MetLife

MetLife

Recognized on Fortune magazine's list of the 2024 "World's Most Admired Companies", Fortune World’s 25 Best Workplaces™ for 2024, as well as the 2024 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For ®, 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.

With operations in more than 40 markets, we hold leading positions in the United States, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. With over 150 years of disciplined risk-management experience, MetLife provides deep expertise in skillfully navigating markets with the goal of delivering strong, risk-adjusted returns. The firm’s client-centric culture enables a singular focus on creating tailored solutions designed to help their clients meet their unique objectives – both today and moving forward in future.

MetLife is one of the largest institutional investors in the U.S. with $609.3 billion of total assets under management as of September 30, 2024. The company is ranked #60 on the Fortune 500 list for 2024. MetLife is committed to building a purpose-driven and inclusive culture that energizes their people. The company’s employees work every day to help build a more confident future for people around the world.

The Team

The position sits within the newly consolidated Data and Analytics (D&A) organization supporting the U.S. Business of MetLife. U.S. D&A assists all business lines of MetLife’s U.S. business (about 2/3 of MetLife Global by earnings) with everything related to data, analytics and data science, from data infrastructure, data governance, data engineering, data modeling, data analysis to business intelligence and data science.

The Role

MetLife is seeking a Strategy & Planning Leader for its U.S. D&A organization. The role reports to the Head of Operations (Ann Choudhry) and will directly work with the U.S. Chief Data and Analytics Officer (CDAO) Glenn Hofmann to drive high-impact programs across the U.S. Data & Analytics organization. This individual will design, plan and run several department-wide programs for the entire 450-person global team. Programs range from more technical ones such as AI-based process automation initiatives to more organizational ones like offshore or near-shore staffing design and change execution.  

Key Responsibilities

·       Collaborating with CDAO, head of operations, technology, finance, operations and legal to design, plan and run major department wide programs for the entire U.S. Data and Analytics organization.

·       Create planning documents (PowerPoint, Excel) and socialize with relevant stakeholders. As needed, create budget proposals. 

·       Manage a portfolio of strategic initiatives.

·       Industry awareness: Follows industry trends in insurance, employee benefits and related data/analytics processes and businesses.

·       Travel: To various D&A locations as needed (< 10%).

Vendor Strategy & Innovation

·       Cultivate relationships with several external vendors and start-up companies. 

·       As part of our vendor exploration program, lead the vetting of potential vendors for Data and Analytics use cases.

·       Identify and validate new use cases. Manage a portfolio of such use cases, track progress, collaborate with technical leads. 

·       Research and evaluate alternative data software and solution vendors

·       Support contracting, onboarding and adoption of selected vendors

Business Impact & Strategic Programs

·       Identify and shape high-visibility initiatives that bring measurable benefits to our business partners

·       Develop tracking tools and business materials to support execution

·       Create PowerPoint materials for various Sr. leadership meetings to present on those initiatives

Automation & Efficiency

·       Identify opportunities to automate manual work and streamline internal operations

·       Connect this effort with vendor programs for finding the right automation tools and potentially for finding the right (consulting) talent

·       Partner with teams to design and implement efficiency programs across U.S. D&A

·       Quantify and report on cost savings and productivity gains

Proactive D&A Initiatives

·       Create an ideation process within the department

·       Help foster and develop internal proposals that originate from our U.S. D&A associates, including high level business cases

·       Support the socialization of ideas with stakeholders and tracking proposal status

·       The goal is a thriving program that carries D&A-originated initiatives from ideation to tangible business benefits. 

Offshore/near-shore strategy and staff augmentation strategy

·       Design and execute staffing strategies for the department

·       May include adjusting or support building a new office or bringing on new firms

Required Skills:

• 8+ years of overall experience in strategy, business planning, or operations.
• 5+ years of experience in product or program management.
• 3+ years of experience in Data & Analytics organizations or adjacent tech environments.
• Exceptional written and verbal communications skills, with ability to communicate complex technical messages and trade-offs to tell a compelling story.
• Experience building high-quality presentation materials and dashboards for senior leaders.
• High effectiveness with managing a multitude of stakeholders in a large and highly complex organization. Excellent executive communication.
  • Highly organized. Proven ability to effectively multitask between several, time-sensitive projects and competing priorities in a dynamic business environment while maintaining strong, productive relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners.
  • Proficiency in creating effective and visually appealing PowerPoint presentations.

Preferred Skills:

• Exposure to business case development and program tracking tools.
• Familiarity with data platforms, analytics tools, and automation opportunities.
• Some technical data and analytics training or experience (in data science, data engineering, analysis or business intelligence). 
• Management or process-level familiarity with generative AI and its uses and opportunities.

Location

This position is based at our corporate headquarters in NYC. Our Cary, NC or Bridgewater, NJ offices are also options. We are currently on a hybrid schedule with 3 days per week in the office.