Tech Expense Optimization Asst Dir
About The Position
Northwestern Mutual is seeking an Assistant Director, Technology Expense Optimization to shape how the company invests in and simplifies technology, balancing cost discipline with innovation and long-term value. The role partners with Technology, Finance, Sourcing & Procurement, and business leaders to improve transparency and efficiency and reinvest across the technology portfolio. It leads high-impact initiatives, turns data into insight, and influences decisions connected to transformation and strategic priorities. The position helps develop technology expense strategy and multi-year plans, manages and analyzes technology spending, identifies cost drivers and optimization opportunities, and prepares executive-ready recommendations. It partners with Technology leaders to optimize application portfolios, cloud usage, and platform investments, and supports vendor negotiations, renewals, and rationalization with Procurement and Legal. The Assistant Director also advises leaders, aligns cost objectives with delivery outcomes, and leads and develops team members while building repeatable tools, analytics, and practices. Success is measured by realized technology cost reductions, improved visibility and predictability of spend, strong stakeholder partnerships, credible executive recommendations that drive action, and scalable optimization capabilities. Northwestern Mutual describes itself as a best-in-class company focused on clients' interests and states that it is an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive environment where employees can contribute ideas, take on challenges, and develop leadership.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Technology, or a related field.
- 6–12 years of relevant experience in technology, business, strategy, or consulting.
- Experience managing or influencing large, complex workstreams.
- Strong analysis, storytelling, and executive communication skills.
- Ability to influence across teams and levels without direct authority.
- Accountability and ownership of commitments, decisions, and outcomes.
- Ability to build cross-functional partnerships, align priorities, clarify ownership, and coordinate work toward shared goals.
- Problem-solving skills, including defining complex problems, identifying root causes, evaluating alternatives, and implementing practical solutions.
- Critical-thinking skills, including evaluating information from multiple perspectives, challenging assumptions, identifying risks and dependencies, and making evidence-based recommendations.
- Situational awareness and contextual judgment, including adapting approaches to the business environment, audience, timing, and stakeholder dynamics.
- Business influence and the ability to communicate a compelling point of view.
- Negotiation skills, including navigating objections and balancing financial value, technology needs, and business priorities.
Nice To Haves
- Background in large, complex enterprise environments.
- Vendor management, sourcing, or contract optimization experience.
- Familiarity with cloud cost management and application portfolio optimization.
Responsibilities
- Help lead key components of Northwestern Mutual’s technology expense optimization strategy.
- Shape multi-year plans that balance operating costs with growth and transformation investments.
- Translate strategy into actionable plans, targets, and outcomes.
- Analyze and manage technology spending across labor, vendors, software, cloud, and infrastructure.
- Identify cost drivers, optimization opportunities, and trade-offs.
- Develop executive-ready insights to support decision-making.
- Partner with Technology leaders to optimize application portfolios, cloud usage, and platform investments.
- Support vendor negotiations, renewals, and rationalization in partnership with Procurement and Legal.
- Help drive demand management and cost-avoidance initiatives.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to Technology and Finance leaders.
- Lead discussions aligning cost objectives with delivery outcomes.
- Prepare recommendations and materials for senior leadership audiences.
- Lead and mentor team members contributing to expense optimization outcomes.
- Establish repeatable tools, analytics, and ways of working.
- Build financial and business acumen across the team.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
