Senior Director Advanced Markets Operations

Primary Duties & Responsibilities: Develop, implement and monitor a three to five-year contact center strategy across the Advanced Markets contact centers to ensure that financial representatives and policyowners maintain a favorable view of Northwestern Mutual's brand and reputation. Create a culture of high quality and continuous improvement through the process of assessment, evaluation, insight, action, implementation and measurement. Develop comprehensive strategies and direct resources to achieve Department and Company field and client experience objectives through integrated client service interactions (billing collection, beneficiary title, client data maintenance, etc.). Develop, maintain and improve effective communications with customers regarding all aspects of service. Develop, implement and monitor service recovery and concierge services across customer operations. Direct, develop and provide guidance to Assistant Directors and Managers in all operational matters, including those relating to service delivery, talent management, budgeting and staffing for integrated client services. Direct the delivery of contact center support services and works with business process owners to resolve service levels gaps. Leverage relationships across departments to ensure that customer service representatives are knowledgeable about all relevant products and product changes. Drive implementation of best practices for hiring, training and retention across all of the contact centers. Participate in company-wide projects and analyze impact of process and/or system changes cross-functionally. Accountable for maintaining peer and industry relationships and education on current and future state contact center best practices and incorporating innovation and industry best practices into the strategic direction of the company's contact centers.

Bachelor's degree business or related field. Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible level experience including expertise in operations and/or the designated investment products (if applicable) that the position supports. Comprehensive understanding of customer service environments, large scale contact center operations, and contact center technologies. Solid understanding of the insurance business, including field relations, servicing functions, billing and collections and client data maintenance. Strong negotiation skills and ability to think creatively to find solutions that deliver and' vs or'. Demonstrated superior written and verbal communication skills with ability to build rapport and gain acceptance at all levels. Demonstrated ability to independently analyze and solve complex business problems. Strong skills and desire to develop direct reports and others. Demonstrated knowledge in process improvement, Lean, Continuous Learning and Improvement, or similar methodologies. Requires Series 6 and 26.

You Have Escalation Management Addresses and resolves incidents where customer wants to communicate with leadership or higher authorities regarding their problems. Empathizes, understands, and interacts with the customer to mitigate their issues using domain expertise and adaptive communication techniques. Prioritization Assesses and accurately assigns priority levels to different tasks based on importance, urgency, and alignment to business and strategic goals. Strategic Vision & Planning Develops, defines, and executes strategic vision for the team and business function they manage with an understanding of the enterprise’s goals as a people manager; defines business planning, strategy formulation, and management engine to support strategic vision. Talent Development & Planning Develops direct reports’ skills based on organizational objectives, evaluates skill gaps, and manages succession planning to develop more capable direct reports, diverse, strong teams and better organizational performance in an equitable and inclusive manner. Change Adaptability