Full-Time

Technology Program Manager

Core Insurance Platforms

Independence Pet Group

Independence Pet Group

501-1,000 employees

North American pet insurance provider

No salary listed

Chicago, IL, USA

Hybrid

Three days on-site per week required.

Bachelor's

Category
Business & Strategy (1)
Required Skills
Agile
Data Visualization

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Requirements
  • Strong delivery coordination and execution management skills across complex enterprise technology initiatives.
  • Ability to manage competing priorities and operate effectively within fast-paced transformation environments.
  • Strong organizational, planning, dependency management, and problem-solving capabilities.
  • Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to coordinate across business and technology organizations.
  • Experience leading Agile / Scaled Agile Framework delivery models and cross-functional delivery coordination.
  • Ability to facilitate collaboration across system integrators, vendors, and distributed delivery teams.
  • Strong attention to detail combined with the ability to maintain visibility across interconnected workstreams and dependencies.
  • Demonstrated ability to proactively identify risks, escalate issues, drive execution transparency, and ensure accountability across delivery teams.
  • 12+ years of technology program or project management experience supporting enterprise technology delivery initiatives.
  • Familiarity with insurance platforms and workflows, including policy administration, billing, claims, underwriting, or customer servicing capabilities.
  • Experience working with system integrators, offshore delivery teams, and third-party vendors.
  • Experience working within Agile / Scaled Agile Framework delivery environments.
  • Strong understanding of enterprise delivery governance, reporting, financial tracking, and dependency management practices.
  • Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Business, Engineering, or a related field.
Responsibilities
  • Lead delivery activities across core insurance platform initiatives, including EIS Policy, Billing, Claims, Product Configuration, integrations, and supporting applications.
  • Drive integrated planning and execution coordination with business program managers, technology delivery leads, product owners, and system integrators.
  • Lead Agile / Scaled Agile Framework delivery routines, including program increment planning, dependency management, status reviews, RAID management, and execution tracking activities.
  • Lead integrated roadmap coordination across applications, infrastructure, security, data, and integration workstreams.
  • Drive visibility and accountability for program milestones, dependencies, risks, issues, financials, and action items across multiple delivery teams.
  • Lead coordination with system integrators and vendors to monitor deliverables, escalate blockers, and ensure execution accountability.
  • Build and maintain executive-ready dashboards, status reporting, and operational delivery metrics.
  • Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure, Information Security, and Engineering teams to ensure aligned and predictable technology delivery outcomes.
  • Lead release planning, deployment coordination, environment readiness, and operational transition activities.
  • Ensure delivery activities align with Technology Portfolio & Delivery Office governance standards, reporting requirements, financial controls, and operational processes.
  • Collaborate closely with business and technology leadership to ensure alignment between delivery execution and broader transformation objectives.
  • Contribute to continuous improvement of delivery governance, operational cadence, reporting standards, and transformation execution practices.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience supporting insurance, financial services, or regulated industry technology programs.
  • Experience supporting enterprise platform implementations such as EIS, Guidewire, Duck Creek, Majesco, or similar platforms.
Independence Pet Group

Independence Pet Group

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Independence Pet Group (IPG) is a large North American network that provides pet insurance and related services through brands like Figo, Felix, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, Pets Plus Us, and AKC Pet Insurance, covering more than 1,000,000 pets in the U.S. and Canada. Its products include insurance policies sold by its brands, plus tools such as microchip identification and an online pet registry, along with well-being resources and business solutions for the pet industry. IPG differentiates itself through its scale and breadth—multiple brand options plus industry services and technology that go beyond basic coverage. Its goal is to improve pet health and safety by making insurance accessible and offering practical tools and resources to pets, owners, and industry partners.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Growth Equity (Non-Venture Capital)

Total Funding

$55.6M

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois

Founded

N/A

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Venkat's February 2026 appointment signals tighter underwriting and faster product execution.
  • The January 2024 Fear Free partnership strengthens brand trust around preventative care.
  • Employer and shelter distribution broadened in 2025, reducing dependence on direct-to-consumer acquisition.

What critics are saying

  • Spot, Embrace, Pumpkin, and Nationwide crowd IPG's core markets with sharper consumer brands.
  • Veterinary inflation hit 5.1% in February 2026, pressuring loss ratios and pricing.
  • If rates lag claims, JAB can rationalize brands and shrink IPG's standalone role.

What makes Independence Pet Group unique

  • IPG unifies AKC, Figo, ASPCA, Spot, and Felix under one operating stack.
  • Kirk Haggard kept the platform private within JAB's pet-care ecosystem.
  • Vandana Venkat joined in February 2026, bringing insurance underwriting and AI operating discipline.

