribute to a positive, respectful, and collaborative workplace culture.

Requirements

- Working knowledge of captive insurance, group captives, risk retention groups, or other alternative risk structures strongly preferred.
- 5+ years of relevant insurance, operations, service, or agency experience, with demonstrated knowledge of the functions and workflows supported by the assigned team.
- 2+ years of progressive people leadership experience preferred, preferably managing professional service, insurance, account management, operations, or client service teams. This could also include experience training, mentoring, coaching SAM's and/or AM's.
- Demonstrated success leading or influencing teams in a fast-paced environment with accountability for service quality, productivity, operational performance, and employee development.
- Strong understanding of team workflows, service delivery, process management, and operational best practices.
- Proven ability to manage workloads, prioritize competing demands, allocate resources, and improve operational efficiency.
- Experience establishing and utilizing metrics, scorecards, and performance data to drive accountability and results.
- Experience with agency management systems and/or other technology platforms, with an ability to leverage technology to improve efficiency and reporting.
- Strong coaching, communication, and interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively influence employees, peers, and senior leadership.
- Demonstrated ability to manage performance, provide candid feedback, and address difficult employee situations appropriately.
- Strong organizational and problem-solving skills with the ability to balance strategic priorities with day-to-day operational needs.
- Demonstrated commitment to professional development, continuous improvement, and building high-performing teams.