AVP, Employee Benefits Sales Shared Services

AVP Sales Management - SM05GE

We're determined to make a difference and are proud to be an insurance company that goes well beyond coverages and policies. Working here means having every opportunity to achieve your goals - and to help others accomplish theirs, too. Join our team as we help shape the future.

Reporting to the Head of Employee Benefits Sales & Relationship Management, The AVP, Employee Benefit Sales Shared Services is a visionary leader who brings a strategic mindset to the business delivery and sales execution of Employee Benefits (EB) field support functions. In this critical role, the AVP will be responsible for the annual sales plan, expense and budget planning, leading reporting and insights for field sales distribution go-to-market (GTM) strategy and providing staffing administration for over 500 employees. The AVP is a key partner to the Sales Relationship Management leadership team as well as the line of business CFO, engaging with cross-functional SVPs and EVPs. The AVP will lead the Sales Shared Services Team of 15 employees, supporting the organization's sales goal and managing their expense budget. This role is based in our Hartford, CT Home Office on a hybrid basis.

• Leadership & Strategy: Lead a diverse team of skilled professionals in the sales shared services, strategize on GTM, expense management, incentive compensation, and analytics, tools and reporting for the Employee Benefits field sales organization.
• Executive Stakeholder Interaction & Collaboration: Prepare for executive-level meetings to discuss performance metrics, strategic planning, and continuous improvement. Develop and implement strategies to optimize go to market and prepare for monthly operating reviews and other venues to share sales key performance indicators. Collaborate with internal teams, including underwriting, actuarial, product, finance, and total rewards for alignment. Build and maintain strong relationships with internal teams and external partners like LIMRA.
• Incentive Compensation Program Ownership: Lead the design and delivery of incentive plan design to align with the Employee Benefits sales strategy. This includes incentive compensation design, communication, outlook and analysis, dashboards, RVP analytics, contest design and reporting, training, industry benchmark with enterprise total rewards, and broker compensation learnings.
• Go-to-Market Sales Distribution Strategy: Develop and implement integrated data and analytics strategy and stewardship, territory management (customer, broker, region, sales footprint), general agent strategy, sales tools business ownership, sales and relationship management executive projects/strategies, and ad hoc field management and process execution.
• Expense Management: Oversee financial review (outlook, budget, implementation credit, audits), staffing administration, capacity planning, expense planning, expense management, expense reporting, ad hoc analysis, and priority business financial regimen.
• Reporting: Manage sales planning and projections, sales reporting, sales forecasting and analytics, source systems QA and troubleshooting, and partner with GTM on data stewardship.

• Over 10 years of financial execution, including current or recent experience creating market-leading sales incentive compensation plans aligned to support field growth strategy required.
• Additional experience of at least two years of current or recent experience in digital platforms and/or transformation in a large corporate setting; Employee Benefits experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated analytical and financial acumen and the ability to drive process, best practices, and operational strategy from both an operational and technical perspective.
• Proven track record of effectively leading cross-functional teams and driving strategy, execution with a go-forward mindset, and proven decision-making abilities. Minimum of two years of prior direct leadership experience required.
• Strong critical thinking and influencing skills; excellent organizational, and prioritization skills with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Positive, self-motivated, with strong interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills.
• Solution-oriented team player with strong relationship skills; able to work effectively with internal and external stakeholders and customers.
• Technical acumen in Salesforce, Tableau, MS Office suite, and other automation capabilities to incorporate AI/automation to enhance current processes.
• Able and willing to travel as needed; approximately 15% of the time.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.