Assistant Director Business Ops Strategy & Planning

• Directs department/division strategy development and execution ensuring alignment with enterprise priorities CEE strategic objectives and portfolio‑level outcomes.
• Leads department/division strategic initiatives that drive business value with an emphasis on translating strategy into sequenced executable work.
• Collaborates plans and organizes with and through people to bridge strategies across teams strengthening cross‑functional alignment and reducing duplication of effort. Leads and supports portfolio strategy activities for CEE including intake prioritization sequencing and alignment of initiatives to strategic priorities.
• Ensures the division is focused on the right work at the right time surfacing tradeoffs dependencies and capacity considerations to leadership.
• Partners with SIO leadership to establish and maintain operating rhythms (annual planning quarterly reviews and ongoing portfolio updates).

• Identifies gaps between ideal and current state of operating model and recommends solutions to close the gaps with a focus on scalability consistency and governance across CEE.
• Facilitates execution of department/division operating models to improve the health of the department and organization including adoption of standard practices tools and expectations
• Responsible for strategy and planning to align business operations with the company's overarching strategy mission and goals ensuring operational discipline supports strategic intent.
• Exhibits high level of local (department/division) business acumen to identify and solve complex operational or organizational problems and identify innovative solutions.

• Partners closely with change and communications role(s) to ensure initiatives are understood adopted and sustained.
• Anticipates change impacts and operational risks associated with strategic initiatives and escalates as needed.
• Supports leaders in reinforcing strategic narrative priorities and expectations across the organization.

• Partners with department/division leadership team to identify and track priority work including identifying business outcomes and key metrics portfolio‑level transparency and progress against commitments.
• Enables execution of strategic initiatives by connecting leaders program managers change partners and functional teams portfolio management of key department priorities developing strategy for project execution and creating transparency on priority work in the department/division and throughout the enterprise.
• Leads teams or projects with moderate resource requirements risk and/or complexity particularly those requiring cross‑divisional and/or cross-functional coordination.

• Leads planning and financial/budgeting process in partnership with Finance and SIO peers
• Provides data and recommendations and oversees budget forecasting administration and reporting supporting leadership decision‑making and tradeoff discussions.
• Manages multiple and complex funding mechanisms and provides guidance to leadership on securing resources to achieve business outcomes reinforcing financial discipline and stewardship.
• Aligns planning and budget to functional and company priorities working cross-functionally with peers in the function.

• Plans and prepares agendas for staff portfolio and leadership planning sessions and meetings.
• Facilitates cross-functional initiatives and the flow of information between stakeholders and other teams serving as a connector across strategy execution and operations.
• Participates in regular leadership meetings to evaluate barriers to success and develop courses of action supporting faster decision‑making and issue resolution.
• Impacts the achievement of operational or project objectives and ensures alignment of department/division priorities to organizational strategy.
• Coordinates requests for information from stakeholders and prepares reports and presentations in response. Interprets internal/external business challenges and recommends best practices to improve products processes or services.

• Minimum of 7 years' business leadership experience.
• Proven leadership skills working with diverse teams.
• Superior interpersonal skills to lead a group of people.
• Experience operating in an enterprise or shared‑services environment that emphasizes integration governance and cross‑functional delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into operational plans and execution rhythms.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity adapting to change and influencing without formal authority in matrixed environments.
• Ability to work horizontally w/ shared priorities elevate functional priorities over department objectives.
• Thinks within lateral accountability and interdependence.
• Proven skills in dealing with ambiguity and paradox and leading change.
• Ability to translate goals and strategies into executable business plans.
• Strong integrity and proven ability to treat confidential information confidentially.
• Demonstrated learning agility and outside-in perspective to identify future trends and practices.
• 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.
• Exceptional business acumen and focus on achieving business impact through progressive practices and sound business judgment.
• 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 leaders.
• High degree of self-motivation with leadership and initiative in sharing information contributing towards group goals and accepting responsibility for results.
• Proactive and an ability to anticipate needs for a range of broad / complex business problems and staying ahead of them; comfortable working in an ambiguous environment.

• Flexible work schedules
• Concierge service
• Comprehensive benefits
• Employee resource groups

What We Do

You’ll Like It Here At Northwestern Mutual we believe that our lives and our work matter. And that doing what’s right is good for everyone. We follow through by designing tech that improves the community and cultivating creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere. These guiding principles have allowed our company to grow for more than 160 years. Here you’ll be with a team who emphasizes integrity and prioritizes security to design experiences that better everyone. You’ll work in cross functional teams to create optimal solutions that are rooted in innovative strategy and thoughtful execution. And you’re provided development tools and opportunities to become a leader all with the support of a collaborative team. You’ll be surrounded in a culture that values innovation and works to always evolve to stay ahead of trends and client needs. We are intentional in seeking out team members who will challenge us. Our employees choose us for the career opportunities commitment to philanthropy and desire to have a meaningful impact in the lives of our clients. You have career passions and goals. We have ambition and opportunity for you to grow your future in tech. Discover today: https://careers.northwesternmutual.com/

Why Work With Us

We invest in our people. We know careers are about choices so we provide intentional opportunity. Here you can build creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere and revolutionize traditional processes. As a mutual company our focus is our people — whether professional development or investments in the community. 

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