Director, Annuity Initiatives

Foresters Financial•Las Vegas, NV

6d•Remote

About The Position

This role is responsible for leading the end-to-end planning, execution and change management for all annuity commercial initiatives. This role oversees cross-functional programs including product launches, product enhancements and annuity initiatives that do not require IT resources. This role serves as the central point of coordination between Product, Marketing, Distribution, Finance, IT, Operations, Legal, Compliance, and Risk to ensure initiatives are delivered on time, with appropriate change management, within scope, and aligned with enterprise objectives. This position requires strong annuity business knowledge, excellent leadership and collaboration skills and structured program management discipline.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Project Management, or Mass Communication
Strong understanding of annuity (or life) product lifecycle including pricing, filing, implementation, and distribution
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification required
10+ years of project management experience
3+ years of annuity (or life) program management experience
Exceptionial organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills
Experience managing complex timelines and resource plans across all business areas

Nice To Haves

MBA in Executive Management preferred

Responsibilities

Lead large-scale, cross-functional annuity initiatives from concept to implementation through the development, monitoring and execution of implementation plans; work closely with IT PMO, where applicable
Establish program charters, governance structures, timelines, and success metrics
Manage interdependencies across multiple workstreams and business units
Responsible for owning stakeholder experience (agent, member and employee) through the creation and implementation of a change management plan. Through being the voice of the stakeholder, this role would foster a culture where concerns of the end-user are considered from the onset to the end of projects
Proactively identify and mitigate risks to ensure timely and successful delivery
Co-facilitate steering committee meetings with IT PMO while providing clear executive-level reporting
Align stakeholders on scope, priorities, and resource allocation
Escalate issues appropriately and drive resolution across departments
Drive continuous improvement across product development and implementation processes
Monitor post-implementation results and ensure transition to business-as-usual operations
Promote and ensure strong documentation and controls
Lead and mentor team supporting the annuity business as it grows