B

Branch Financial

Insurtech delivering instant, embedded home/auto quotes

Vice President Finance

Full-Time
$165.9k - $237k/yr
Expert
Bachelor's, MBA
Remote in USA+1 moreMore locations: Columbus, OH, USA
RemoteCandidates must reside in one of the listed states; Ohio is preferred.
Finance & BankingCorporate Finance & FP&A
No H1B Sponsorship

About the job

Requirements
  • 12+ years of experience in FP&A, strategic finance, or related finance roles, including 5+ years leading managers.
  • Experience in a startup or fast-growing organization and ability to lead change management as the business grows and scales.
  • Proven track record owning planning and forecasting for a business in property and casualty insurance, insurtech, or another highly regulated environment.
  • Deep knowledge of financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, and unit economics.
  • Experience leading or working closely with a business intelligence or data team, and understanding how data and reporting support better decisions.
  • Ability to turn complex numbers into clear stories and recommendations for executives.
  • Strong judgment and ability to influence senior leaders, including holding a firm position with clear reasoning when final decisions sit with others.
  • Experience building, coaching, and growing teams of managers.
  • Comfort working through ambiguity in a fast-growing company.
  • Advanced skills in Google Sheets, financial planning tools, and business intelligence or reporting tools.
  • Bachelor's degree in finance, accounting, economics, or a related field.
  • Strong understanding of insurance financial metrics, including loss ratios, expense ratios, and combined ratios.
  • Experience supporting board-level financial reporting, investor relations, and capital and treasury management.
Responsibilities
  • Set the direction for the FP&A, product finance, and business insights teams, ensuring their work fits together and supports company goals.
  • Run the company's annual plan and long-range financial model from start to finish, including defining the process, inputs, and timeline, with final approval from the CFO.
  • Oversee forecasting, budget tracking, and variance analysis across all departments, including claims, production, and underwriting, and explain what is driving results and what needs attention.
  • Present financial results, forecasts, and recommendations to executive and leadership teams, and provide input that shapes company strategy and major investment decisions.
  • Lead strategic finance work, including business cases, unit economics, growth and pricing analysis, and scenario planning for key decisions.
  • Oversee business insights and set standards for reporting, metrics, and data quality so leaders across the company use one trusted set of numbers.
  • Create and roll out company-wide planning and budgeting practices, including how department leaders own and manage their budgets.
  • Identify trends and risks in company results and the market that could affect plans, and recommend changes early.
  • Partner with Accounting, Actuarial, Product, Sales, Claims, and Data leaders to connect financial plans to business operations.
  • Manage a team of 10 and develop managers and their teams, including hiring, performance management, coaching, and building future leaders.
  • Improve planning and reporting tools and processes so the teams can scale as the company grows.
  • Prepare board materials, investor presentations, and shareholder reporting in collaboration with the CFO.
  • Oversee regulatory, statutory, and compliance financial reporting required for operating entities, with support from the Accounting Department.
  • Partner with the CFO and executive leadership on fundraising efforts.
Desired Qualifications
  • An MBA is a plus.

About the company

Branch Insurance provides personal lines coverage (home, auto, renters, umbrella) through a member-owned reciprocal exchange and a multi-channel distribution model. Its platform uses data and automation to bind a bundled home and auto quote in seconds from just a name and address, and it enables embedded insurance via APIs with partners like Rocket Mortgage, OpenRoad Lending, and SimpliSafe. The company differentiates itself with a Branch Insurance Exchange that returns unused premiums to members, a flat 5% management fee, and a Public Benefit Corporation/B Corp status, along with a nonprofit, SafetyNest, to help underserved people. Its goal is to make insurance cheaper and more accessible while serving the communal good.

Company Size

201-500

Company Stage

Series C

Total Funding

$229.5M

Headquarters

Columbus, Ohio

Founded

2017

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • August 2026 premiums reached $42.2 million, up 8.6% year over year.
  • February 2026 Akur8 expansion sharpened pricing and regulatory intelligence across states.
  • July 2026 CrashBay launch improved claims handling faster than traditional carrier repair networks.

What critics are saying

  • August 2026 Q2 results showed $15.3 million underwriting loss, extending capital pressure.
  • 2024 layoffs hit 85 workers after 186 cuts in June 2023, signaling shrinking ops.
  • Persistent losses can exhaust the exchange’s surplus and force a recapitalization or shutdown.

What makes Branch Financial unique

  • Branch’s reciprocal exchange returns unused premiums to members, not outside shareholders.
  • July 2026 CrashBay integration added rapid claims repair coordination without Branch building shops.
  • Branch still sells bundled home-auto insurance instantly through direct, agent, and embedded channels.

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Benefits

  • Remote Work Options
  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Loan?

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

-1%

2 year growth

-5%
Quandec Corporation
Jul 28th, 2026
Branch partners with CrashBay for direct repair program.

