Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
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Jessica Rhea

Jessica Rhea

Aurora,OH

Summary

A motivating and results-driven business leader with over 22 years of experience in the insurance industry. Recognized for driving operational excellence, fostering growth through high-performing teams, and achieving strategic goals. I have a proven track record of leading organizational transformations, optimizing customer experiences, and managing business process changes. With a consultative leadership style, I am passionate about developing leaders, empowering teams, and cultivating a culture of accountability, inclusivity, and continuous improvement. My strengths in strategic planning, process optimization, collaboration, and adaptability enable me to deliver measurable results, create meaningful change, and efficiently execute project mandates. I navigate challenges with a resourceful and analytical mindset to ensure sustainable success for organizations and their people.

Overview

24
24
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Claims Director (New Jersey)

05.2025 - Current

Senior Director Zone Process

Progressive Insurance
09.2023 - 05.2025
  • Responsible for leading critical claims initiatives, driving strategic improvements, and overseeing operational change to enhance performance, align with business goals, and deliver impactful results while fostering a culture of accountability and excellence for the East Zone
  • Built relationships with East Zone leadership and other key partners to respond effectively to organizational needs and support execution of our priorities.
  • Collaborated with Corporate Process, peer ZPLs, and the PMO organization to prepare, test, and implement projects impacting the Claims Organization, including recent efforts on CTA and PD initiatives to improve Zone productivity.
  • Lead process team on development and execution of Zone-level alignment plans, driving progress on Tactical Priorities and Accuracy objectives, including 17-point improvement in IntelliRisk same-day timeliness and 8-point year-over-year increase in Coverage CCR.
  • Collaborated with leaders across East Zone, other field zones, and Audit to align on PD Roadmap which continues to improve calibration and drive positive outcomes in accuracy results.
  • Fostered inclusive and high-engagement culture which increased our Zone Process team’s engagement results by .24 to 4.75 (93% engagement). Increased team Inclusion Index by 0.23 points to 4.79.
  • Aligned Single Interview team under one leader to support improvement to claims hiring process and provide alignment across zone.
  • Identified an opportunity and developed plans to improve EZ regulatory handling.
  • Created an agile working environment, enabling rapid response to changing business needs without sacrificing quality or performance standards.
  • Achieved operational goals by developing and implementing strategic plans and initiatives.
  • Navigated complex regulatory environments to ensure compliance with local laws, standards, and regulations relevant to the business domain.

Director – Casualty

Progressive Insurance
01.2020 - 08.2023
  • Responsible for the successful execution of our Business Objectives and Guiding Principles. Over the last three years, I have:
  • Supporting the growth, profitability, and stability of my states by effectively collaborating with key stakeholders and business partners. In 2022, we reached #1 Auto Insurer in OH.
  • Led through broad restructuring in 2021 and 2022 while maintaining accuracy and inventory health. Our states had the strongest inventory reduction for Injury in the CZ for 2022.
  • Developed relationships with Defense and House Counsel partners our new State legal partners.
  • To effectively execute litigation strategies across DE/MD/OH/WV.
  • Creating a culture of change through leading initiatives that supported the development of individual contributors and leaders. These improvements support engagement and future diverse talent development across DE/MD/OH/WV.
  • Working to align our four states on process execution to support growth and consistently accurate outcomes. A noteworthy accomplishment is the reduction in Litigation cycle time by 12% YOY, and 18.3% QOQ for the combined DE/MD/OH/WV.
  • Program Leader for Keys to Progress (December ’22) — working to develop roles and responsibility outlines that will allow the program to remain consistent and onboard new members to the team. Our focus for 2023 is to cross the 1000 vehicle mark while controlling costs to support profitability.

Claims Manager – MRR

01.2018 - 01.2020
  • Execution of organizational goals for TN MRR Organization. While in that role I:
  • Determined the future needs of the MRR organization from a staffing perspective to support growth. I proposed the need to add eight more MRRs and three new leaders over the course of 14 months to be positioned for growth.
  • Designed an organizational structure that could support the areas of our business where we would see the most field growth.
  • Identified opportunities in meeting tactical priorities for Network Performance and implemented a plan that led to improvement in all six NW categories. An example of improvement was rental reduction by half a day annually which equated to approximately $75K in rental accuracy.
  • Increased Productivity to sixth most productive state zone by driving behavior change with our MRR group.
  • Achieved measured improvement in Total Loss field accuracy.

