AVP, Product & Market Development

Unum•Portland, ME

About The Position

When you join the team at Unum, you become part of an organization committed to helping you thrive. Here, we work to provide the employee benefits and service solutions that enable employees at our client companies to thrive throughout life’s moments. And this starts with ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys opportunities to succeed both professionally and personally. To enable this, we provide: Award-winning culture Inclusion and diversity as a priority Performance Based Incentive Plans Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!) Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution Mental health support Career advancement opportunities Student loan repayment options Tuition reimbursement Flexible work environments All the benefits listed above are subject to the terms of their individual Plans. And that’s just the beginning… With 10,000 employees helping more than 39 million people worldwide, every role at Unum is meaningful and impacts the lives of our customers. Whether you’re directly supporting a growing family, or developing online tools to help navigate a difficult loss, customers are counting on the combined talents of our entire team. Help us help others, and join Team Unum today! General Summary: This position is responsible for the development of product/market strategies for new and existing product lines. This leadership position obtains, analyzes, and proactively communicates relevant marketplace information to our internal and external constituencies and has ownership and accountability for the product development strategy of the assigned lines/segments of business. This includes defining and supporting short and long term market and product strategies and tactics with measurable financial goals. This person is ultimately accountable for the composition of Unum’s product and capability portfolio for the assigned lines/segments of business. This person is the product line champion, driving the development of the portfolio needs.

Requirements

BA/BS required or MBA preferred
10+ years of related business experience, preferably in the financial services industry in sales, marketing, risk management and/or product/market development
Exhibits strong leadership skills, including the ability to effectively partner, problem solve and influence all levels of the organization with heavy emphasis on field personnel and brokers
Knowledge of principles and practices of the Insurance market
Ability to manage a product line, effectively balancing short and long term profitability and growth objectives
Ability to make a large volume of design/offering decisions while keeping sight of the longer term strategic goal, and balancing risk – marketability – implementability
Ability to participate on various product initiatives as part of a "fungible" pool of Product Development professionals
Ability to develop strong relationships/credibility with multiple constituents
Unique combination of problem solving, analytical and strong project management skills
Excellent communication skills – both written and verbal for various audience size and product knowledge
Must be a strategic thinker but able to execute at the tactical level.
Attentive focus on delivering timely results and executing on plans and initiatives for balanced top and bottom line results
Ability to effectively manage and develop team to high performance standards

Nice To Haves

Insurance designations helpful

Responsibilities

Enable, implement and drive technological solutions as part of the portfolio.
Key participant setting strategy and portfolio direction (3-5 year outlook), ensuring the company attains its growth, profit and ROE objectives.
Owner/major driver in the design and development of new/enhanced market offers inclusive of the product as well as the end-to-end Client and Distribution experience, to satisfy identified market needs.
Accountable for defining value and then the actual value realization when solutions are brought to market.
Drive and partner with product and implementation teams by providing timely and effective development and coordination of appropriate product implementation activities.
Engage both internal and external parties in ensuring the portfolio is compliant with regulations.
Contribute to product management strategies/tactics by partnering with other areas to provide detailed qualitative and quantitative analysis of various offering components (price, product features, UW, service, compensation and distribution).
Interact with vendors, brokers, field personnel, home office personnel and customers by proactively communicating relevant competitive information, new and enhanced product training, and change in product guidelines.
Assess and incorporate economic and distribution trend information into product opportunities and platform strategy.
Direct marketing messages for products that appeal to identified market segments and support corporate value propositions as defined by market segmentation research. Partner with the Marketing Communications area to make this possible.
Define and understand competitive scope and universe. Incorporates competitive trend assessments into product line recommendations, often driving competitive surveys, initiates customer and research projects.
Ensure offering and segment requirements align with strategic focus on other functional areas and the corporation as a whole
Oversee the execution of product development projects – often managing large, complex, multi-dimensional initiatives with significant corporate impact
Know and understand distribution trends by product offering and market segment and make recommendations to effectively and profitability distribute offering through defined channels.
Develop and mentor staff, operating in a culture of high performance, and provides strong leadership toward achieving results.
May perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Award-winning culture
Inclusion and diversity as a priority
Performance Based Incentive Plans
Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability
Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!)
Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution
Mental health support
Career advancement opportunities
Student loan repayment options
Tuition reimbursement
Flexible work environments