Pacific Life · 18 hours ago
Operations Strategic Enablement Director
Newport Beach CA-700
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
8+ years expPacific Life is an insurance company seeking an Operations Strategic Enablement Director to translate executive vision into operational plans and provide analytical support for special initiatives. The role involves leading cross-functional projects, managing communications, and supporting senior leadership to ensure alignment with the company's strategic objectives.
FinanceFinancial ServicesInsurance
Responsibilities
Translate executive vision into operational plans for Annuity New business and Operations
Establishing governance for tracking progress against strategic objectives
Provide analytical and operational support for special initiatives, including solving critical business impact events (e.g. multi-life business process break-downs), process optimization, and performance improvement efforts
Track special initiatives, ensuring milestones are met and adjusting plans as needed
Act as a thought partner to the SVP, anticipating needs, identifying risks, and providing data-driven insights and recommendations
Create and manage an operations communication and leadership engagement calendar to ensure critical messages are communicated and cascaded in a timely and effective manner
Lead and coordinate division-wide projects and initiatives that span multiple business units, ensuring alignment, accountability, and timely execution
Take on confidential or cross-functional projects that require discretion and agility. Collaborate closely with leaders across Operations, Compliance, finance, Distribution, and Product to support ad hoc initiatives
Develop project plans, monitor milestones, and communicate outcomes to senior stakeholders
Design and govern an enterprise-aligned communication framework to cascade key messages, department goals, and informational updates that ensure clarity, consistency, and cultural reinforcement across Operations
Support the SVP in preparing and delivering executive presentations, town halls, and communications to ensure alignment with enterprise priorities
Partner with Corporate Communications and HR to maintain consistent messaging that reflects the company’s mission, culture, and values
Coordinate rapid response teams and ensure clear communication during incidents
Plays a key role alongside the SVP in crisis management. Step in to manage urgent issues or escalations when required
Support or coordinate efforts to celebrate wins and reinforce values
Support senior leadership team meetings — including agenda setting, content development, and follow-up on decisions and actions
Organize monthly business reviews ensuring a formalized process to review and communicate our performance against our annual goals, budgets and KPIs
Collaborate with SMS to Research and compare best practices across industries to inform strategy
Own and lead the annual Operations budget planning and forecasting process in partnership with Finance, ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities and operational strategies
Qualification
Required
8–12 years of experience in operations management, business strategy, consulting, or chief of staff-type roles, ideally within financial services or insurance
Deep understanding of life insurance and annuity products, operations, and regulatory environment. A special emphasis on Pacific Life's Life Insurance practice required
Demonstrated ability to manage complex, cross-functional initiatives and to operate effectively at both strategic and tactical levels
Exceptional organizational, communication, and relationship-building skills
Strong executive presence, sound judgment, and discretion in handling confidential matters
Benefits
25 days of annual leave with option to buy/sell more days
Adoption and fertility leave
Generous enhanced parental leave
Comprehensive private insurance coverage for employee and dependents
Group Life Insurance coverage of 9x basic annual salary and Group Income Protection up to 75% of basic annual salary
Optical benefits
15% combined employee/employer contributions
Subsidized gym membership
Access to Employee Assistance Program
Cycle to Work and Electric Car Salary Sacrifice Scheme
Time off for volunteering
Charitable matching of employee donations
Company
Pacific Life
Pacific Life Insurance is an insurance company that provides life insurance products, annuities, and mutual funds.
1001-5000 employees
H1B Sponsorship
Pacific Life has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (14)
2024 (9)
2023 (16)
2022 (19)
2021 (14)
2020 (17)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$1.44B2025-09-03Debt Financing· $750M
2025-06-18Debt Financing· $688.57M
Leadership Team
Howard Hirakawa
Senior Vice President, Fund Advisor Operations
Joe Krum
Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Global Institutional Investment Group
Recent News
Private Capital Journal
2025-12-05
Company data provided by crunchbase