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National Life Group · 2 weeks ago

Senior Project Manager - Life & Annuities

Montpelier, VT

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$101K/yr - $148K/yr

10+ years exp

National Life Group is one of America’s fastest-growing insurance companies, aiming to provide families with stability. The Senior Project Manager will drive enterprise-wide initiatives, oversee complex projects, and ensure alignment with organizational objectives.

Health CareInsuranceLife Insurance

No H1B

Responsibilities

Manage all aspects of strategic, large-scale transformation projects/programs to ensure timely and effective project execution, including:

Create Project/Program scope statements in collaboration with IT and business stakeholders

Establish scope, schedule, and cost baselines

Ensure a clear understanding of the scope and expectations of business owners, including success and acceptance criteria

Ensure confirmation of requirements, scope prioritization where appropriate, and establish requirements traceability through project/program delivery

Work with Business Analysts/others to translate business input into actionable value-creating ideas and project/program requirements. Help to identify and evaluate solution options and develop recommendations based on business requirements

Facilitate the delivery and implementation of project/program scope

Collaborate with project/program team to identify and manage all dependencies between functional areas involved in the project/program

Work with the team to establish and track project/program progress

Monitor progress against baselines; recommend schedule, cost, or resource adjustments as appropriate; and effectively manage project change per established PMO Process

Establish and provide timely updates to the management team for each project/program following established status reporting guidelines, escalating issues, and managing risks/issues

Ensure that the business and IT project/program resources are following established processes

Lead process improvements and find new ways of operating, with a focus on simplification across the PMO

Develop a plan for identifying, engaging, and communicating with stakeholders to set consistent expectations

Escalate risks/issues to appropriate stakeholders and drive resolution

Assemble, mobilize, and motivate project/program teams to set direction, identify skill gaps, and resolve conflict

Help to balance workload across large projects and programs to synchronize team efforts

Manage resources against approved hours and scope

Develop, champion, and comply with project/program management, repository, and quality assurance/control processes

Expertise in multiple development methodologies such as waterfall, iterative, and agile (scrum, kanban) to support project/program teams. Deep awareness of agile techniques such as backlog management, user stories, test-driven development, automated testing, etc

Consistently establishes strong working relationships with executive sponsors, business owners, and stakeholders across the organization to manage expectations and project/program delivery

Strong ability to turn around large and complex troubled projects

Act as a coach to project managers, executives, and others who need assistance and advice regarding project management practices

Consistently capture and integrate the voice of the customer (VOC) and voice of the team (VOT) feedback

Lead efforts on continuous improvement in project/program management principles to improve project delivery

Lead efforts to embrace NLG’s learning organization culture to mature teams into highly productive, self-sufficient project teams capable of delivering work that crosses various systems and business processes

Leads capability-building efforts through direct mentoring, coaching, and support of emerging project leaders

Strong ability to teach PM skills—both hard and soft—that are required for the successful planning, execution, delivery, and support of projects/programs and their products or services

Understand the Life & Annuities business

Understand the business needs of a project and its interaction with other projects/programs to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization

Partners with senior leadership to align program expectations and outcomes with business strategy

Support Organizational Change Management

Work with project stakeholders and team members to identify project/program rollout/transition plans and organizational impacts

Participate in organizational change management planning and execution as appropriate

Qualification

Project Management Professional (PMP)Life & Annuities knowledgeAgile methodologiesMicrosoft Office SuiteLOMA ALMIFLMI certificationConsulting experienceJira/ConfluenceHigh EQ & SQCoachingTechnical curiosityOrganizational skillsCommunication skillsMentoring

Required

Must have an executive presence with high EQ & SQ

Must demonstrate business savviness & service-oriented customer centric mindset with a strong ability to communicate and influence C-Level executives and senior leadership

10 to 15 years project/program management experience in life insurance and annuity with the ability to navigate the dynamics of a diverse culture

Must be a self-starter and be able to work independently with little to no direction as well as being a team player

Ability to understand, interpret, and communicate complex subject matter

Ability to work in a fast-paced environment; extremely strong organizational skills is a must

Results-oriented, excellent verbal and written communication skills

Well versed in life and annuity technologies (e.g. PAS, Underwriting, New Business Processing)

Must demonstrate technical curiosity and technology savviness

Project Management Professional (PMP) or similar certification or working towards required

Must be able to coach and mentor Project Managers

Proven track record in large projects/programs for executing core project/program management responsibilities, including establishing appropriate project plan, controlling scope/schedule, executing the change management process, and providing timely and accurate project status reporting and project effort forecasting

Bachelor's degree

Must have expertise in Microsoft Office Suite (Project, Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint) and tools such as Jira/Confluence

Preferred

Consulting experience a plus

LOMA ALMI or FLMI certification a plus

Expertise in multiple project management methodologies (e.g., agile/scrum, waterfall) desired

Benefits

Your benefits start day one and are flexible and customizable to your and your family’s specific needs.

A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave)

The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life’s discretionary annual incentive programs