Data Quality Improvement Manager

Data Quality Improvement Manager

Location(s): Stamford, Hartford, Morristown, New York (hybrid work out of one of these offices)

Important Skillset:

1. Must have: Basic SQL coding skills for independent root cause analysis of Data Quality issues

2. Must have Insurance experience to understand the systems we use

3. They will interface with senior stakeholders to understand Data Quality issues and then liaise with internal CDO teams to drive technical data quality solutions.

Our client recognizes that being a truly data-driven organization is critical to our success. To enable this, we need to ensure we capture consistently high-quality, actionable data relating to our clients in our source systems, to power analysis and decision-making across all our key business functions (e.g., risk, underwriting, pricing, actuarial, finance, claims, operations, etc.)

The Data Quality & Culture team within the Innovation, Data & Analytics (IDA) division is focused on driving the data quality strategy through 3 work streams: Train, Heal & Prevent.
• ‘Train’ - developing a data culture to understand the importance of data to our business, and the need to capture data “right first time” in our source systems to ensure data quality.
• ‘Heal’ - finding & fixing data errors in our systems after they occur with SQL data quality validation rules and Power BI dashboards to track quality levels and drive remediation efforts.
• ‘Prevent’ – working with Operations and IT teams, to implement “data quality by design” across various source systems & processes, to prevent manual data quality errors from occurring in the first place (e.g. working with IT to replace an optional free text field, with a mandatory drop-down list of choices on Genius – a core policy administration system).

This role will be focused primarily on the ‘Prevent’ work stream.

The ideal candidate will have several years of experience working in commercial insurance with direct experience of AXA XL’s insurance administration systems (e.g. Genius, Frame, Wins, XLGC, etc.), demonstrating strong knowledge of commercial insurance processes across multiple functions (e.g., Underwriting, Claims, Operations, Finance) including how data flows from one department to another, ideally with a network of contacts across these multiple business functions.
You will use your understanding of the challenges involved in capturing high quality data in the commercial insurance industry to drive improvements to systems and processes that will enhance data quality. Curiosity, attention to detail, a desire to get it right first time, ability to join the dots across people/processes/systems, and a proven track record in connecting teams and managing change projects will be essential to your success.

This role reports into the IDA Division Lead for Data Quality & Culture. You will be part of a small, international team, and will need to partner with and leverage support from a wide range of virtual teams across IDA, Global Technology, Operations, Underwriting, Claims and other business areas.

What will your essential responsibilities include?
• SQL Coding Skills to Identify Root Causes – must be comfortable interrogating various databases to select, join, extract and compare various data records to explore the root cause of high level data quality issues highlighted in the master Data Quality Dashboard (DQD).
• Engage with a wide range of stakeholders – in various departments across (e.g., Underwriting, Actuarial, Claims, Operations, etc.), to understand the flow of data through the organization, identifying data quality ‘pain points’ and improvements to process and systems.
• Map the Data Journey – map the critical data captured at each stage of the commercial insurance process (e.g. submission, quote, bind, policy, claim, etc.), track the journey through the various source systems, identify any break points / duplications / opportunities to build quality by design.
• Storytelling & presentation skills – you must be a strong communicator, able to host meetings with impactful PowerPoint presentations, developing compelling business cases that secure stakeholder buy-in, and clear project plans to drive and successfully deliver change.
• Partner with Global Technology – build strong relationships with colleagues in Global Technology, particularly policy and claims source system Delivery Leads to define data quality system/process enhancements, and secure priority implementation on delivery backlogs.
• Build & Lead Virtual Teams – strong coordination skills to connect with and drive activity with stakeholders across Transformation, Global Technology, Data Management, Data Quality, to identify, prioritize and implement enhancements at the point of capture.
• Manage Projects & Budgets – manage projects end-to-end, leveraging virtual teams of internal experts, and contractors to deliver data quality improvements at scale through source system enhancements. Apply strong project management skills to deliver on time and within budget.
• Deliver & Report Progress – Evangelize across company for systemic data quality improvement through system fixes across company, provide operational progress reports to leaders within IDA, including to the Division Lead, and the Global Lead – Data Quality & Controls; and the CDO.
• Measure & Track Benefits – define ways to measure, track and report on progress in improving systemic data quality, including KPI’s such as # of system enhancements deployed, # of policies commercial insurance policies fixed, etc. working in conjunction with the IDA Business Intelligence.

We’re looking for someone who has these abilities and skills:
• Strong quantitative data analysis skills including the ability to explore & summarize ‘raw’ data sets using Structured Query Language (SQL), as well as the ability draw insights from existing data quality reports & dashboards
• Multiple years of experience in commercial insurance including direct experience working across multiple:
o Business functions (e.g., Risk, Underwriting, Pricing, Actuarial, Finance, Claims, Operations, etc.)
o Commercial insurance systems (e.g., policy systems, claims systems, etc.)
• Strong presentation skills (both PowerPoint and in-person) to synthesize complex information and explain it in simple, compelling ways to senior stakeholders to secure buy-in
• Strong project management skills to define & drive technology process improvement projects leveraging virtual teams to deliver permanent data quality improvements to data capture systems
• Passionate about improving data quality to power success
• Curious to understand how data drives company and to identify opportunities to improve it
• Tenacious in overcoming delays / hurdles / blockers to ensure delivery
• Good qualitative interview skills to explore data quality issues with stakeholders from across the business, and identify specific opportunity for significant systemic improvements
• Strong networking skills, with a wide array of relevant stakeholder relationships already in place across multiple business functions and source systems
• Strong negotiating & influencing skills to convince key decision makers in IT to prioritize data capture source system enhancements to deliver systemic data quality improvements
• Formal process improvement qualifications (e.g. Lean / Six Sigma) desirable to drive data quality enhancements through best practice process improvements to data capture systems
• Experience of user-centered design thinking (e.g. Agile sprints, discovery interviews, journey mapping) desirable to understand data capture systems & processes from a user perspective
• Professional data management certification (e.g. Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) desirable to understand best practice data quality management, but not essential