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Summary

Helps to drive the strategic department vision, operating model, budget and planning activities, and outcomes for the department. Provides leadership to managers and professional staff. May serve as a trusted, strategic advisor to a department head and leaders within the department or function.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Planning

• Advises departmental strategy development and execution, ensuring alignment with key business priorities and outcomes.

• Leads department/functional pivotal initiatives that drive business value.

• Collaborates, plans and coordinates with and through people to bridge strategies across teams. Business Operations

• Responsible for strategy and planning to align business operations with the company's overarching strategy, mission and goals.

• Identifies gaps between ideal and current state of operating model and recommends solutions to close the gaps.

• Facilitates execution of departmental operating model to improve the health of the department and organization.

• Exhibits high level of local (departmental) business acumen to identify and solve sophisticated operational or organizational problems and identify innovative solutions.

Project Management

• Partners with department leadership team to identify and track priority work, including identifying business outcomes and key metrics, portfolio management of key department priorities, developing strategy for project execution, and crafting clarity on priority work in the department and throughout the enterprise.

• Leads teams or projects with moderate resource requirements, risk, and/or complexity.

Department Planning Budgeting

• Leads department planning and financial/budgeting process.

• Provides data and recommendations and supervises budget forecasting, administration and reporting.

• Manages multiple and complex funding mechanisms and provides guidance to leadership on securing resources to achieve business outcomes.

• Aligns department planning and budget to functional and company priorities, working cross-functionally with peers in the function.

Meeting Planning

• Plans and prepares agendas for departmental staff or leadership meetings and planning sessions.

• Participates in regular department leadership meetings to evaluate barriers to success and develop courses of action to overcome issues at the departmental level.

• Impacts the achievement of operational or project objectives and ensures alignment of departmental priorities to organizational strategy.

• Facilitates cross-functional initiatives and the flow of information between stakeholders and other teams.

• Coordinates requests for information from team members and prepares reports and presentations in response. Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products, processes or services.

• Provides leadership to managers (M1 or M2 managers) and professional staff.

• Accountable for the performance and results of multiple related teams and work groups.

• Develops divisional plans and priorities; ensures operational plans are aligned with departmental and business objectives.

• Performs management responsibilities such as performance management, mentor and staff development, salary administration, staffing, team development, etc.

Trusted Advisor

• Represents and provides support to an executive, functional or department head to facilitate effective decision-making which has a significant impact on the organization; this includes strategic planning, roadmap development, operational planning, leading key departmental priorities, and meeting planning and preparation. Has a high impact on the implementation of critical initiatives that carry out overarching departmental objectives.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 7 years' business leadership experience.

• Minimum of 5 years' people management experience.

• Proven leadership skills working with diverse teams.

• Superior management, human relations, and interpersonal skills to lead a group of people.

• Experience in portfolio and/or project management, strategic and operational planning, and leading multiple complex projects with organization-wide impact.

• Demonstrated organizational agility to work across organizational boundaries, influence, and collaborate with all levels on solutions that benefit the organization.

• Ability to work horizontally w/ shared priorities elevate functional priorities over department objectives.

• Thinks within lateral accountabilities and interdependence.

• Proven skills in dealing with ambiguity and paradox, and leading change.

• Exceptional business insight and focus on achieving business impact through progressive practices and sound business judgment.

• Ability to translate goals and strategies into executable business plans.

• Strong integrity and proven track record to treat confidential information confidentially.

• Demonstrated learning agility and outside-in perspective to identify future trends and practices

• Strong organizational skills; able to handle competing demands, and work under tight deadlines and short time frames.

• Strong problem solving and strategic/critical thinking skills.

• Ability to identify underlying issues and influence others without formal authority.

• Facilitation and team building skills; ability to play an active, operational and communicative role.

• Interpersonal savvy and comfort interacting with and presenting to all levels of the organization, including senior leader.

• High degree of self-motivation with leadership and initiative in sharing information, contributing towards group goals, and accepting responsibility for results.

• Pro-active and an ability to anticipate needs for a range of broad / sophisticated business problems and staying ahead of them; comfortable working in an ambiguous environment.

#LI-Hybrid

$100,030.00

$185,770.00

Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location. Please click here for additional information relating to location-based pay structures.

We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.

If you work or would be working in California, Colorado, New York City, Washington or outside of a Corporate location, please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.