Workers' Compensation Program Manager

$90,000 - $110,000 a year

Location: Chicago, hybrid working 3 days per week onsite

Type: Full-Time

Salary: $90,000 - $110,000 a year (inclusive of target bonus), depending on experience

About Zen Educate:

Zen Educate is a technology company that matches schools with temporary educator staff. Our mission is to change the world of education recruitment. Schools spend over $9bn a year on temporary educators, with over $2bn per year of that spent on fees that take money out of the education system. By leveraging the latest technology, we purpose built a platform that helps schools to pay less while educators earn more.

We want students to have access to the best education possible, and we go the extra mile to find, onboard, match, and coach incredible educators that deeply care about their students. We wake up every day on a mission to care more. We care more about our schools. And we care more about our educators.

This is your chance to make a difference and join a high growth tech startup on the ground floor. We are a collaborative company, and the career growth opportunities are endless if you are someone willing to dive in, be entrepreneurial, and do whatever is needed to get the job done. We are passionate about learning and development, and will invest in both your personal and professional growth.

If this is your first account management/partnership/sales job, we still want to hear from you - especially if you have an education background. This is a wonderful opportunity to get your foot in the door with a tech company and gain skills that will unlock exciting new doors for you in your career.

We have recently raised our Series B funding of $37mil, the largest round in European EdTech this year. This is an exciting opportunity to make a difference and be part of a high growth start-up that is expanding rapidly in the UK and US markets!

About the role:

Zen is hyperscaling - up 4x year over year, and we're not slowing down. As we grow, the needs of our educators and our company are evolving - so we're now starting our journey to build a large deductible Workers' Compensation program supported by a leading national broker, insurer, and third party administrator. So to help lead us on this journey, we're looking for a Workers' Compensation Program Manager to own the day to day oversight of this program. You will not be adjusting claims directly. Instead, you will manage our external partners, monitor claim performance, ensure appropriate reserving, and help reduce loss exposure through strong coordination and early intervention. This role is both analytical and operational. You will partner closely with Finance, People, and Operations leadership to ensure our claims portfolio is well managed, transparent, and continuously improving.

What you'll be doing:

Program Oversight

- Serve as the primary internal owner of Zen's Workers' Compensation program

- Manage relationships with our insurance carrier and third party administrator

- Review open claims regularly and challenge reserving where appropriate

- Monitor litigation activity and coordinate strategy on higher exposure claims

- Ensure compliance across multiple US states

Claims Monitoring & Reporting

- Analyze loss runs and identify trends in frequency, severity, and root causes

- Prepare regular reporting for Finance and leadership on claims performanceForecast deductible exposure and support financial planning

- Identify opportunities to reduce costs through early intervention and proactive claim management

Return to Work & Risk Reduction

- Partner with People and Operations teams to improve return to work processesIdentify recurring injury patterns and recommend preventative actions

- Support education of internal stakeholders on reporting best practices

Process & Systems

- Build scalable internal workflows for incident reporting and claim tracking

- Improve communication between internal teams and external claims partners

- Continuously evaluate program performance and recommend improvements

What we are looking for:

We are looking for someone who combines technical claims knowledge with ownership and sound judgment.

- 5-10 years of Workers' Compensation claims experience, ideally with a carrier or TPA

- Experience handling lost time and litigated claims

- Familiarity with multi state Workers' Compensation environments

- Comfort reviewing reserves and understanding claim lifecycle dynamics

- Strong analytical skills and confidence working with data

- Clear communicator who can influence external partners

- Organized and proactive, with the ability to operate independently in a remote environment

- Experience with Worker Compensation with school or education clients a plus

- Experience supporting an employer side program or high deductible structure is a plus but not required.

What's in it for you?

-Competitive salary and benefits

-18 days paid time off (15 days flexible + 3 days for Christmas closure)

-Work that you are proud of and want to talk about

-A fun, tight-knit team solving a problem that makes a difference in the world

Diversity and Inclusion

At Zen, we strive to build a culture of equity and inclusion, where everyone is respected, valued and appreciated for their unique traits, experiences and perspectives. We are committed to creating a safe, inclusive and equitable environment where our team can thrive, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, disability, religion or beliefs. We value our differences and believe that practices of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion help us create a fairer, more compassionate environment for all.

We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds and different experiences and perspectives - just like the staff who teach through Zen and the children at the schools we work with. We believe in hiring the best people from the widest pool and creating an inclusive culture where people's voices are heard and all our team can look forward to coming to work.

We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of our community and promoting an equitable and inclusive environment for all. We seek out diverse opinions, beliefs, and experiences because they collectively make us stronger; we've had former teachers, pilots, fundraisers, engineers, lawyers, marketers, social media experts and more join our team.