Head of Carrier Relations

About the role

We’re looking for a Head of Carrier Relations to own Gyde’s relationships and economics with every insurance carrier we do business with. Carrier contracts are the foundation of a distribution business. Where we sit in a carrier’s hierarchy determines what our brokers earn, what we earn on every policy they write, which products we can put in front of clients, and how fast a newly acquired agency can be brought onto our platform. As Gyde scales its brokerage across Medicare Advantage, Med Supp, ACA, employer benefits, and a growing ancillary portfolio, this becomes one of the highest-leverage economic levers in the company. You’ll be the matchmaker between carriers and our partner network, finding the growth that sits between them, and you’ll build the function. You’ll secure new carrier contracts, consolidate and elevate the ones we hold, negotiate override and marketing economics, and own the escalation path when something goes wrong for a broker or a client. You’ll set our product and plan strategy with carriers by market and line of business, and you’ll be the voice of the carrier inside Gyde, influencing how we conduct contracting, commissions, and onboarding inside our platform. This role is ideal for a seasoned distribution executive who has personally negotiated top-of-hierarchy contracts and knows exactly what a carrier needs to see before they grant one. You’re as comfortable across the table from a carrier’s national distribution leader as you are in the detail of a commission schedule or a hierarchy transfer.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end relationship with every carrier partner across Medicare Advantage, PDP, Med Supp, ACA, and ancillary / supplemental lines
• Identify growth opportunities between carriers and Gyde’s partners: match each carrier’s growth priorities, products, and incentives to the agencies and markets best positioned to deliver, and make the introductions that turn those matches into production
• Source, negotiate, and execute new carrier contracts, and drive Gyde toward top-of-hierarchy contract levels as our production and infrastructure scale
• Negotiate override, bonus, and marketing / co-op economics, and defend those terms year over year against production and persistency performance
• Build and run the carrier business review cadence — production, persistency, compliance posture, and forward growth commitments — so every carrier conversation is grounded in data
• Lead contract consolidation and hierarchy strategy as acquired agencies and downline partners come onto the platform, partnering closely with Contracting and Commissions on transfers, appointments, and commission schedules
• Own carrier escalations and compliance investigations end to end, including commission discrepancies, agent-of-record disputes, agent investigations, plan and product issues, and stand up the SLAs and reporting that keep them from recurring
• Set the product and plan portfolio strategy by carrier, market, and line of business, and lead expansion into new ancillary and adjacent product categories
• Serve as Gyde’s internal authority on carrier requirements, translating them into product and engineering requirements for our contracting, commissions, and onboarding workflows
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to ensure every contract, incentive, and marketing arrangement stands up to CMS, state, and Anti-Kickback scrutiny, with Legal reviewing carrier agreements and you owning the commercial terms
• Represent Gyde to carrier leadership, industry bodies, and the broader distribution market — and build the team behind you as the function grows

Requirements

• 10+ years in insurance distribution, including direct ownership of carrier contracting and hierarchy economics at an FMO, IMO, NMA, national agency, or a carrier’s broker distribution organization
• A demonstrated record of winning elevated carrier contracts. You have personally negotiated top-of-hierarchy terms
• Deep fluency in Medicare Advantage and PDP economics, with ACA and employer benefits strongly preferred; strong command of ancillary and supplemental products and Med Supp a plus
• Command of the mechanics: hierarchies, commission schedules, overrides, advances and chargebacks, appointments and ready-to-sell, and book-of-business transfers
• Strong knowledge of the regulatory environment (CMS marketing and compensation rules, scope of appointment, TCPA, and Anti-Kickback considerations), and the judgment to know when to bring in counsel
• Established relationships with national and regional carrier distribution leadership, and the credibility to open doors
• Exceptional negotiation and executive presence