Strategic Business Relations Liaison

At The Standard, you’ll join a team focused on putting our customers first.

Our continued success is driven by a high-performance culture. We’re looking for people who are collaborative, accountable, creative, agile and are driven by a passion for doing what’s right – across the company and in our local communities.

We offer a caring culture where you can make a real difference, every day.

Ready to reach your highest potential? Let’s work together.

Job Summary:

Provide leadership in orchestrating a strategic and service-oriented relationship between the Actuarial Transformation program (“AT”) and assigned business partners. Serve as liaison and business partner, identifying where AT can drive business value by targeting business outcomes for solutions developed and delivered by AT. Collaborate with AT and business partners to establish SMART goals for AT-delivered solutions. Ensure that business outcomes are used to inform AT roadmap planning. Bring awareness to any service or technology gaps and ensure gaps are resolved. Ensure AT is aware of and understands the targeted business outcomes. Assist in the articulation, communication and measurement of targeted business outcomes and goals to AT program leaders, AT delivery team leaders, business unit partners, and IT business partners. Ensure the appropriate AT resources are part of key business engagements.

Contribute to strategic and operational planning between AT, IT, and business units by driving alignment on goals and targeted business outcomes. Consult with business partners on future state direction including the AT roadmap. Look for similar needs across business units and push for enterprise collaboration. Accountable for the quality of the relationship between AT and business units.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Partnering & Planning: Partner with IT and AT delivery teams to develop and maintain multi-year business delivery and capability roadmaps. Understand governance & controls framework objectives and partner with delivery leads to ensure roadmap reflects integration of those needs across delivery teams with clarity around prioritization and accountability. Identify and communicate risks that could impact roadmap delivery, including but not limited to cross-functional dependency risk, governance & controls risks, and capacity challenges. Establish and report out on metrics that create clarity in business value added by the AT initiatives underway, AT program progress, and Actuarial Technical Support effectiveness. Partner with change management to ensure effective business transformation for all initiatives. Partner with program management to ensure a healthy and well-managed roadmap. Partner with business unit leadership to plan initiatives, establish SMART goals, target business outcomes, and determine how initiatives fit into AT roadmaps and priorities. Ensure that AT program leadership is knowledgeable about business partners and their objectives. (50%)

Relationship Management: Serve as the dedicated day-to-day liaison between AT and business partners. Stimulate, surface, shape business demand for transformation and ensure that the business value from AT initiatives is measured, realized, optimized, and recognized. Develop a deep knowledge of each business unit’s needs and goals. Build credible relationships with business units, both horizontally and vertically. Leverage broad actuarial, financial, industry experience and business acumen to drive AT towards innovative approaches to solve problems using modernized technologies and capabilities. Ensure project and initiative progress towards established SMART goals through consistent and effective communication. This includes managing escalation and mitigating risk. Educate business partners about AT processes, roles, norms, and capabilities. Establish communication processes and channels across business functions. Support change readiness by playing a supportive role to change management initiatives underway. (50%)

Are you ready to be a catalyst for transformative change? Imagine leveraging your expertise to drive impactful initiatives that not only enhance efficiency but also deliver added value to the organization.

If you have a passion for making a difference and a vision for creating meaningful improvements, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. Join us and use your actuarial experience to spearhead transformation efforts that truly matter - efforts focused on maximizing value and driving success.

​Skills and Background You’ll Need:

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business, mathematics, actuarial science or related field or the equivalent combination of education and/or relevant experience.

Experience: 10+ years of progressively responsible experience sufficient to have gained a seasoned actuarial business perspective.

• Actuarial, Business & Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of how economic, regulatory, and industry change impacts the actuarial community. Understands how Actuarial Transformation can mitigate impacts and will position the actuarial community to be better strategic partners. Combines this knowledge with business acumen and actuarial principles to identify, assess and advocate for new, innovative and market leading risk/return opportunities consistent with the Company's and Actuarial Transformation’s strategic goals.
• Actuarial educational experience in actuarial transformation initiatives at an insurance carrier.

Certification: Associate of the Society of Actuaries (ASA), or Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA) designation.

Key Behaviors of a Successful Candidate:

Customer Focus: Exceed customers’ expectations by transforming their needs into relevant service offerings. Ability to listen, build rapport, and credibility as a strategic partner within both AT and the business lines, as well as with leadership and cross functional teams.

Strategic Visioning: Understand AT’s strategy and identify opportunities for AT to create business value. Establish metrics and criteria to track AT’s success. Identify opportunities for AT to continuously improve. Ability to focus on business value results, rather than solutions.

Winning Together: Actively engage with business partners to achieve shared outcomes by developing trust, understanding diverse perspectives, and pushing to examine and challenge ideas. This will require effective and advanced communication skills, as well as an ability and comfort with working at executive levels. Must have and maintain credibility with the actuarial, IT and key stakeholder community. Must have strong humility, listening, creativity, and negotiation skills. Ability to influence and break down silos within an organization as well across organizations. Leverage effective networks across the enterprise, able to influence others, using personal rather than positional power.

Why join The Standard?

We have built an enduring legacy of stability, innovation and financial strength thanks to the contributions of the talented, creative and compassionate people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions
• An annual incentive bonus plan
• Generous paid time off
• A supportive and responsive management approach
• Opportunities for career growth and advancement
• Paid time off to volunteer
• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools
• Much more!

#LI-Remote

Please note - the salary range for this role is listed below. In addition to salary, our package includes incentive plan participation and comprehensive benefits including medical, dental, vision and retirement benefits, as well as an initial PTO accrual of 164 hours per year. Employees also receive 11 paid holidays and 2 wellness days per year.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on various factors, including individual and organizational performance.

Salary Range:

$130,750.00 - $191,750.00

Positions will be posted for at least 5 days from original posting date.

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Equities, Inc. and StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. The Standard offers a drug and alcohol free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on Standard property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation, employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.