WIL 2024: Lauren Dieterich, chief operating officer at Arch Insurance North America

Lauren Dieterich, chief operating officer at Arch Insurance North America, holds over 20 years of specialty insurance experience and leadership. 

Lauren Dieterich, chief operating officer at Arch Insurance North America

Arch Insurance North America

After earning her degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Duke University, Dieterich began her career in information technology consulting. For over a decade, she held several roles in commercial underwriting and management at American International Group (AIG) Insurance.

While she enjoyed her work in underwriting, Dieterich felt that she had an affinity for problem solving and wanted to apply her skills and expertise in new ways. After careful consideration, she chose to transition to an operations role at AIG.

“I found that what I was really passionate about is how to use technology to make my teams more efficient, and I was really looking for more project opportunities,” Dieterich explained, “I made what was a very hard decision for me, at the time, and decided to leave underwriting and move into operations.”

Prior to her current role, Dieterich was head of operations and digital of surplus and specialty lines at Crum & Forster Insurance. In Jan. 2023, she joined Arch at a pivotal time for the insurer. Dieterich explained that Arch had recognized a crucial need to build scalable operations within the company and created a new role, COO, to focus on optimizing its underwriting operations. 

“It was a fantastic match with my background and my interests, and I continue to feel that now. This role really allows me to bring that technology, underwriting and operations experience together and really deliver value to the organization,” said Dieterich.

As head of Arch’s operations, she is responsible for leading efforts to improve underwriter productivity and capability, optimize strategic projects and IT projects, and ensure both customer and employee satisfaction. In her role as chief operating officer, Dieterich has already made a significant impact on Arch’s digital transformation strategy, developing the company’s operational model and organizational structure. She created four key verticals–people, process, technology and data–each with specialized focus and capabilities. 

She is also focused on improving Arch’s underwriting service quality and efficiency by standardizing and automating processes across underwriting groups. Under her leadership, Arch implemented new modular tech solutions and tools that enable scalability and flexibility.

Through Arch’s Underwriting Technology North Star, a strategic initiative that identifies a united future vision and direction, Dieterich also prioritized and developed the organization’s strategies in underwriting and technology. With the guidelines outlined by its North Star, Arch has rectified what was once a group of many different monolithic or siloed systems. 

“Defining that vision has been very helpful in identifying where we were gapped or what we needed to build that we didn’t have, as well as where we had multiple systems doing the same thing that we could instead consolidate to a more enterprise platform. Setting that North Star has been incredibly valuable for all our teams.”

Learning from personal experience, Dieterich would advise other insurance professionals to embrace taking career risks and pursuing your passions. 

“You really have to own your career and seek out opportunities for change when you feel like you’re ready for change. It was really important to be honest with myself about what I was most interested in pursuing,” she said. 

“Have those gut checks with yourself about what you are most interested in pursuing, and don’t just stay on a track because you think that’s just the path ahead of you,” explained Dieterich. “All careers can take twists and turns, and lateral moves can be equally interesting and potentially provide more growth than something that might look like the next step in the track that you’re on. Know what your interests are, take action towards those and don’t be afraid of it.”

Beyond her role with Arch, Dieterich also demonstrates an avid commitment to mentorship and women empowerment within the insurance industry. She is a committee member for the New Jersey chapter of the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW). APIW is an organization dedicated to providing women insurance professionals with networking and professional development opportunities. Through its monthly programs, mentorship opportunities, and social events, the group aims to provide a platform for women in insurance to address issues impacting the industry and prepare members for leadership roles within their organizations. 

Dieterich is also a member of the Impact 100 Jersey Coast group, a women’s grantmaking collective that funds high impact grants for local nonprofits that provide for underserved populations within the community. The collective has awarded a total of nearly $3 million in grants to 36 high-impact projects since its inception in 2015.