Business Solutions Delivery Manager

National Life Group • Addison, IL

46d • Onsite

About The Position

Come join one of America's fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures. Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard. We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good. Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position. Role Summary The Business Solutions Project Delivery Manager is a member of the Business Architecture team responsible for the successful delivery and integration of new products, services, systems or processes for projects of small to medium scope. This role works closely with cross-functional teams including IT, PMO and business units to translate organizational strategy into actionable plans. In close collaboration with stakeholders and internal partners the Delivery Manager will support the definition of the purpose statement, guiding principles, success metrics and business capabilities that serve as inputs to the project scope and solution design. This role may participate in soliciting a request for proposal and related vendor due diligence needed to select a supplier partner. Whether the preferred solution is a buy or a build the Delivery Manager is responsible to ensure that chosen solution aligns to the customer value proposition underpinning the business goals. Once the solution has been identified the Delivery Manager plays a key role in establishing the detailed project plan that informs both timeline and budget. This may require inputs from multiple supplier partners and/or various project teams to create a comprehensive plan. This role will work closely with PMO to capture business requirements and resources needed to develop, test and implement the solution. In summary, the Delivery Manager will engage with stakeholder groups and supplier partners to ensure that business goals are understood, the project plan reflects what must happen to achieve the goals and execution of the plan meets quality standards, delivered on time and within budget. This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you are in the office four (4) days per week during onsite core days. Our current onsite core days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The work schedule type and core days are subject to change with advance notification and manager discretion.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
• Minimum five (5) years of experience in product management and/or technology integration with a proven track record of delivering medium to large scale transformations in complex, cross-functional organizations
• Strong interpersonal skills with a focus on rapport building, active listening and appreciative inquiry building trusted relationships with stakeholders and partners
• Willingness to dig deep and develop working knowledge of business operating model, processes and enabling technology
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and trends, diagnose problems and recommend action plans to resolve issues
• Experience writing business requirements
• Highly skilled in communicating information concisely and effectively to internal/external partners and stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to perform a retrospective analysis, learn and apply the knowledge to improve business performance
• Demonstrated ability to recognize risk and develop mitigation strategies
• Proven track record of making timely decisions based on facts, circumstances and needs of the business
• Display rigor, persistence and positivity in a highly collaborative atmosphere

Nice To Haves

• Master's degree in business, finance, computer science, information systems or other related fields
• Life & annuity industry knowledge
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
• Professional SCRUM Product Owner (PSPO) certification
• Six Sigma certification

Responsibilities

• Plays a primary role representing business interests throughout the full delivery lifecycle from concept and planning through execution and final delivery.
• Participate in defining the purpose statement, guiding principles and success metrics for the project.
• Engage stakeholders to define business capabilities needed to achieve business goals distinguishing those that are a must have from those that are nice to have.
• Support the convergence of divergent thinking ensuring alignment to business goals.
• Apply the guiding principles and success criteria to guide and influence decisions.
• Establish a regular cadence for communication and status updates.
• Leverage Business Process Analysts to evaluate existing processes and collaborate with business unit to identify opportunities to optimize efficiency and effectiveness.
• Support change management activities as required.
• Participate in defining business focused selection criteria in support of request for proposal ("RFP") and vendor due diligence efforts and work with business unit to formulate questions for each criteria.
• Collaborate with PMO and IT to break down business capabilities into components and outcomes that will inform the business requirement document.
• Ensure that project scope aligns to the business goals.
• Participate with internal and external partners to co-design elegant solutions.
• Support the creation of detailed project plans, milestones, timelines and capacity plans.
• Lead day-to-day project activities as key decision maker, providing continual guidance to the development and testing teams.
• Maintain a high standard of quality in project delivery by ensuring that deliverables meet business requirements and technical specifications.
• Provide sign off that deliverables meet the acceptance criteria.
• Participate in the identification and assessment of project risk. Develop mitigation plans and proactively address potential challenges to maintain project momentum.
• Collaborate with PMO to build monitoring and oversight into the governance structure tracking progress against deliverables, reviewing performance metrics and identifying potential issues.
• Work with IT to ensure a structured handover process for ongoing support including knowledge transfer and incident management.
• Maintain stewardship of the systems supporting optimization and general maintenance activities.
• Shepherd the exploration of continuous improvement opportunities, regulatory change, new service offerings etc.

Benefits

• Your benefits start day one and are flexible and customizable to your and your family's specific needs.
• Check out the BENEFITS of a Career at National Life!
• The total compensation package for this position may also include a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered.
• The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life's discretionary annual incentive programs, subject to the rules governing such programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Industry: Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees