Carrier Partnerships Lead

Harper is an AI-native commercial insurance company in San Francisco that is rebuilding the insurance business as software. The company has grown about 100x in the last year and works on-site, in person. The Carrier Partnerships Lead owns relationships with carriers, wholesalers, MGAs, and programs at the portfolio level, including access, appointments, capacity, economics, senior relationships, and escalation channels. The role does not place accounts; the licensed account team selects markets, negotiates terms, and makes recommendations. The role is on-site in San Francisco, Monday through Friday, with long days and travel when needed. Performance is measured on a visible production scoreboard. The application process includes a 30-minute Zoom team call, an in-person office session of about two hours, and a super day.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain the market map of carriers, wholesalers, MGAs, programs, appointments, constraints, and production paths by line, class, and state; Open appointments, preferred access, new programs, and senior relationships where Harper has credible demand; Be the face of Harper to each carrier and own relationships with people who control appetite, capacity, operations, and distribution strategy; Run the urgency list by sending carriers pending quotes, outstanding binds, upcoming renewals, and stuck submissions and tracking them until cleared; Turn demand into a carrier case and negotiate commissions, fees, service expectations, data exchange, and escalation paths; Manage portfolio performance by tracking sent, quoted, bound, response, and service outcomes; Create clean escalation paths for account-level teams without taking over account ownership

Requirements

Built carrier, wholesaler, MGA, or distribution partnerships in commercial insurance; Personally opened and developed senior insurance relationships; Knowledge of how appointments, programs, commissions, capacity, and distribution economics work; Understands the difference between a signed agreement and a relationship that produces results; Can turn operating data into a credible carrier-development case and negotiate from it; Commercially aggressive without making promises the operation can't keep; Uses AI as leverage for urgency lists, production data, and carrier review prep; Can work closely with account teams, underwriters, and market partners while keeping portfolio relationship ownership

Benefits

Health, dental, and vision insurance; Meals provided (breakfast, lunch, and dinner); Snacks, drinks, and coffee stocked daily; Commuter benefits; Free gym membership; Equity