Purpose: The Senior Relationship Manager, Alternative Distribution provides ongoing relationship management, operations and project support to assigned stakeholders and distribution partnerships. This individual will be responsible for supporting our American Dental Association, Advisory/RIA, Concourse Distributors, and Multi-Level Marketing distribution channels as a relationship management support lead. This role will require the candidate to interface directly and routinely with several external points of contact at external distribution firms, as well as serve as a liaison with numerous internal functional areas within the Protective organization. This role requires in-depth knowledge and expertise of Protective’s life and annuity products, sales concepts, and distribution channels.

 

Key Responsibilities (ADA Distribution)

Develop a sound understanding of the American Dental Association business structure from a contractual, financial, product and operational organization standpoint, as well as understanding the structure of the Alliant relationship and how they interact with the ADA and are overseen by Protective in their Sales & Marketing role. Support the VP of ADA to develop and foster all the relationships needed internally and externally to gain this understanding of the relationship.

Regular interaction with Alliant on sales & marketing plans; periodic interactions with ADA on communications required under the Administrative Services Agreement.

Oversee the calendar of management routines and ad-hoc relationship-related events, deliverables, and a cadence of meetings. Facilitate meetings when needed, attend meetings and complete takeaways when assigned, and assist with gaining internal shared services support where needed. 

Responsible for project management duties for small internal projects that are short term in nature. Assist with coordinating with the Project Management Office on larger cross functional long-term projects.

Assist VP, Channel Leaders with annual Business Strategy development and monitoring of progress towards those growth goals. Including working with functional area team leads in identifying and developing their plans to support the ADA Business Strategy.

Key Responsibilities (MLM Distribution)

Project management oversight of implementation plans for commercial launch and market-entry into newly established Multi-Level Marketing distribution channel

Oversee the calendar of management routines including senior leadership steering committee, cross-functional project meetings, and ongoing engagements with external distribution partners.  

Build working relationship with select distribution partners at Independent Marketing Organizations (IMOs) in order to solicit best practices and document requirements for success in this channel.  

Partner with Distribution leadership to build out sales and marketing plans to ensure successful entry into marketplace.

Develop strong working relationships with several cross-functional areas to ensure implementation plans are developed and executed.  Influence action and decision-making among broad group of leaders in order to progress project plans quickly.

Key Responsibilities (Advisory Distribution)

•Partner with VP, Channel Leader for Advisory Distribution to support various external distribution partnerships selling Protective’s Advisory VUL and VA product offerings.

•Oversight of new distribution onboarding activities inclusive of selling agreements, amendments and technology agreements.

•Assists with developing communication plans for key product and capabilities launches; partners with internal stakeholders to coordinate and execute messaging for internal and external audiences.

Key Responsibilities (Concourse Distributors)

Responsible for planning, organizing, and executing a variety of corporate events and conferences, including national sales conference planning, regional wholesaler and divisional vice president sales meetings, strategic carrier partner meetings, and regional events.  

Manages event budgets, coordinates logistics (venue, catering, attendee lists, hotel reservations, room blocks), and prepares supporting materials such as agendas and PowerPoint presentations. Collaborates with internal stakeholders to gather data and create comprehensive event presentations.

Oversees monthly and bi-weekly team and leadership meeting routines. Prepares meeting agendas, facilitating meetings, tracking action items, and maintaining meeting notes. 

Responsible for handling holiday orders, invoicing for carrier payments and excess purchases, and coordinating with accounting and mailroom for payment processing. 

Manages annual budgeting in Anaplan and updating general ledgers. 

Administers annual RVP accountability signatures via Adobe Sign and compiling documents for divisional leadership.

Qualifications: 

Bachelor’s degree and 7+ years’ experience in the financial services and/or insurance industry.

Ability to collaborate with management and internal audiences to accomplish stated annual goals.

Ability to build strong relationships with external partners based on strong communication, transparency and results. Can explain difficult or sensitive information, solves complex problems, works to build consensus.Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple projects and stakeholders simultaneously.

Strong understanding of our Protective's life and annuity distribution channels, accounts, products, platforms, and sales model.

The ability to leverage influence throughout the organization (without direct authority) and work successfully on multiple projects at a time in a dynamic environment.

Must be self-motivated, results-oriented, and maintain a positive attitude.

Excellent communications skills including both written and verbal communications.

Strategic planning and execution skillset.

Proficient as both a team player and individual contributor.

Experience with Microsoft office including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.