Consultant, Technology Innovation Analyst

Nationwide•Columbus, OH

41d•Hybrid

About The Position

If you're passionate about innovation and love working in an environment where you can constantly improve and adopt new technologies to drive business results, then Nationwide's Information Technology team could be the place for you! At Nationwide, "on your side" goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we're looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care. This role will work a hybrid schedule coming into the Columbus, Ohio office 2 days per week on Mondays & Tuesdays. About the Role We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Technology Innovation Analyst to drive the tactical execution and strategic planning for our entire Salesforce ecosystem. This pivotal role will serve as the primary liaison between our business stakeholders and IT, ensuring our Salesforce platform, data structures, and related systems (including Wholesaler Compensation, Reporting, Territory Management, and Data Intelligence) are optimally configured and leveraged to meet strategic sales goals. The ideal candidate blends deep technical Salesforce expertise with strong business acumen. If you're enthusiastic about delivering secure technology solutions to support a company providing extraordinary care to its customers, then Nationwide Technology is the place for you. Nationwide's industry-leading technology workforce embraces an agile work environment and a collaborative culture to deliver outstanding solutions and results. If that sounds like something you aspire to, we want to hear from you! As a Technology Innovation Analyst, you will assist Technology Strategy and Planning activities by analyzing technology trends, including enterprise architecture, technology portfolio dimensions, and benchmark and peer analysis. You'll assess the impact of emerging technical and business trends on future technology needs and capabilities. You'll also be expected to manage and grow the development of thought leadership articles, point-of-view papers, new ideas and concepts specifically through bringing technologies together that could help Nationwide differentiate and create value. Additionally, you'll define and evolve concepts aligned to Nationwide's technology innovation portfolio. You may serve as a lead to cross-functional teams focused on adjacent and transformational innovation.

Requirements

Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field preferred.
Experience: 7+ years of hands-on experience as a Business Analyst or Technology Analyst focused specifically on the Salesforce platform.
Salesforce Expertise: Proven expertise in Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, or Financial Services Cloud configuration, reporting, and data management.
Domain Knowledge: Strong understanding of sales processes, wholesaler compensation structures, and territory management.
Technical Skills: Experience writing functional requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria. Proficiency with Salesforce reporting tools and data loading utilities (e.g., Data Loader).
Education: Undergraduate studies in computer science, management information systems or a related field is preferred.
Experience: Eight to ten years of experience delivering technology-enabled business solutions and transformational change across industries, platforms and lines of businesses within the insurance and/or financial services industries or equivalent experience as a management consultant for a mid-to-top-tier consulting firm (i.e., Accenture, Deloitte, etc.). Wide career experience as a consultant in operations or within proximity to operations, with a 30:70 ratio of business to technology experience, working with the technology lifecycle, including delivery and cost of ownership and experience developing roadmaps and business cases and executing projects through to completion.
Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Strong analytical and communication skills, knowledge of planning. Ability to influence, build relationships, negotiate and set priorities needed. Solid executive presence.

Nice To Haves

Insurance/financial services industry knowledge a plus.
Technology certifications or designation are not required but encouraged.

Responsibilities

System Configuration: Lead and execute configurations, customizations, and maintenance within the Salesforce platform (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and/or Financial Services Cloud).
Wholesaler Compensation: Manage the technical implementation and maintenance of the Wholesaler Compensation reporting structure, ensuring accuracy and timely delivery of commission data and pay-outs.
Reporting & Dashboards: Design, develop, and maintain complex reports and dashboards within Salesforce to provide actionable, real-time insights into sales performance, compensation, and territory effectiveness.
Data Integrity & Governance: Oversee data quality initiatives, perform regular data audits, and ensure compliance with internal governance standards across the Salesforce ecosystem.
Ecosystem Strategy: Develop and maintain the strategic roadmap for the Salesforce platform, identifying opportunities for integration, optimization, and expansion to support evolving business needs.
Business Analysis: Conduct in-depth analysis of current business processes related to sales, compensation, and territory management. Translate complex business requirements into detailed, actionable technical specifications and user stories for development teams.
Vendor Management: Evaluate new Salesforce features, third-party applications, and integration tools to determine their strategic value and fit within our existing technical architecture.
Territory Planning: Oversee the technical implementation of territory assignment and routing logic within Salesforce, ensuring alignment with the sales strategy and operational efficiency.
Data Intelligence Integration: Work closely with data science and business intelligence teams to integrate advanced analytical models and external data sources into Salesforce, enhancing lead scoring, forecasting, and retention efforts.
User Training & Adoption: Lead training sessions and create documentation to ensure high user adoption of new Salesforce features, reports, and territory assignments.
Defines, maintains, adapts and shares Technology innovations.
Explores industry for technology developments that are relevant for Nationwide's business; identifies innovation opportunities and follows through to develop the ideas in collaboration with business partners and external organizations.
Responsible for applying secure software and systems engineering practices throughout the delivery lifecycle to ensure our data and technology solutions are protected from threats and vulnerabilities.
Provides portfolio support of Technology innovation efforts in partnership with other Nationwide teams engaged in innovation-related activities.
Partners with others to ensure the Technology strategy aligns with the business strategy.
Quantifies benefits and develops business cases for transformation efforts and/or innovation initiatives.
Evaluates and prioritizes business requests, determining appropriate course of action (e.g., adjusts existing roadmaps, delivery sequencing, iterative planning efforts or aligns delivery through small project and/or enhancement efforts).
Executes medium to low complexity projects that result in recommendations to change business processes through the application of technologies and more efficient use of resources.
Plans engagements focused on building recommendations and business cases.
Provides consultation on Nationwide Technology strategic planning efforts, gathers high-level business requirements and defines scope during initial discovery by facilitating large group/cross-functional sessions with partners.
Maintains a working knowledge of multiple business functions and initiatives to identify where conflicts/synergies exist between technologies and business functions.
Assists in managing initial vendor relationships and maintains a forward-looking view of vendor direction.
Works with vendors to understand whether vendor products will meet business and/or Technology requirements.
Executes the decomposition of business strategic plans into outcomes, values and capabilities.
Plans and collaborates with business experts to conduct moderate-to-complex analysis and build artifacts that lead to deliverables.
Determines how changes in business and technology strategy may impact roadmaps and updates roadmaps accordingly.

Benefits

medical/dental/vision
life insurance
short and long term disability coverage
paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date
nine paid holidays
8 hours of Lifetime paid time off
8 hours of Unity Day paid time off
401(k) with company match
company-paid pension plan
business casual attire
and more