Business Support & Execution, Assistant Director

Principal Financial Group • Des Moines, IA

1d • Remote

About The Position

The Business Support & Execution, Assistant Director leads strategic transformation initiatives that support business priorities and operational and organizational objectives. The role partners across business, operations, product, and technology teams to assess current-state processes and capabilities, identify opportunities for optimization and standardization, and translate strategy into executable solutions. It combines strategic perspective with hands-on execution, evaluating capabilities and operational value streams while supporting implementation. The Assistant Director also partners with business and functional leaders to shape future operational capabilities, assess downstream impacts, and translate strategic priorities into scalable, sustainable improvements. Focus areas may include retirement plan recordkeeping operations, client onboarding, process modernization, product standardization, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in business execution, program leadership, consulting, business analysis, organizational initiatives, process improvement, change leadership, or equivalent experience.
• Experience leading large, complex, cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholder groups, business functions, or operational areas.
• Experience establishing or supporting governance, execution approaches, accountability frameworks, and delivery disciplines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage risks, dependencies, organizational impacts, implementation challenges, and competing priorities in complex environments.
• Experience facilitating alignment among leaders and stakeholders across teams, functions, and organizational boundaries.
• Experience leading organizational, operational, process, data, system, or technology-enabled change.
• Experience assessing current-state operations and translating findings into future-state recommendations and executable solutions.
• Experience using metrics, reporting, and business insights to support decisions and evaluate outcomes.
• Strong communication, facilitation, relationship management, problem-solving, and influencing skills.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with retirement plan recordkeeping, including defined contribution, ESOP, defined benefit, or pension risk transfer.
• Experience with operational transformation, process optimization, or standardization across multiple products or business areas.
• Experience supporting client onboarding or other complex, cross-functional client-service processes.
• Experience with automation, AI-enabled capabilities, or other technology-enabled approaches to improving business operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, cross-functional business operations initiatives and establish execution approaches, decision-making processes, and accountability practices with stakeholders.
• Translate organizational strategy into a clear future state covering people, processes, governance, roles, capacity, controls, technology, and ways of working.
• Coordinate execution across interconnected teams and workstreams, managing priorities, dependencies, decisions, and implementation trade-offs.
• Assess current-state processes, workflows, technologies, and operating practices to identify opportunities for optimization, modernization, automation, and standardization.
• Synthesize operational processes, technology capabilities, dependencies, and gaps into recommended future-state and interim solutions, highlighting trade-offs and business impacts.
• Use data, metrics, and business insights to prioritize opportunities and evaluate operational and business outcomes.
• Identify and manage complex risks, issues, dependencies, and organizational barriers, escalating significant decisions or concerns as appropriate.
• Assess operational readiness and client-service continuity and develop transition and interim operating plans addressing roles and impacts, procedures, training, communications, and feedback.
• Lead implementation and stabilization activities to support adoption and sustainable business outcomes.
• Build alignment and shared accountability across business, operations, product, and technology stakeholders.
• Facilitate planning and decision-making discussions, resolve competing priorities, and translate complex operational and technology considerations into actionable recommendations.
• Define and track transformation value across service, quality, cost, risk, client experience, automation, adoption, and scalability, ensuring benefits are sustained and the operating model continues to improve.
• Improve execution practices, tools, documentation, reporting, and processes, including opportunities to leverage AI-enabled capabilities.
• Share best practices and provide guidance to consultants, analysts, project leads, and business partners.

Benefits

• Flexible Time Off (FTO) for salaried employees, with paid time away for vacation, personal needs, or short-term illness and no set number of days.
• Opportunity to participate in a bonus program for non-sales positions.
• Pension eligibility.
• Comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings supporting physical, financial, and social well-being.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed