Retail Product Strategy Lead

POSITION SUMMARY

The Retail Segment is a fast-growing channel for Guardian. We allow consumers to shop, quote, enroll, and pay for non-medical health benefits directly from us online, through partnerships with brokers and aggregators, and through the government exchanges. Growth in this channel has been accelerated by healthcare reform, evolving consumer preferences, growth of retirees and gig/part-time workforce which has resulted in an influx of new individuals shopping and purchasing their benefits online and through government exchanges.

In this role, you will be responsible for working with our internal & external partners to design innovative & market-leading ancillary benefits and well-being solutions for Guardian’s Retail segment. This is a hands-on, highly visible & creative role where you will need to keep abreast of consumer and macro trends and competitive actions to ensure that our retail product set is evolving to keep up with the industry and with market demand. You will partner with the Group Product team to design new products & evolve existing products. You will partner with the Retail Product Delivery and technology teams to determine the execution plan and appropriate prioritization of new and existing product initiatives.

• Retail product lead will play a key role in the development of our product strategy for Guardian’s ancillary benefits and broader health, protection, and financial well-being solutions for the retail market
• This position is responsible for formulating, preparing, and implementing product strategies and action plans as well as monitoring and managing the performance of assigned products throughout the product life cycle
• These responsibilities include active review of the retail product profitability and strong partnership with product, pricing, legal, compliance, underwriting, operations and claims organizations to influence all aspects of the product. 
• Additionally, this individual will help identify & prioritize the design of new products or enhancements in support of market demand and our aggressive growth goals; this will include collaboration with Guardian’s Group Benefits and Individual Markets business lines to build out a robust suite of offerings across health, protection, wealth accumulation, and wellness
• This position will be responsible for partnering with marketing to help define the overall marketing strategy, key messages and differentiation points
• In the future, this position may also be involved in the management of new & existing strategic product partnerships, to the extent that part of the product strategy involves offering non-Guardian manufactured Retail offerings and solutions

You Will:

Product Strategy

• Assess key market factors, including competitive landscape, consumer and policyholder insights, and unmet customer needs to identify areas of opportunity for differentiated product or service enhancements to meet customer expectations and achieve growth for Guardian
  • Identify primary and secondary market research needs to support the development of product strategy work
  • Work with market research team to define research needs and shape research studies
  • Oversee and work to finalize analysis and interpretation of research to provide product direction and guidance
• Translate consumer insights into actionable strategies and initiatives as part of business, marketing and product development plans.

Business Leadership on Product Initiatives

• Drive and champion the development of new products and enhancements of existing products from market assessment through post-product launch
• Execute retail product development projects, providing business leadership to large, complex and cross-functional initiatives, ensuring business objectives are realized
• Collaborate with the Group Benefits product area and other business functions to define business requirements for product, contracts, claims, online and technological capabilities and service
• Support Go-to-Market & partnership strategy working with other members of the Retail Segment team, including working closely with the distribution and technology teams

Product Management / SME

• In partnership with underwriting & pricing evaluate the effectiveness of product performance and leverage insights for influencing or driving product improvement initiatives to positively impact financial outcome of product set, as needed
  • Use data to develop better products and processes as well as influence competitive pricing, compensation and service strategies to meet product objectives
  • Manage activities relating to the maintenance of the assigned product set
• Troubleshoot service, systems and claim issues and work with our partners to resolve
• Work with competitive intelligence to perform regular and comprehensive competitive analysis

Reporting Relationships:

• This position reports to the Head of Group Benefits Strategy and Retail Segment, who in turn, reports to the Chief Commercial Officer of the Group Benefits business.

You Have:

Skills and Knowledge

• Strategic thinker with ability to develop roadmap and assess strategic priorities
• Must be customer–focused and skillfully manage relationships and expectations with Partners and all other stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, including the ability produce clear supporting documents in PowerPoint, Excel etc.
• Entrepreneurial – ability to work independently and under pressure; ability to bring clarity to ideas that may appear unclear or ambiguous in concept
• Financial management, strong analytical skills, ability to analyze and communicate financial information
• Excellent project management and organizational skills, with demonstrated success achieving results through others
• Ability to effectively handle multiple priorities
• Fosters a high level of teamwork and collaboration between employees, teams, across departments and the field as appropriate
• Results-oriented
   

Education and Experience

• Bachelors degree required
• 10+ years experience; insurance experience desired and experience in product development preferred
• Prior experience developing a product strategy and multi-year roadmap
• Past experience evaluating & understanding consumer buying behavior
• Proven ability to influence cross functional teams to achieve results in a dynamic, rapidly changing market

Location and Work Arrangement:

The successful candidate will work a hybrid arrangement and will be based out of a local Guardian Office. Preferred office locations include:

• New York, NY
• Boston, MA
• Bethlehem, PA

Salary Range

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise

At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals.  Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues.

Health Care

• Choice of [high deductible/copay] medical plans* with prescription drugs, including coverage for fertility and transgender inclusive benefits

• Dental plan

• Vision plan

• Health care accounts – flexible spending, health reimbursement, and health savings accounts

• Critical illness insurance

Life and Disability Insurance

• Company-paid Life and Disability insurance plus voluntary supplemental coverage

• Accident insurance

Retirement and Financial

• 401(k) retirement plan with a company match, plus an annual age/service-based Company contribution and an annual profit-sharing contribution, if applicable

• Complimentary 1:1 financial guidance with a licensed Fidelity representative

Time Off and Remote Work

• Flexible work arrangements (part in-person/part remote)

• Unlimited paid time off for most roles plus time off for volunteering, jury duty, voting, and bereavement

• Personal holidays for colleagues to use in recognition of religious, cultural, or civic days

• Paid parental leave and paid family and medical leave policies

Emotional Well-being and Work-Life

• Emotional well-being, mental health, and work/life resources powered by Spring Health

• Wellness programs, including fitness program and equipment reimbursement

• Child, adult, and elder back-up care support through Bright Horizons

• Adoption assistance

• College planning

• Tuition reimbursement

• Student loan assistance

• Commuter benefits in select metropolitan areas

Equity & Inclusion

Opportunities to build inclusive and meaningful connections through involvement in colleague-led affinity groups:

• Employee Resource Groups:

• Colleague Connection Committees

• Community Involvement Committees

A culture that encourages colleagues to bring their authentic selves to work

• Voluntary self-ID

• Pronunciation and phonetic spelling of names

Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact applicant_accommodation@glic.com.

Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.