Dennis W.

VP Product Strategy, Commercial Auto @ Travelers

About

Ex-consultant, ex-hedge fund analyst, ex-insurance executive. Current: after five years of silent meditations, doing laps across Spain, and "yes, and"-ing, I am ready to wrap up a planned career break and seek new professional challenges. I have served 12 years as a product owner with increasing levels of P&L responsibility in Fortune 500 companies. Being a product owner is exactly what you'd think it's like. I'm the guy who is accountable for business results while having limited direct control over the array of inputs that feed those results. It is demanding - yet rewarding - work that involves collaboration, influence, and not a small amount of managing uncertainty, priorities, and expectations. Data-driven? Always; and I understand that good decisions come from not just having data, but also distinguishing relevance. Solution-oriented? Yes; and I appreciate that technical solutions must work with cultural realities to be embraced. Results-driven? Absolutely; and I believe that success should be defined in advance to keep ourselves honest.

Country

City

United States

Industry

Insurance

Skill

Product Management, Product Development, Product Strategy, Stakeholder Management, People Development, Team Management, Data-driven Decision Making, Planning Budgeting & Forecasting, Process Improvement, Customer Experience, Market Analysis, Competitive Analysis

Experience

VP Product Strategy, Commercial Auto

Travelers

2013-7 - 2016-12 · 3 yrs 6 mos

Hartford, Connecticut Area

Travelers is the largest writer of commercial insurance in the US and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As a VP Product Strategy, I had P&L responsibility over the Select Accounts commercial auto product. I collaborated in developing a shared underwriting & quoting platform across 19 business units. I managed the product within the overall customer solution while improving profitability from -5.2% to +7.9% through critical underwriting and pricing.

Senior Product Manager, Commercial Auto

Farmers Insurance

2007-9 - 2013-6 · 5 yrs 10 mos

Greater Los Angeles Area

Farmers is a P&C subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group. As a Senior Product Manager, I had P&L responsibility over 60% of our portfolio and managed all commercial auto product development efforts. I identified and implemented improvements to reduce motor vehicle record (MVR) order expenses by 14%. My reporting team included 2 Product Managers and 4 Product Analysts.

Product Manager, Commercial Auto

Progressive Insurance

2004-12 - 2007-9 · 2 yrs 10 mos

Cleveland/Akron, Ohio Area

Progressive is the largest writer of commercial auto insurance in the US. As a Product Manager, I had P&L responsibility over a $150M book. I managed the 4th largest state (11.3% market share) in our portfolio to achieve a 3-year CAGR of +13.8%. I established the product in a new state and grew the book profitably to become the 4th largest writer (5.7% market share) in less than 2 years.