Branch partners with CrashBay for direct repair program. Branch, the digital-first insurer, said today it has expanded its direct repair program through CrashBay, connecting policyholders to a vetted repair network with managed claims coordination. The companies said the program went from decision to launch in under three weeks. The arrangement routes Branch collision claims to repair facilities through a third-party marketplace rather than through a network the carrier builds and staffs itself. CrashBay do matches carrier repair needs to a vetted network and manages the work, the payments and customer communication through repair completion. "CrashBay integrated its managed repair program within its claims management system in under three

Legacy Crashbay
Jul 28th, 2026
Branch enhances its direct repair program offering with CrashBay.

Branch enhances its direct repair program offering with CrashBay. The digital-first insurer adds a fully managed, vetted repair network to its claims service offerings. COLUMBUS, Ohio, July 28, 2026 - Branch today announced an enhancement to its direct repair program that gives its members greater access to a digital-first vetted repair network with fully managed claims coordination. The program, powered by CrashBay, was built in just under three weeks. Most direct repair programs (DRP) take months to design, staff, and launch. But, Branch, a digital-first insurer designed to make everything about insurance more efficient, wanted a partner that could match its velocity. Working with CrashBay, it went from decision to live program in under three weeks, and members began seeing the benefit almost immediately. CrashBay - a neutral coordination infrastructure - connects Branch's members to a vetted repair network and coordinates each repair end to end. Crashbay doesn't own any of the repair shops and does not perform repairs, but by serving as a true digital marketplace, is able to offer Branch members access to the best repair options in any marketplace they reside. For a carrier built on automation and fast cycle times, the program adds a fully managed repair layer without adding headcount or administrative drag. "Branch is the kind of carrier we move fastest with," said John Harvey, founder of CrashBay. "They are decisive, they are built on technology, and they wanted a repair program that could keep up. We stood it up in weeks rather than months, and it has delivered for their policyholders almost right away." "CrashBay strengthened a direct repair program we were already proud of, integrating with our claims management system and raising the bar on coordination and execution for our members," said Charlie Wendland, Chief Claims Officer, Branch. "CrashBay integrated our managed repair program within our claims management system in under three weeks and connected our members to a vetted network with a level of coordination and execution they deserve." Branch's launch shows what is possible when a digital-first carrier and a coordination platform move at the same speed. About CrashBay. CrashBay is a digital platform that connects every side of the collision repair industry: insurance carriers, fleets, OEMs, third-party administrators, and repair shops. CrashBay operates as neutral coordination infrastructure. It does not own repair facilities and does not perform repairs. Instead, it matches carrier and fleet repair needs with a vetted repair network and manages the work, the payments, and the customer experience through to completion. By delivering managed-repair and concierge-grade coordination, CrashBay fills the gaps that traditional direct repair programs leave behind, giving carriers a better claims outcome, giving shops steady and well-supported volume, and giving customers a faster, more transparent repair. Learn more at CrashBay.com. About Branch. Branch launched in 2019 by insurance veteran Steve Lekas and tech entrepreneur Joe Emison with a mission to make insurance more accessible so more people can be covered. Branch brings deep data and technology expertise to bear to improve the entire insurance experience for consumers, agencies, and carriers. For consumers and agencies, Branch operates the Branch Insurance Exchange, a modern-day insurance cooperative powered by a revolutionary instant-bind capability that removes all of the friction associated with getting covered so consumers can bundle their home and auto insurance with ease and save money faster than ever before. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Branch is a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corporation committed to meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, and accountability.

Metric Media LLC
Jul 1st, 2026
NAMIC presents annual innovation award to Branch for AI-driven claims modernization.

NAMIC presents annual innovation award to Branch for AI-driven claims modernization. The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies presented its annual Award in Innovation, sponsored by Guy Carpenter, to Branch on July 1 for its work in modernizing first notice of loss and call center operations using artificial intelligence technology. The initiative aimed to improve member accessibility, data integrity, and claims responsiveness. Branch, an Ohio-based company, implemented AI-enabled voice technology to handle structured claim intake and integrate data directly into its claims platform. The company also redesigned workflows to ensure faster assignment and improved downstream handling. These changes extended beyond the claims process to broader call center operations by reducing hold times, improving documentation quality, and allowing human representatives to focus on complex interactions rather than manual data capture. Neil Alldredge, president and CEO of NAMIC, said, "Mutual insurers, and reciprocals like Branch, thrive when they remain focused on policyholders. Through its use of AI, Branch has made one of the more arduous parts of insurance - claims processing - faster and more efficient, which benefits everyone." Branch was founded in 2017 by Steve Lekas and Joseph Emison. It offers auto, homeowners, renters, and umbrella insurance as a tech-forward reciprocal insurance company. Charlie Wendland, chief claims officer at Branch, said, "What we're most excited about is that [this award-winning initiative] has improved member experience. We have seen multiple-point increases on our NPS year over year. We're not placing all the credit on AI, but it has freed up employees to spend more time on the customer care side of things, which explains the 'why' of what we are doing."

Coverager
May 20th, 2024
Branch Insurance Exchange Reports Q1 Results

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Coverager
Mar 15th, 2024
Branch Insurance Exchange Reports Q3 2024 Results

Branch Insurance Exchange, the reciprocal managed by insurance startup. Branch, <i class="fa fa-info-circle company-popover" data-content="h3Branch/h3. div