Senior Associate

New York Life•New York, NY

10h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Product Research & Development team is a cross-Product Solutions capability responsible for identifying, researching, and developing business cases for innovative products and solutions that meet evolving client and agent needs, including new offerings, partnerships, value-added services, and bundled solutions. As the Research Senior Associate, you will support the testing and refinement of innovative product and service concepts by executing validation efforts, analyzing results, and developing clear materials and recommendations for leadership. You will help translate concepts into structured research and pilot activities, support business case development, and contribute to the team’s ability to make evidence-based go/no-go decisions. You bring high energy, curiosity, and sound analytical thinking to a fast-moving innovation environment. You are excited by turning ideas into structured tests, learning from evidence, and helping move work forward across multiple initiatives. You are comfortable navigating ambiguity, working across stakeholders, and translating findings into clear, actionable outputs. You understand that success is not only about ideas that move forward, but also about learning quickly, refining thoughtfully, and generating insights that support better decisions.

Requirements

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including experience supporting business decisions with qualitative and quantitative research
Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional workstreams and improve processes or ways of working
Experience with PowerPoint, Excel, and AI tools
Comfort working in ambiguous environments with flexibility to take on evolving responsibilities and step into gaps as needed to support team outcomes

Nice To Haves

Experience in strategy, innovation, product development, research, consulting, or program management
Experience supporting evidence-backed recommendations to leadership
Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative research methods including approaches for gathering balanced, unbiased input from different audiences
Familiarity with financial services, insurance, or adjacent product environments
Ability to create lightweight prototypes or draft artifacts that bring concepts to life, such as experience flows, pilot content, or stakeholder communications

Responsibilities

Support evaluation of product and service opportunities through targeted deep-dives on consumer segments, agent segments, market trends, and related topics
Translate defined concepts into actionable validation plans, including qualitative and quantitative research, market-sizing analyses, and other test approaches
Lead execution of validation efforts by coordinating stakeholders, tracking progress, resolving issues, and maintaining momentum across initiatives
Analyze results from validation efforts to support business cases, recommend additional validation or refinements, and inform go/no-go decisions for concepts
Contribute to the team’s validation efforts by helping develop and maintain repeatable processes, templates, and tools