Asst Director, Prod Research

Liberty Mutual Small Commercial is seeking an Assistant Director to own the vendor ecosystem that powers quoting, underwriting, product, and line-of-business decisions. This is a great opportunity to join a team of high-performing professionals to be the voice of Liberty Mutual Small Commercial to our vendor partners and to improve our data accuracy and speed with third-party data and vendor solutions. You’ll work with a broad group of leaders across our organization to strategically improve our products and reduce expenses with vendor solutions.

Role Summary

This role owns the vendor ecosystem that powers our quoting, underwriting, product, and line of business functions. You will be the connective tissue between business leaders and an ecosystem of third-party data, technology and service providers identifying opportunities, sourcing innovative solutions, managing contracts, and measuring performance. The position requires strategic thinking, collaboration, and a passion for building win-win relationships that accelerate profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Vendor Portfolio Management

• Build and maintain a comprehensive vendor roadmap aligned with strategic objectives (pricing sophistication, risk selection, customer experience, expense efficiency, etc.) in collaboration with functional areas.
• Scan the market for emerging partners
• Work with functional areas to develop business cases that quantify benefit, cost, and risk.

Relationship & Performance Governance

• Serve as primary relationship manager for vendors to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with Procurement and Legal to ensure contracts control cost, protect data, and align with corporate standards.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Facilitate discovery sessions with line-of-business leads to translate pain points and opportunities into clear vendor requirements.
• Regularly communicate progress and findings to senior leadership.

Innovation & Thought Leadership

• Maintain pulse on InsurTech, data science and automation trends; recommend test & learn pilots that could unlock new revenue streams or operational efficiencies.
• Present vendor innovation briefs and competitive intelligence to leadership forums, influencing product and service roadmap direction.

Project Leadership

• Manage multiple moderate-to-high complexity vendor projects simultaneously, ensuring on-time, on-budget delivery.
• Mentor junior analysts and interns; provide coaching on vendor evaluation techniques and analytics best practices.

Ideal Candidate Will Have

• A strategic mindset with the ability to translate business problems into measurable vendor requirements and business cases.
• Strong collaboration skills with both external vendors and internal teams.
• Data-driven approach uses analytics to quantify impact, prioritize opportunities, and measure vendor performance.
• Curious about technology and innovation, with a track record of identifying and piloting new solutions.

If you are a strategic thinker who loves building partnerships, quantifying impact, and driving change, we invite you to join us and redefine what vendors can do for Small Commercial.