Senior Director, Strategy & Research, Innovation

At Northwestern Mutual, we are strong, innovative and growing. We invest in our people. We care and make a positive difference.
About Variable
Variable is an innovation team within a Fortune 100 company, dedicated to exploring emerging technologies and ideas to shape the future. We are passionate about fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment where innovation can flourish. Our team operates in a stable yet dynamic environment, providing opportunities for career growth and impactful contributions at scale.
Summary:
We are looking for an experienced innovation leader with a proven track record in both early-stage startups and large corporate settings. This role is critical in shaping the strategic direction of our innovation program and will involve hands-on leadership to successfully execute Variable's ambitious innovation experiments.
As the Senior Director of Strategy and Research, you will guide a talented team of innovation strategists and researchers. Your hands-on leadership will be crucial in supporting the exploration of multiple concurrent experiments. You will leverage your expertise in emerging technologies and your strategic partnerships within the organization to drive the success of our innovation initiatives. Partnering closely with the VP of Innovation, you will tackle unique business challenges, and your work will help to inform long-term technical investments that influence the future trajectory of the enterprise.
The Role:

• Develop and lead the execution of the strategy for the innovation program with a focus on emerging technologies
• Oversee and direct comprehensive research initiatives to identify, evaluate, and integrate innovative technologies and trends.
• Work closely with executive leaders across the enterprise to maintain strategic alignment of the program, and incubate ideas that are relevant to business leaders
• Create and maintain a strategic roadmap for innovation experiments and research briefs that aligns with our long-term business goals
• Design and execute innovation experiments that will test and validate new technologies within real-world scenarios
• Oversee in-depth market, customer, and competitor analysis to identify opportunities and threats in the landscape
• Act as a primary liaison with senior leadership, presenting findings, strategies, and updates to executive stakeholders
• Oversee resource allocation and project prioritization to maximize the impact of innovation initiatives
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of innovation strategists and researchers
• Partner with the design and engineering teams to successfully deliver experiments
• Establish and nurture relationships with external partners, including startups, academic institutions, and industry consortia.
• Define and track key performance indicators and outcomes to measure the success and impact of innovation initiatives.

Qualifications:

• High proficiency in the applications of emerging technologies such as Gen AI, Web 3, etc. to business problems
• Minimum of 10 years of experience
• Proven track record of leading strategy and research teams for a business unit or in corporate strategy
• Strong leadership and team management skills, with experience working in a matrixed environment
• Demonstrated ability to analyze and synthesize complicated and ambiguous information, solve complex problems, provide cross-functional leadership, and work persuasively among leaders across the organization
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, and with executive leadership
• Foundational knowledge of financial services industry and insurance
• Experience conducting primary and secondary market and customer research to substantiate a strategic point of view

Benefits:

• Tuition reimbursement, commuter plans, and paid time off
• Highly competitive compensation that include base salary plus bonus
• Medical/Dental/Vision plans, 401(k), pension program

#LI-Hybrid
Compensation Range:
Pay Range - Start:
$168,630.00
Pay Range - End:
$313,170.00
Northwestern Mutual pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement in the salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment. At Northwestern Mutual, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. Please note that the salary range listed in the posting is the standard pay structure. Positions in certain locations (such as California) may provide an increase on the standard pay structure based on the location. Please click here for additiona l information relating to location-based pay structures.
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We are an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
If you work or would be working in California, Colorado, New York City, Washington or outside of a Corporate location, please click here for information pertaining to compensation and benefits.
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• Flexible work schedules
• Concierge service
• Comprehensive benefits
• Employee resource groups