Claims Manager – Fire & Theft (File Owner & TN DTL)

01.2016 - 01.2018
  • Responsible for the alignment and execution of goals for the five-state McChristian Fire and Theft Organization, TN PCS Team, and TN DTL Team. During my time in this role, I accomplished:
  • Aligned expectations for 2 Organizations that we merged into one (Fire/Theft)
  • Strategic plans for consistent improvement in accuracy outcomes
  • Determined the necessary actions to plan and grow our staff by 1 leader and 8 individuals over the course of one and a half years. During this time, we also experienced greater than 60% internal turnover of prior organizational structure (Fire/Theft & DTL) driven by growth.
  • Created a strong culture that had the vision of our common goals across a virtual organization

Process Manager

01.2015 - 01.2016
  • Led within a five-state organization that has exceeded three billion in premium. The focus for 2016 included improving injury handling accuracy to reduce cycle time, reducing customer service detractors across five states, alignment on liability process implementation, and reducing missed subrogation opportunities.
  • Assessed the business need for operational improvements focused on our Strategy Statement and seven key tactics. Managed competing priorities to identify high impact changes.
  • Worked with Leadership to understand challenges, develop plans to improve opportunities and provide support with data, training, and communication.
  • Implemented change across a five-state business unit working through leaders to effectively execute the intended outcome.
  • Planned, organized and managed the assessment calendar for the McChristian organization. Ensured that communication was prompt and clear. Managed the post assessment follow up to supply support for organizational action plans to improve opportunities and maintain strengths.

Claims Process Specialist IV

01.2013 - 01.2015
  • Responsible for identifying and supporting improvement to new and existing business processes within the Central Zone (18 states). The focus of these improvements is to increase customer service and efficiency while maintaining our historically high accuracy and low expense cost.
  • Evaluated current business processes to improve our customer experience by identifying internal and external customer needs through competitor/industry research and employee/customer feedback.
  • Aided in the development of a playbook for the 2014 transition to a new Business Quality assessment. Collaborated with multiple leaders, many with competing interests, to create a value-added evaluation and reporting process.
  • Coordinated and administered the Organizational Assessment program, collaboratively working with Corporate Audit, Zone Process and Field Leadership, to ensure prompt and accurate completion and reporting of Tier 1 assessments
  • Led implementation of File Intervention through training delivery, implementation support, and reporting
  • Teamed with local, zone and national leaders to reach mutually beneficial business solutions focused on the current business strategy statement.

Claims Supervisor

01.2009 - 01.2013
  • Responsible for the development and performance of a team of eight associates focused on delivering a quality customer experience while maintaining accuracy and reducing costs.
  • Consistently delivered an “exceeds level of performance quality” over the course of four years.
  • Improved claim resolution procedures by motivating my team to deliver on our commitments to increase the positive customer experience. Achieved “exceeds NPS” rating for 2012 and 2013 and received national recognition.
  • Created a culture of positive teamwork, commitment, and drive for success over the course of four years to foster a place where employees enjoy their job.
  • Managed the daily facility needs for the Memphis Claims Branch, housing 33 employees, which included managing the physical plant move to a new building location in April 2013.

Field Implementation Specialist

01.2007 - 01.2009
  • Collaborated with team to develop and implement national business plans to transition corporate claims handling procedures which reduced costs and increased efficiency. Project included improved protocols for virtual claims management. Project was successfully completed on-time and within budget

Service Center Field Leader

01.2005 - 01.2007
  • Provided support to open 32 new Service Centers. Nation-wide project aided with 45 total Service Centers that averaged +$5M/annually in vehicle repairs. Responsible for conducting Post-opening National Assessments, implementing new electronic vendor payment system, and aiding Service Centers with passing compliance audit and maintaining accurate results

Claims Team Leader / Repair Coordinator / Adjuster

01.2002 - 01.2005
  • Supervised a team of Customer Service representatives; managed individual development of employees, workflow production priorities, quality customer interactions and vendor relations. Conducted quality reviews and authorized payment on estimates valued at under $25K; averaged 10 to 15 estimates per day. From 2004 to 2005, met or exceeded goals on three audits for process compliance, customer service ratings, and property damage accuracy.

Education

Bachelor of Science - Business Administration

Strayer University
Alexandria, VA
05.2004

Skills

  • Strategic planning
  • Process improvement strategies
  • Organizational change management
  • Strong leadership skills
  • Effective communication
  • Relationship building and management
  • Operations management

Timeline

Senior Claims Director (New Jersey)

05.2025 - Current

Senior Director Zone Process

Progressive Insurance
09.2023 - 05.2025

Director – Casualty

Progressive Insurance
01.2020 - 08.2023

Claims Manager – MRR

01.2018 - 01.2020

Claims Manager – Fire & Theft (File Owner & TN DTL)

01.2016 - 01.2018

Process Manager

01.2015 - 01.2016

Claims Process Specialist IV

01.2013 - 01.2015

Claims Supervisor

01.2009 - 01.2013

Field Implementation Specialist

01.2007 - 01.2009

Service Center Field Leader

01.2005 - 01.2007

Claims Team Leader / Repair Coordinator / Adjuster

01.2002 - 01.2005

Bachelor of Science - Business Administration

Strayer University

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