Full-Time

Director Solution Development

Posted on 9/4/2026

Horace Mann

Horace Mann

1,001-5,000 employees

Insurance and financial planning for educators

Compensation Overview

$105.2k - $147.9k/yr

Remote in USA

Remote

Bachelor's

Category
Engineering Management (1)
Required Skills
LLM
Microsoft Azure
Agile
Six Sigma
ServiceNow
AWS
JIRA

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Requirements
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field.
  • At least 6 years of experience in IT leadership, focused on managing digital operations, technical support, and system enhancements.
  • A proven track record of making strategic prioritization decisions that drive business value.
  • Strong experience in technical support, bug resolution, and application enhancement.
  • Experience implementing agentic artificial intelligence development tools such as Claude Code or Codex and driving team-wide adoption in engineering workflows.
  • Strong understanding of digital applications, software development lifecycles, and IT support models.
  • Ability to translate business needs into technical priorities and technical priorities into business terms.
  • Familiarity with modern ticketing systems such as ServiceNow, Jira, or Azure DevOps and IT service management best practices.
  • Hands-on proficiency with agentic artificial intelligence coding tools such as Claude Code or Codex.
  • Fluency in prompt and context engineering, including structuring instructions, memory, and tool access for reliable agent behavior.
  • Experience building reusable tooling such as custom skills or commands, hooks, and Model Context Protocol integrations around agentic coding assistants.
  • Understanding of cost and reliability trade-offs in agentic workflows at team scale, including token usage, model selection, and when human oversight is needed.
  • Ability to assess competing priorities and make firm, strategic decisions.
  • Skill in identifying high-impact improvements while maintaining system stability.
  • Experience building structured prioritization frameworks for IT support and enhancement requests.
  • Strong people leadership skills and the ability to motivate and guide teams.
  • Ability to set clear expectations and communicate priorities firmly yet diplomatically to stakeholders.
  • Experience negotiating with and influencing senior leaders on digital priorities and trade-offs.
  • Ability to verify artificial-intelligence-generated work against real evidence, including passing tests, logs, and the actual deployed state.
Responsibilities
  • Evaluate and prioritize incoming requests based on business impact, urgency, and technical feasibility.
  • Set clear expectations with stakeholders and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
  • Communicate trade-offs transparently and advocate for business value over reactive task execution.
  • Develop a structured prioritization framework that meets mission-critical support needs while advancing small enhancements.
  • Lead, mentor, and empower a team responsible for support, defect resolution, and small system enhancements.
  • Ensure cross-team collaboration and shared understanding of priorities, dependencies, and technical solutions.
  • Create and uphold accountability structures so work is completed efficiently and with high quality.
  • Drive a culture of ownership, problem-solving, and continuous learning.
  • Champion and personally drive the team's use of agentic artificial intelligence tools.
  • Establish and refine processes for managing digital defects, incidents, and enhancement requests.
  • Improve and implement best practices for ticketing, resolution timelines, and stakeholder communication.
  • Analyze trends in defects and enhancement requests to identify proactive improvements and efficiency gains.
  • Incorporate emerging trends and tools, including agentic artificial intelligence, into project workflows.
  • Bridge technology teams and business stakeholders so both sides understand priorities, constraints, and impacts.
  • Maintain a strong technical grasp of digital systems, workflows, and potential challenges.
  • Provide guidance on best practices for system stability, scalability, and continuous improvement.
  • Provide regular updates on progress, challenges, and key outcomes related to support and enhancements.
  • Communicate realistic timelines, risks, and trade-offs when managing requests.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience leading IT support and continuous improvement teams in a large enterprise environment.
  • Familiarity with cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, Information Technology Infrastructure Library frameworks, and Agile methodologies.
  • Strong understanding of metrics-driven decision-making and process optimization.
  • Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification or an equivalent process-improvement credential.

