Novella is the first AI native insurance brokerage protecting some of the largest, most complicated physical assets in the world. Whether it’s sky scrapers on the Miami coast exposed to hurricanes, or rockets going to Mars - Novella’s specialty AI agents are trained to help insurance brokers find coverage for their highest-risk customers.

These high-risk customers are part of a $150 Billion per year market segment called Excess and Surplus (E&S) Insurance. Today, all $150B of E&S premium is sold manually by humans working with humans. Novella is the first brokerage building AI agents that can augment humans and superpower them.

We're building a world class team with backgrounds in AI and insurance, who are excited about making insurance brokers 100X better at their jobs.

The Role

We're seeking a Head of Carrier Relations to own and grow our relationships with E&S carriers. You'll be the face of Novella to our carrier partners - ensuring they're happy, productive, and excited to do more business with us. You'll also be responsible for securing new market appointments that expand the products and coverage we can offer.

The ideal candidate has deep experience working with E&S carriers, understands what they care about, and knows how to build trust with underwriting leadership. You've managed carrier relationships before and know that the best partnerships are built on transparency, performance data, and mutual success. You're equally comfortable having a strategic conversation with a carrier's SVP of underwriting and digging into hit ratios and loss data to tell a compelling story.

The Day to Day

• Own and nurture relationships with our existing E&S carrier partners, ensuring they view Novella as a top-tier wholesale partner.
• Track and report on key success metrics with each carrier - submission quality, hit ratios, premium volume, loss performance - and use data to strengthen partnerships.
• Identify and pursue new carrier appointments that enhance our product offering and fill gaps in our market access.
• Work with our underwriting and brokerage teams to ensure we're sending the right business to the right carriers.
• Negotiate terms, commissions, and binding authority with carrier partners.
• Serve as an internal advocate for carrier needs, ensuring our technology and processes work well for them.
• Stay current on E&S market trends, carrier appetite shifts, and competitive dynamics.

What We're Looking For

• 8+ years in the E&S insurance market with significant experience managing carrier relationships.
• Deep rolodex of contacts at major E&S carriers - you know the underwriters, the SVPs, and the decision-makers.
• Proven track record of securing new carrier appointments and expanding existing relationships.
• Strong understanding of E&S underwriting, appetite, and how carriers evaluate wholesale partners.
• Data-driven mindset - you use performance metrics to tell stories and strengthen partnerships.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• Someone flexible who understands every day at an early stage startup is like a decade in the corporate world. We move quickly and do whatever needs to get done no matter your title.