Corporate Vice President; Absence Claims

New York Life•New York, NY

4d•$91,800 - $170,000•Remote

About The Position

Group Benefit Solutions delivers comprehensive insurance and absence management solutions for mid-sized and large companies. Our work fosters a healthier, happier, and more secure workforce, contributing to New York Life’s legacy of being there when we’re needed most. Here, you'll design, implement, and support these solutions directly impacting employees’ lives. At our core, we provide financial security and peace of mind to people through our absence, accident, disability, voluntary benefits, and life insurance solutions. Reporting to the Head of Absence Claims, the Corporate Vice President (CVP), Absence Claims is an operational leader responsible for leading an assigned area within the Absence Claims organization and delivering an exceptional experience for clients and their employees. This role requires a strong people leader with deep knowledge of Absence and disability claims, demonstrated success leading complex claims operations, and the ability to lead teams effectively through continuous change. The CVP will be accountable for the performance and results of an assigned operational area supporting Short-Term Disability (STD), federal and state leaves, company leaves, paid and unpaid leave programs, ADA administration, and related absence services. The CVP will ensure strong operational execution while implementing established business, continuous improvement, technology, automation, and AI initiatives within their area of responsibility. The successful leader will combine strong Absence expertise with disciplined execution, data-driven decision-making, effective change leadership, and a commitment to continuously improving the client and customer experience.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, with 5+ years of progressive leadership experience within Absence, disability claims, leave administration, or a comparable complex operational environment preferred.
Strong knowledge of Absence and disability programs, including Short-Term Disability, FMLA, state and statutory leaves, company leave programs, paid and unpaid leave, and ADA administration.
Demonstrated success leading operational teams in a complex, high-volume, customer-focused environment.
Proven ability to lead teams effectively through significant and ongoing change while maintaining employee engagement, service, quality, and operational performance.
Demonstrated experience using continuous improvement, structured problem-solving, data, and operational insights to improve business outcomes.
Strong people leadership skills, including the ability to set clear expectations, coach performance, engage employees, and build team capability.
Strong judgment and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make timely decisions, adapt established plans and priorities, and operate effectively amid ambiguity and competing demands.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional partners to achieve operational objectives.
Strong communication skills and the ability to engage effectively with leaders, clients, team members, and cross-functional partners.
Results-oriented mindset with a strong sense of ownership, accountability, and urgency.
Ability to be onsite for team activities, meetings, and other events, with willingness to travel based on business needs.

Nice To Haves

5+ years of progressive leadership experience within Absence, disability claims, leave administration, or a comparable complex operational environment.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop an assigned Absence Claims operational team, which may include managers and/or claims professionals responsible for STD, FMLA, statutory and company leaves, paid and unpaid leave programs, ADA, and related absence services.
Create an environment of accountability, empowerment, collaboration, and service excellence in which team members understand expectations and how their work contributes to the client and customer experience.
Provide ongoing coaching, feedback, and development to direct reports to strengthen performance, capabilities, and engagement.
Establish clear priorities and expectations, adapting plans and resources as needed to address changing operational demands, client needs, and business priorities.
Own operational performance and client and customer experience for an assigned area or book of business, ensuring results meet or exceed service, quality, productivity, and experience expectations.
Use data, operational dashboards, customer insights, and leading indicators to identify trends, anticipate challenges, and take timely action to improve performance.
Establish and reinforce operating disciplines that enable consistent execution while effectively responding to changing volumes, priorities, regulations, and client needs.
Take ownership of significant operational or customer issues, partnering with appropriate stakeholders to identify root causes, implement timely solutions, and prevent recurrence.
Actively engage with clients when needed, bringing strong Absence expertise, operational insight, and a solutions-oriented approach to complex issues.
Make sound operational decisions and adapt established plans and priorities to address business challenges while maintaining service and quality commitments.
Champion a continuous improvement mindset within the assigned operational area, identifying opportunities to simplify work, reduce friction, improve quality, and strengthen client and customer outcomes.
Apply continuous improvement principles and structured problem-solving methods to identify root causes, test solutions, measure results, and sustain improvements.
Partner with peers and cross-functional teams to implement consistent practices and established process improvements across Absence Claims.
Use frontline, client, customer, and operational insights to recommend improvements to processes, resources, technology, and service delivery.
Ensure operational improvements are effectively implemented, measured, and sustained within the assigned area.
Lead teams effectively through ongoing business, regulatory, process, and technology change, providing clarity, communication, and direction as circumstances evolve.
Execute established business and transformation priorities within the assigned operational area, ensuring leaders and team members understand expectations and are prepared to deliver.
Build change readiness by communicating the purpose and impact of changes, addressing implementation barriers, and supporting team members as they adopt new processes and ways of working.
Partner with Technology, Operations, and other stakeholders to implement automation, AI-enabled capabilities, and other technology solutions within the assigned operational area.
Provide operational expertise and frontline insights to help inform the effective implementation of technology and AI-enabled solutions.
Support responsible adoption of new capabilities by gathering feedback, reinforcing new processes, monitoring results, and maintaining appropriate operational and quality controls.
Identify opportunities within the assigned area to leverage approved technology and AI capabilities to improve efficiency, consistency, decision support, and client and customer experiences.
Collaborate with Absence Claims peers and matrix partners to support consistent practices, resolve operational challenges, and achieve established business objectives.
Partner effectively with Operations, Technology, Product, Client Management, Legal, Compliance, and other functions as needed to deliver operational priorities.
Provide Absence subject matter expertise and operational perspective in cross-functional discussions and client engagements.
Work collaboratively across teams to resolve issues, address dependencies, and support timely execution of business priorities.