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Benefits

Health Insurance

Dental Insurance

Vision Insurance

Life Insurance

Disability Insurance

Health Savings Account/Flexible Spending Account

Unlimited Paid Time Off

Paid Vacation

Paid Holidays

Parental Leave

Commuter Benefits

Employee Assistance Program

Growth & Insights and Company News

Headcount

6 month growth

24%

1 year growth

24%

2 year growth

24%
PR Newswire
Feb 24th, 2026
Independence Pet Holdings appoints Vandana Venkat as president of Independence Pet Group

Independence Pet Holdings has appointed Vandana Venkat as President of Independence Pet Group. Venkat brings over 20 years of experience in insurance and financial services, having held senior positions at Argo Group, Clearcover and PURE Insurance, where she led underwriting, operations strategy and AI innovation. Earlier in her career, Venkat worked in product, pricing and risk management roles at Progressive, Kemper and Allianz/Fireman's Fund. She holds dual master's degrees in Industrial Engineering & Operations Research and Applied Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Independence Pet Group oversees brands including AKC Pet Insurance, OnePack Plan by PetPartners, Figo and ASPCA Pet Health Insurance. Independence Pet Holdings, established in 2021, manages pet insurance services supporting over one million pets across the US and Canada.

Coverager
Jun 3rd, 2024
Independence Pet acquires Spot Insurance

Independence Pet Group (IPH) has acquired a majority interest in Spot Pet Insurance, a company founded in 2019 and launched in 2020, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida. This acquisition builds on a partnership that began in 2022 with IPH’s initial investment in Spot. IPH, founded in 2021 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, has $55.59 million in total funding. IPH currently handles Spot’s underwriting, customer service, claims activities, and other administrative services.

Coverager
Jun 3rd, 2024
Independence Pet Holdings acquires Spot Pet Insurance

Independence Pet holdings acquires Spot Pet Insurance.

PR Newswire
Jan 17th, 2024
Independence Pet Group® And Fear Free, Llc, Team Up To Improve Emotional Wellbeing Care For Pets

Pet health and wellbeing advancements drive partnership to increase awareness across the industrySCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Independence Pet Group® (IPG), a leader in pet insurance and services, and Fear Free®, LLC, a revolutionary animal health and welfare online education company, announced today a new strategic relationship to increase the accessibility and education of Fear Free practices and pet insurance in an effort to further pets' emotional and physical wellbeing.Since 2016, Fear Free has educated 265,000+ pet industry professionals, volunteers, and pet parents on how to help relieve fear, anxiety, and stress in pets. As Fear Free's latest Corporate Program Member, IPG's pet insurance brands will be Fear Free's pet insurance providers of choice. IPG's brands include Figo Pet Insurance, Felix Cat Insurance, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance, and AKC Pet Insurance in the US and Pets Plus Us in Canada."Independence Pet Group recognizes pet health is holistic and it's critical to address both a pet's physical and emotional wellbeing. Through this relationship, our brands will provide pet parents with best-in-class content on how to address and support their pet's behavioral and emotional wellbeing, further strengthening the bond they share with their pet," said Nilpa Srivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Independence Pet Group.Fear, anxiety, and stress in pets has been linked to inaccurate diagnostics, aggression at the vet, and other issues.1 Because of this, many pet owners, such as cat owners, steer clear of the vet, further inhibiting their felines from receiving routine care for both physical and emotional needs. To further support feline health, the Felix Cat Insurance program and Fear Free will create informational content for both industry professionals and pet parents to help reduce fear and alleviate stress and anxiety for pets when it comes to getting the care they need."We are passionate about listening to the needs of animal health professionals and the new generation of pet owners and providing information and resources to fit those needs," said Randy Valpy, Chief Executive Officer, Fear Free

Capitol Broadcasting Co., Inc.
Nov 17th, 2023
Pet Insurance Firm Based In Raleigh Raises $55M, Business Nc Reports

Insurance Pet Holdings raised the money from 27 investors and sold stock, options and warrants.The company recently acquired cat insurance company Felix for an undisclosed amount. In addition to providing insurance for more than 800,000 pets, Insurance Pet also offers microchip identification and an online pet registry.Dogs make up the majority of insured pets in the United States, with 80.1% of insured dogs compared to 19.9% of insured cats, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association State of the Industry Report. The total number of pets insured in 2022 reached 5.36 million, up from 4.4 million in 2021, according to the report.The pet insurance market size was valued at $9.4 billion in 2022 and is estimated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 17.04% from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.Its CEO is Lane Kent, who had served as chief operating officer since the company’s formation in 2021. He became CEO at the beginning of 2023 and has more than 30 years of industry experience, including holding executive positions at Mutual of Omaha, New York Life, Univita/LTCG, and Southern Guaranty Insurance.For more details, read the full story at Business North Carolina