MetLife

General Information

Work Arrangement: Hybrid

Primary Location: New York, 200 Park Ave

Alternate Location: Bridgewater, NJ

*Consideration will be given to a virtual arrangement for the ideal candidate that may not be within commutable distance to a preferred location

Senior, Agile Project Manager

MetLife, through its subsidiaries and affiliates, is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to individual and institutional customers. We’re united by our purpose to help our customers and each other create a confident future; we’re guided by empathy; and we’re inspired by each other to make a difference in the lives of our coworkers, customers, communities, and the world at large. At MetLife, it’s #AllTogetherPossible. Join us!

The Team You Will Join

Retirement and Income Solutions (RIS) is a part of MetLife’s U.S. Business and issues products for transferred pension liabilities, stable value, institutional income annuities, structured settlements, and a range of risk solutions that include benefits funding, corporate- and bank-owned life insurance and other specialty products. It is one of the largest U.S. segments in MetLife and is driven through a relentless belief in MetLife’s purpose, “Always With You, Building a More Confident Future”.

The RIS Customer Solutions and Strategic Operations (CSSO) team has responsibility for guiding multiple initiatives that help to power and improve the daily operations of the business, including improving customer experience, optimizing critical processes, hardening of the control environment, the developing and filing of contracts, and various operational and administrative projects needed to support the range of RIS products.

The Role: The Senior, Agile Project Manager will be responsible for managing and executing large scale RIS projects through the application of Agile practices that guide cross-functional business, operations, and service teams to success. This requires assisting teams in framing the strategic problems to be solved, the scoping of initiatives and the building of development/activation plans that break work into flexible workstreams and phases. In addition, they will also facilitate teams to make tradeoffs and shift initiative priorities as new insights are gained along the development process. This role has the accountability to do and teach Agile methodologies as a way of improving how work gets delivered and for building new skills, capabilities and best practices in RIS that accelerate the collective impact on the top and bottom line.

To succeed in the role, the candidate must demonstrate intellectual curiosity, an experimentation mindset, and the ability to bring clarity to complex and/or ambiguous challenges. This role also requires strong partnership and collaboration with cross-functional partners, e.g., business, operations and service, technology, contracts, finance, legal, risk, and compliance.

Key Responsibilities:

·      Act as Agile Project Manager for end-to-end execution of large-scale, high priority solution development and process improvement projects within RIS and our supporting functions like Operations, Legal and Investments

·      Foster adaptive planning and cross-functional teamwork using Agile principles to empower teams to respond swiftly to shifting requirements and market dynamics. This includes developing delivery plans and resource allocations to meet project deadlines, deliverables, and objectives. Facilitates tradeoff conversations when priorities need to shift

·      Facilitate development of problem statements and hypotheses to improve processes, controls, and business outcomes based on key insights

·      Provide frequent verbal and written status reports to RIS leaders and partner lines of business. Communicates risks, issues, and dependencies in a timely manner

·      Support the Director in management of the portfolio work, including intake, definition, and scoping of new initiatives, prioritizing highest value work, and measuring success within an agile framework

·      Develop deep relationships with RIS business, operations, legal, and IT stakeholders as well as external partners and vendors as required. Builds a solid understanding of RIS products, customers, and operational processes

Key Relationships:

·      Reports to: RIS Director, Agile Portfolio Management

·      Direct reports/team: No direct reports, one peer on team

·      Key stakeholders: Business, Operations & Service, Technology, Contracts, Legal, Compliance, Finance, Risk

What You Need to Succeed (Required Qualifications):

·      Undergraduate degree or equivalent work experience. Total of 8+ years of experience

• An understanding of the Agile manifesto and the four key values. In-depth familiarity with Agile delivery frameworks, such as the dynamic systems development method (DSDM) approach, along with Agile methods and tools

·      A dynamic, iterative approach that promotes flexibility, collaboration, and customer-centricity

·      A strategic mindset and emphasis on how to drive value while balancing costs and risks

·      Ability to deconstruct problems into specific action plans based on first principles

·      Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to navigate gaining buy-in from cross-functional teams, such as business, technology, and operations

·      Ability to lead an initiative from kickoff through execution and evaluation of success

·      Critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills used to identify opportunities / issues from insights

What Will Give You an Edge (Additional Skills):

·      Project Management Certification (e.g. Certified Project Management Professional (PMP)), ideally with a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner distinction

·      Experience leading complex, multi-functional teams within a highly matrixed environment

·      Prior experience with annuities and life insurance businesses or operations

Business Category

Retirement & Income Solutions

Number of Openings: 1