Founding Head of Partnerships

The Role

As our founding Head of Partnerships, you will build and own insurance market access at Hedge.

You will decide which underwriting partners we pursue, get in front of the right decision-makers, turn conversations into active appointments and capacity, and build the relationships that help our brokers place more business directly.

You own market outreach end to end: target selection, introductions, outbound, meetings, follow-up, onboarding, and activation. You will work directly with the founders and brokerage team to identify capacity gaps and build the market relationships needed to fill them.

This role is for someone who knows insurance distribution, can open doors, and follows through until access is operational. It is not a role for someone who only wants to manage an established carrier panel.

What You’ll Do

• Build and execute Hedge’s market-access strategy

• Own direct outreach to carriers, MGAs, MGUs, program administrators, and delegated-authority underwriting markets

• Secure appointments, broker agreements, market codes, portal access, and active underwriting relationships

• Build relationships across admitted, E&S, specialty, regional, program, and London markets

• Identify capacity gaps by class, geography, limits, risk profile, and coverage

• Expand beyond the largest carriers into strong niche and regional markets

• Maintain a clear pipeline across prospecting, discussion, diligence, onboarding, appointed, and live stages

• Translate carrier appetite, underwriting requirements, and channel restrictions into usable placement guidance

• Keep channel structure clean by distinguishing actual underwriting capacity from outside intermediary distribution

• Work with brokers to understand lost opportunities and prioritize new market access

• Negotiate economics, volume expectations, operating requirements, and relationship terms

• Build a reliable source of truth for appetite, contacts, access status, and relationship history

• Turn market knowledge and relationship workflows into software, data, and operating systems

• Represent Hedge at carrier meetings, conferences, and industry events

What You Bring

• 6+ years in carrier relations, market management, wholesale brokerage, carrier distribution, insurance partnerships, or insurance business development

• A strong network across carriers, MGAs, MGUs, programs, and underwriting teams

• A track record of personally securing appointments, capacity, or strategic insurance partnerships

• Deep understanding of admitted and E&S insurance distribution

• Working knowledge of licensing, legal entities, producer agreements, commission structures, volume expectations, and appointment requirements

• The ability to create new relationships, not just maintain existing ones

• Strong written communication and persistent, professional follow-through

• Comfort building processes and systems from scratch

• Willingness to travel and work in person with a small, high-urgency team

• Surplus-lines or producer licenses are a plus

What We Offer

• In office in San Francisco, six days a week

• Salary, benefits, and significant equity

• Direct influence over market strategy, product, and company direction

• The opportunity to build the market network behind a defining insurance company

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Interview Process

Our process is fast and practical.

1. Founder conversation

A 30-minute conversation about your background, insurance relationships, and what you want to build.

2. Partnerships deep dive

We will discuss appointments and capacity relationships you have personally developed, the markets and distribution channels you understand, and how you turn an initial conversation into active market access.

3. Working session

We will review several hypothetical market-access gaps across areas such as commercial auto, property and inland marine, casualty, cyber, and professional liability.

You will explain how you would prioritize the opportunities, identify the right underwriting partners and decision-makers, approach outreach, and determine when access is genuinely operational.

This is not a take-home project, and you will not be asked to disclose confidential contacts or information.

4. Final founder conversation

We will discuss role scope, compensation, equity, working style, and what success should look like during the first 90 days and first year.

We move quickly. Our goal is to get from the first conversation to an offer in approximately five days when there is strong mutual fit.