Horace Mann specializes in insurance and financial solutions tailored for educators and community service professionals. It offers auto, home, renters, and life insurance, plus retirement planning and investment services, serving about 1 million educators in the United States. Its products work by selling individual and group insurance policies funded through premiums, and by providing financial planning services to help teachers and staff manage retirement and investments; it also supports educators through initiatives like DonorsChoose. The company differentiates itself by focusing on a niche market—education professionals—with deep knowledge of their financial needs, strong ratings from agencies, and efforts to support the education community, including data security with end-to-end encryption. Horace Mann's goal is to help educators and community service professionals achieve lifelong financial success through tailored insurance and financial solutions.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

IPO

Headquarters

Springfield, Illinois

Founded

1945

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Q2 2026 property-casualty combined ratio improved as catastrophe losses fell.
  • Management raised 2026 core EPS guidance to $4.60-$4.90 after record first-half performance.
  • July 2026 acquisitions add nearly $200 million revenue and expand distribution to 7,000 employers.

What critics are saying

  • Higher-for-longer rates cut 2026 investment income guidance to $465 million-$475 million.
  • July 2026 acquisitions require integration and regulatory approvals, risking distraction into 2027.
  • Educator concentration leaves Horace Mann exposed if school payroll access weakens or competitors outspend it.

What makes Horace Mann unique

  • Horace Mann dominates educator-focused insurance, serving about one million U.S. educators.
  • July 21, 2026 Medical Mutual deals add employer benefits, supplemental insurance, and 1,000 brokers.
  • Q2 2026 core EPS hit $1.17, with 12.8% trailing core ROE.

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Yahoo Finance
Aug 8th, 2026
Horace Mann raises 2026 guidance to $4.60–$4.90 per share on record Q2 earnings

Horace Mann Educators reported record second-quarter core earnings of $1.17 per share, up more than 10% year over year, and raised its 2026 full-year guidance to $4.60–$4.90 per share. Property and casualty core earnings rose 56% to $26 million, with the combined ratio improving to 89.6. The insurer lowered its 2026 catastrophe-loss assumption to approximately $75 million from $90 million. Benefits and life sales increased 44% and 20% respectively. Individual supplemental sales rose 5%, whilst life sales grew 20% due to investments in agent recruiting and training. The company reduced its full-year investment income outlook to $465–$475 million, citing pressure on alternative investment returns from higher interest rates. Acquisitions announced in July are expected to add roughly $0.40–$0.50 to annual earnings beginning in 2027.

Traders Union
Jul 24th, 2026
Horace Mann ratings remain unchanged after Medical Mutual deal announcement

Horace Mann keeps its credit ratings unchanged as it expands benefits operations with a deal involving Medical Mutual of Ohio and new acquisitions.

Coverager
Jul 24th, 2026
Horace Mann expands employee benefits business with $240 million deal.

Horace Mann expands employee benefits business with $240 million deal. Horace Mann has agreed to acquire several businesses from Medical Mutual of Ohio for a total net purchase price of approximately $240 million. Under two separate agreements, Horace Mann will acquire employee assistance provider Employee Services, LLC and all outstanding shares of Reserve National Insurance Company, which operates an individual supplemental insurance platform. Horace Mann will also reinsure Medical Mutual's group life and disability business, while Medical Mutual retains the underlying legal insurance entity. Together, the businesses generate nearly $200 million in annual revenue, cover more than one million people across approximately 7,000 employer relationships and distribute through more than 1,000 agents and brokers. Horace Mann said the transactions will expand its employer offerings and distribution capabilities while adding high-margin insurance operations and recurring fee-based revenue. The deals are expected to immediately increase core earnings per share and return on equity. The Employee Services acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. The Reserve National acquisition and reinsurance transaction are expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals. Get Coverager to your inbox. A really good email covering top news.

