Sr. HR Business Partner & Team Lead, Foundational Business

New York Life•New York, NY

3d•$160,000 - $205,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Human Resources Business Partner and Team Lead is a strategic leader responsible for shaping and driving the people strategy for the business. This role partners with the head of Agency, our distribution group, and Field Experience, closely with senior leaders to shape near- and long-term organizational direction, ensure that talent strategies are aligned to business priorities strengthen organizational effectiveness, and position the organization for future growth. This role has broad accountability across business areas to influence and drive the evolution of how we work. This role leads a team of HRBPs, setting direction and building capability to deliver consistent, high-impact support across the business. With a forward-looking, data-driven approach, the Senior HRBP identifies opportunities to enhance the employee experience, improve how work gets done, and enable leaders to navigate change. Balancing strategic leadership with strong execution, this role plays a critical part in building a more agile, high-performing, and inclusive organization.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field required
10+ years of progressive HR experience, including significant partnership with senior leaders in a complex or matrixed environment.
Business experience and strong commercial acumen, ideally with experience supporting a distribution channel, field organization, or sales-based workforce.
Experience leading or mentoring HR professionals, with a track record of building strong, high-performing teams.
Strong business acumen with the ability to connect people strategies to business priorities and outcomes at scale.
Deep expertise in talent strategy, organizational development, and HR practices.
Ability to influence senior stakeholders and navigate complex organizational dynamics.
Strong judgment, problem-solving, and communication skills, with a high degree of discretion.
Commitment to embodying New York Life’s core values—Integrity, Humanity, and Financial Strength—in all actions and decisions.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree or HR certification preferred

Responsibilities

Partner with senior leaders to shape and drive people strategies that enable performance, engagement, and execution of business priorities.
Serve as a key decision-making parter to senior leaders, providing guidance and helping to shape organizational design and workforce strategy, and building leadership effectiveness.
Lead the delivery of HR strategy across assigned business areas, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities.
Use internal and external data analytics and insights to anticipate trends, inform decisions, and shape and drive organizational and talent strategies.
Partner with leaders to design and implement organizational structures and team models that improve clarity, effectiveness, and execution.
Oversee and drive core HR processes, including performance management, compensation planning, talent reviews, and succession planning, ensuring consistency and quality across teams.
Partner with leaders to build and sustain strong, diverse leadership pipelines and improve bench strength to deliver on long-term business priorities.
Coach and influence senior leaders to elevate team performance, accountability, and support the evolution of how we operate.
Identify opportunities to evolve talent practices, driving more effective, scalable, and forward-looking approaches.
Shape and sustain a high-performing, inclusive culture aligned with New York Life’s values.
Leverage employee engagement data and insights to drive targeted actions that improve the employee experience at scale.
Lead change efforts that support business transformation, helping leaders and teams adapt to evolving ways of working.
Oversee complex employee relations matters, ensuring balanced, consistent, and risk-aware outcomes.
Lead the consistent and effective delivery of HR programs and practices across the business, in partnership with HR Centers of Excellence.
Drive cross-functional collaboration to deliver integrated, business-aligned HR solutions.
Use data, analytics, and tools to measure impact, identify trends, and drive actions to continuously improve outcomes.
Champion a continuous improvement mindset, enhancing processes, streamlining workflows, and increasing scalability across HR practices.
Ensure compliance with employment practices and alignment with company policies and standards.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of HRBPs, building capability and ensuring consistent, high-quality support to the business.
Set direction and priorities for the team, aligning efforts to business needs and enterprise HR strategy.
Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning within the HRBP team.
Provide guidance and oversight on complex or high-impact business and talent issues.