Senior Project Manager - Life & Annuities

Senior Project Manager

Summary

The Senior Project Manager plays a pivotal role in driving enterprise-wide initiatives that shape business strategy and enable organizational transformation. This role provides strategic leadership and oversight of complex, high-impact projects and programs, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives and long-term value creation. The Senior Project Manager is accountable for orchestrating resources, scope, schedules, and financials across multiple initiatives while championing quality, governance, and cross-functional collaboration.

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.

Business Acumen

• 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.

Requirements

• 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
• Consulting experience a plus
• 10 to 15 years project/program management experience in life insurance and annuity with the ability to navigate the dynamics of a diverse culture
• LOMA ALMI or FLMI certification a plus
• 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
• Expertise in multiple project management methodologies (e.g., agile/scrum, waterfall) desired
• 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

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National Life is accepting applications for this role on an ongoing basis and the role remains open until filled. The base compensation range represents the low and high end of the range for this position. Actual compensation will vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors including but not limited to qualifications, skills, competencies, location, and experience. The range listed is just one component of our total compensation package for employees. Other rewards may include an annual bonus, quarterly bonuses, commissions, and other long-term incentive compensation, depending on the position. National Life offers a competitive total rewards package which includes: a 401(k) retirement plan match; medical, dental, and vision insurance; a company funded wellness account for director and below employees; 10 paid holidays; a generous paid time off plan (22 days of combined time-off for non-exempt employees and exempt employees have discretion in managing their time, including scheduling time off in the normal course of business, but in no event will exempt employees receive less sick time than required by state or local law); 6 weeks of paid parental leave; and 6 weeks of paid family leave after a year of full-time employment National Life Group is a trade name of National Life Insurance Company, Montpelier, VT - founded in 1848, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, Addison, TX - chartered in 1955, and their affiliates. Each company of National Life Group is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Life Insurance Company of the Southwest is not an authorized insurer in New York and does not conduct insurance business in New York. Equity Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, is a Broker/Dealer and Registered Investment Adviser affiliate of National Life Insurance Company. All other entities are independent of the companies of National Life Group. Fortune 1000 status is based on the consolidated financial results of all National Life Group companies. National Life Group 1 National Life Dr Montpelier, VT 05604 Social Media Policy Site Disclosure and Privacy Policy