Corporate Vice President, Finance Excellence Lead

New York Life Insurance Co•New York, NY

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

As the first Lead of the Process Excellence and Knowledge Management Office within Finance, you will be systemically building out the function — defining what rigorous, sustainable process management looks like for a 1,200-person organization spanning core Finance (e.g., Controllers, Tax, FP&A, Capital Management), Risk Management, and Actuarial functions. Finance's institutional knowledge spans methodologies, standards, policies, job aids, and operational practices across a complex, multi-function organization. As Finance modernizes and integrates AI and business intelligence tools into its operations, the quality, structure, and accessibility of that knowledge is a direct enabler of what those tools can deliver. You will own both the Business Process Management and Knowledge Management practices for Finance, as they both drive towards similar missions: ensuring that Finance’s processes and knowledge is documented, organized, and accessible to the people who need it today, and to the technology that will augment their work tomorrow. Success in this role is measured by the maturity of the function built, the quality and adoption of Finance's process and knowledge assets, and the degree to which the function's findings drive measurable operational improvements.

Requirements

7–12 years in business process management, or operational excellence with ownership of complex, cross-functional process improvement programs
Background in management consulting or a similar environment requiring structured problem-solving, stakeholder influence, and delivery without direct authority is a meaningful asset
People leadership, including developing and managing junior practitioners
End-to-end process diagnostic and documentation experience: current-state mapping through opportunity identification and business communication
Familiarity with AI and digital tools relevant to process and knowledge management and applications in a large enterprise
Bachelor’s degree; Business, Finance, Engineering, or related field
Lean Six Sigma, BPM, or PMP certification required

Nice To Haves

Financial services industry experiences preferred
Experience designing or leading a knowledge management program, including knowledge capture frameworks, taxonomy development, and repository governance preferred
Expert-level BPM methodology proficiency applied pragmatically in large, complex organizations
Rigorous analytical skills: process mapping, gap analysis, root cause identification, and opportunity sizing
Strong facilitation and communication skills, including translating process findings into clear recommendations for senior audiences
Ability to influence and build credibility in a matrixed environment without reliance on hierarchy
Proficiency in process documentation tools and techniques (SIPOC, value stream mapping, swimlane mapping) and supporting technologies
Comfort building structure and standards in an environment where neither previously existed
Experience with team-building and org design in a new or growing function, including resource planning and developing junior talent
Knowledge of information architecture principles including enabling both human access and AI-readiness of organizational knowledge assets a plus

Responsibilities

Build and Lead the Process Excellence & Knowledge Management Office: Define the process and knowledge management strategies and success metrics, with multi-year roadmaps. Define and operationalize the PE&KM practice operating model, including taxonomies, governance standards, templates, and the accountability frameworks. Hire, onboard, and develop the PE&KM team with a view toward the longer-term org design and resource plan needed to support Finance's process management ambitions. Build credibility and adoption of process and knowledge management practices across Finance, in partnership with functional leaders and senior stakeholders. Incorporate external benchmarks, industry best practices, and emerging trends in process and knowledge management into the function's operating model and strategic roadmap on an ongoing basis.
Own the Process Diagnostic and Documentation Function: Review and validate process diagnostic findings, exercising judgement on significance, root cause, and prioritization. Surface process performance metrics, trends, and issues on a regular cadence to the senior leadership team. Own the prioritized inventory of process improvement opportunities, sized by business impact, and ensure it reflects current diagnostic findings. Maintain a current and organized inventory of Finance's process diagnostic findings, improvement opportunities, and documentation outputs. Oversee the quality and consistency of process mapping and documentation produced by the BPM team, ensuring outputs meet established standards. Ensure process documentation standards reflect relevant control points, risk ownership, and regulatory requirements across Finance processes.
Engage and Advise Stakeholders: Translate process diagnostic findings into clear, business-facing improvement recommendations. Advise on process and knowledge management technology opportunities — including AI-powered capabilities such as intelligent search and automated tagging — through collaboration with internal and external partners. Build trusted advisory relationships with Finance and business leaders. Collaborate with Finance functional leaders to define how process and knowledge ownership responsibilities should be distributed across the organization over time. Represent the functions perspective in Finance-wide decisions, including technology implementations, structural changes, and policy updates.
Own the Knowledge Management Function: Own Finance's knowledge asset repository and establish governance standards covering taxonomy, version control, and content lifecycle management across all knowledge asset types. Establish the framework and prioritization criteria for capturing Finance's institutional knowledge, ensuring the most operationally critical content is converted into durable, reusable assets first. Define and monitor KM effectiveness metrics and report on program impact and effectiveness to leadership. Collaborate with functional leaders across Finance to champion a knowledge-sharing culture and shift norms toward shared institutional access. Collaborate with internal partners to identify AI-powered KM capabilities, and ensure Finance's knowledge assets are structured to support integration.