Director, Business Program Management

If you're passionate about helping people protect what matters most to them, as well as innovating and simplifying processes and operations to provide the best customer value, then Nationwide's Property and Casualty team could be the place for you!

There are two open positions, one for Contract Commercial P&C & Excess Operations and one for Contract Personal Lines Operations.

This position can be also be filled in a remote/hybrid environment

The preferred location for this role is near Scottsdale, AZ office, however, all work from home locations will be considered.

The compensation range for this role is H3.

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Job Description Summary
We are a versatile group of individuals, working together to meet the needs of our customers. We value knowledge, strong business savvy and contributing to a stellar team environment. If you thrive in a busy, engaging work environment, we want to know more about you!

As a Director, you'll lead the strategic alignment of major corporate programs and initiatives. We will count on you to have an end to end vantage point on business delivery. You will be responsible for setting and reviewing objectives, coordinating activities across projects and overseeing the integration and reuse of projects and results. You'll lead all aspects of multiple project teams and associates and be accountable for the overall outcome of programs that ultimately deliver expected value and business outcomes.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Directs the evaluation of proposed business development efforts including the coordination of initial program/project proposals and charters. Determines and recommends to senior management if program/project aligns with the organization's strategy and objectives.
• Facilitates portfolio planning and partners with key stakeholders to establish a road-map aligned with the organization's vision and annual objectives. Drives the creation, development, presentation and approval of program, project and business case budgets and funding. Works with key customers in identifying program needs and leads program infrastructure, implementation and governance structure. Ensures the establishment of scope and priorities, management of risks/issues/dependencies, implementation of solutions and change management activities.
• Prioritizes, approves and ensures the completion of new product development, design of new processes and adoption of new strategies and/or programs within time, budget and specification constraints. Provides a single point of contact integration for individual projects into larger program management on a corporate-wide basis.
• Consults with leaders and assigned project teams to identify scope/specifications and business needs, writes proposals, prepares risk assessments and establishes budgets and timeframes for major programs and team based activities, with the goal of ensuring alignment with corporate strategy and objectives.
• Builds strong working relationships with team members, matrix partners, sponsors and customers to aide in effective definition and execution of projects. Fosters trust that increases day-to-day decisioning and improving speed and quality of work
• Leverages value chain thinking, ensuring that critical parties are engaged at the appropriate time and informed of all upstream/downstream impacts.
• Collaborates with key stakeholders, leaders and partners to understand impediments and/or inefficiencies to improve overall efficiency and delivery capability of the team. Serves as a point of escalation.
• Partners closely with Finance and Technology partners to oversee project/product financials.
• Establishes and maintains a best in class Portfolio and Program Management practice that supports continuous planning and delivery flexibility with sustainable predictability. Establishes standard for project managers and oversees the development of tools and processes. Champions the process to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and consistency of execution.
• Directs the development of business perspective work plans to determine needed resources to deliver program/project charters, requirements, user acceptance testing strategies, training and system implementation.
• Monitors and assesses all projects and pivotal initiatives and communicates status to senior leadership.
• Manages the interfaces between projects, acting as a liaison between project managers and directors, to ensure collaboration and coordination between business unit leadership, program/project development staff, senior management, Nationwide Technology, customers and if necessary, vendors and outside consultants.
• Identifies gaps, overlaps, conflicts and timelines, as well as budgetary and resource barriers, which affect programs and projects individually and as a whole. Facilitates resolution, mitigation and appropriate elevation.
• Leads a team of associates to deliver results by crafting team objectives tied to business objectives. Responsible for the management of associates including, performance management, salary planning and administration, development, workflow and organizational planning, hiring and placement. Recognizes team members' strengths, aligned to capability needs, resulting in strong delivery results. Facilitates an environment of inclusion that leverages diverse perspectives and talent. Ensures associates have the resources and guidance they need to deliver timely and relevant result.
• Serves as a top professional/coach to others around delivering business outcomes, benefit realization, and delivery practices.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships: Reports to an executive; leads team of four or more associates.

Typical Skills and Experiences:

Education: Undergraduate degree required with studies in business, insurance or related field preferred. MBA or other graduate level education equivalent is desired.

License/Certification/Designation: Project Management Certification is strongly preferred. Industry designations such as CPCU, CLU and/or ChFC are highly desired.

Experience: Ten or more years of related project/program management experience along with experience leading others (directly or indirectly).

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Proven knowledge of project management tools, concepts and methodologies. Demonstrated proficiency in key competencies of effective program/project management. Ability to manage large, sophisticated programs/projects. Must have the ability to maintain focus on the holistic focus of a program and integrate the separate projects together. Ability to lead others and influence change. Best-in-class verbal and written communication skills and ability to flex communication style with technical and non-technical users. Proven track record driving effective teamwork, communication, collaboration and commitment across multiple disparate groups with competing priorities. Ability to drive for results, deal with ambiguity and to understand strategic objectives. Demonstrated ability to coordinate cross-functional teams towards task completion and facilitate consensus. Superior organizational, prioritization and time management skills. Best-in-class ability to evaluate and apply problem-solving methodology including needs assessment, data acquisition and root cause analysis and interpretive/strategic planning analysis. Ability to make decisions on highly sophisticated issues and work with minimal direction.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager's leader and Human Resources Business Partner.

Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions:

Overtime Eligibility: Not Eligible (Exempt)

Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Occasional travel. Non-standard or extended work may be required based on project needs.

ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

Benefits

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental, paid time off plus nine paid holidays, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.

For NY residents please review the following state law information: Notice of Employee Rights, Protections, and Obligations LS740 (ny.gov) https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/02/ls740_1.pdf

Nationwide utilizes a geographic-specific salary structure. The range for this role in Colorado is$103,000.00 - $150,000.00

Nationwide pays based on a geographic-specific salary structure. The range for this role in Ithaca, New York is$103,000.00 - $197,000.00