Yahoo Finance
Jul 21st, 2026
Horace Mann acquires employee benefits businesses from Medical Mutual of Ohio in $200M revenue deal

Horace Mann Educators Corporation has agreed to acquire Employee Services, LLC and Reserve National Insurance Company from Medical Mutual of Ohio in two separate transactions. The deals will add nearly $200 million in annual revenue, serve over one million covered lives across approximately 7,000 employer relationships, and expand Horace Mann's distribution network by more than 1,000 agents and brokers. Medical Mutual will retain MedMutual Life Insurance Company as a legal entity whilst Horace Mann reinsures its group life and disability business. The transactions are expected to be immediately accretive to Horace Mann's core earnings per share and return on equity. Marita Zuraitis, Horace Mann's chief executive officer, said the acquisitions align with the company's strategy of strengthening customer relationships and expanding its employer value proposition whilst delivering attractive shareholder returns.

Standard-Journal
May 14th, 2026
Horace Mann named 2025 Voluntary Sales Growth Leader by Eastbridge Consulting Group.

Horace Mann named 2025 Voluntary Sales Growth Leader by Eastbridge Consulting Group. * Business Wire * May 14, 2026 * 0 SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-May 14, 2026- Amid growing demand for tailored voluntary benefits among educators and public sector employees, Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE: HMN), a national provider of insurance and financial solutions for educators, today announced it has been named the 2025 Voluntary Sales Growth Leader in the small carrier category by Eastbridge Consulting Group, a leading industry research and consulting firm focused on voluntary and worksite benefits. "This recognition reflects the growing demand for voluntary benefits and our ability to meet the unique needs of educators and others who serve their communities," said Marita Zuraitis, President and CEO of Horace Mann. "Our growth shows that when you combine deep market focus with the right distribution and product strategy, you can deliver meaningful value to both employers and their employees." Horace Mann provides a comprehensive voluntary product suite within its Wise Benefits product portfolio. Horace Mann's Wise Benefits voluntary sales increased 48.2% in 2025, significantly outpacing the overall voluntary benefits market, which grew approximately 2% to $9.7 billion in new business annualized premiums. Horace Mann's above-market growth reflects an enhanced customer experience and expanded benefit specialist and broker relationships, while continuing to deliver tailored voluntary benefit solutions for education and public sector clients. "Horace Mann's intentional investments and strong partnerships enable us to meet the growing demand for voluntary benefits, particularly in the education and public sector markets," said Tyson Sanders, Senior Vice President, Supplemental & Group Benefits. "That commitment will allow Horace Mann to continue driving sustained growth while providing tailored solutions that meet the needs of the employers and employees we serve." "Horace Mann's performance demonstrates a disciplined growth strategy and a sustained commitment to serving the voluntary benefits market," said JP Soltez, partner at NMG Consulting and head of Eastbridge Consulting Group. Eastbridge Consulting Group recognized Horace Mann as part of its annual voluntary benefits industry benchmarking results, which are widely regarded as one of the most objective measures of carrier sales performance in the market. To be considered for the award this year, a company must have exceeded the overall industry growth rate in 2023, 2024, and 2025, and led their category in growth last year. Small companies are those with new business annualized premium of $10 million to $49.9 million. Midsize companies are those with NBAP of $50 million to $199.9 million, and large companies are those with NBAP of $200 million or more. About Horace Mann Horace Mann Educators Corporation is the largest multiline financial services company focused on helping America's educators and others who serve the community achieve lifelong financial success. The company offers individual and group insurance and financial solutions tailored to the needs of the educator community. Founded by Educators for Educators(R) in 1945, the company is headquartered in Springfield, Illinois. For more information, visit www.horacemann.com. About Eastbridge Consulting Group Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc. is a leading advisory and research firm focused on the voluntary/worksite benefits market in the United States and Canada. The firm is part of NMG Consulting, a global financial services consulting organization. Follow Eastbridge on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/eastbridge-consulting-group. David Goldberg Assistant Vice President, Enterprise Communications 617-435-5776 KEYWORD: ILLINOIS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: UNIVERSITY PRIMARY/SECONDARY EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL SERVICES TRAINING PRESCHOOL INSURANCE HUMAN RESOURCES OTHER EDUCATION FINANCE CONTINUING PUB: 05/14/2026 07:00 AM/DISC: 05/14/2026 07:03 AM