Corporate Vice President, Product Design

Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week
Role Overview:
Director, Product Design
What makes us stand out:As an award-winning Fortune 100 Company, diversity and humanity are deeply rooted values in our company culture. We are vocal advocates for a supportive and inclusive work culture that inspires our employees to do meaningful, life-changing work. We believe there is a wealth of knowledge we can learn from one another, and that together, we can enact real-world change.
When you join New York Life, you're joining a company that values career development, collaboration, innovation, and inclusiveness. We want employees to feel proud about being part of a company that is committed to doing the right thing. You'll have the opportunity to grow your career while developing personally and professionally through various resources and programs. If you're ready to channel your creativity and strategic insight into an environment that values impact, we can't wait to welcome you to our team.
About the role:
We're building the next generation of innovative digital products in our industry, and we're looking for an energetic, proactive Director of Product Design to help deliver this vision. We're looking for a dedicated Principal digital designer who can execute a strategic vision for NYL, building within and across a portfolio of digital products used by consumers and NYL agents into one seamless, intuitive experience. The Director will collaborate with a team of Directors of Product Design and work across a portfolio of digital products in our Value Streams (outcome-based departments).
You'll be collaborating extensively to not only craft help individual cutting-edge, user-centered digital product experiences, but also connect end-to-end digital experiences and other multi-channel experiences within and across the Value Streams for our customers and agents. This position has a tremendous impact on our business and plays a crucial role in the NYL ecosystem.
This role will also contribute to the growth and maturity of digital product design capability including maturing processes, establishing professional growth and advancement pathways, nurturing a design culture and providing coaching and mentorship, and advocating for the value of design in the organization.
What you'll do:
Design concepting and detailed design handoff to development

• Lead early-stage design concepting by turning ambiguous problem spaces into clear, testable concepts and experience flows grounded in user and business needs.
• Work closely with design leadership to ensure consistent application of standards and alignment with evolving strategic direction.
• Translate validated concepts into detailed, production-ready design specifications, including component-level documentation, edge cases, and responsive behaviors.
• Partner closely with engineering during handoff and implementation, providing clear design artifacts, answering questions, and reviewing builds to ensure high-quality execution.[L(1]

Contribute to work across our digital product portfolio

• Contribute to the end-to-end design of a portfolio of digital products, ensuring each experience is usable, engaging, and aligned to the broader product strategy.
• Prioritize design efforts across multiple workstreams, balancing long-term vision work with near-term delivery needs in partnership with Product and Engineering.
• Perform end-to-end design research and discovery activities to inform experience strategy, content, and UX decisions across both our financial education platform and NYL.com.
• Drive consistency and quality across the portfolio by leveraging and evolving shared design systems, patterns, and standards.
• Understand the impact of design across products, using insights to iterate[L(2] [TC3] and inform experience improvements[L(4] [L(5]

Cross-functional creation and collaboration

• Partner with cross functional team for delivery: Collaborate with design leadership, product owners, engineering, and implementation teams, driving alignment and decision-making across a large-scale, multi-year implementation and in-year MVP delivery.
• Contribute to co-creation and workshops: Participate in working sessions and to define and ideate, align stakeholders, and enable confident decisions.
• Partner with design leadership: Collaborate closely with design, product, and business leadership across NYL to shape project direction, maintain alignment with strategic objectives, and advocate for a cohesive, experience-led vision across teams.

Leadership and collaboration

• Partner with senior leadership for delivery: Partner widely with department and program leadership, implementation managers, product managers and owners, engineering, and others in the large-scale, multi-year implementation and in-year accelerated MVP delivery
• Lead well-structured facilitation and workshops: Structure and facilitate meetings, workshops, and brainstorming sessions to co-create design strategy related deliverables
• Partner with design leadership: Collaborate closely across NYL with designers, product managers, production team, and program and business leaders to execute projects and maintain alignment on strategic directions

You should have:

• Portfolio **Please include a portfolio or case studies as a document or link with your resume when applying, including any passwords. Please DO NOT use Drop box or other file sharing solution, we cannot access it.**
• Expert understanding of human-centered design principles, interaction design, visual design, and user experience.
• A bachelor's in a relevant field such as Design, Interaction Design, Communication Design or a related discipline. Equivalent practical experience will also be considered.

What You'll Bring:
Your design experience

• At least 5 years in digital product design, including a track record of shipping high quality digital designs for consumers and a range of digital product types (e.g., responsive web, apps, portals, etc.)
• Experience with designing for multiple projects in a fast-paced, very deadline-driven environment[L(6] [L(7] [L(8] [TC9] [TC10]
• Experience leveraging design systems and comfort working with content-heavy experiences and structured systems

Your technical abilities include

• A successful track record of shipping digital experience designs in a Scaled Agile (SAFe) environment across a range of front-ends and platforms (e.g., content management systems, low/no-code platforms, framework-based front ends, native apps)
• Familiarity with technical architecture concepts including service-oriented architecture and micro-services, data models, and front-end programming (e.g., HTML, CSS)
• Mastery of design and prototyping tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe Creative Suite) and digital whiteboard/facilitation tools (e.g., Figjam, Miro)

Your leadership and communication style

• Adaptable with the ability to bring clarity and structure to ambiguity.
• Strong communication skills: Ability to leverage your expert communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and executives.
• Strong organization and attention to detail.

And if you have this, we really want to hear from you

• Experience in life insurance, financial services, or other highly regulated industry for complex application or servicing experiences

Pay Transparency
Salary Range: $119,000-$170,000
Overtime eligible: Exempt
Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes
Sales bonus eligible: No
Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual's experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.
Company Overview
At New York Life, our 180-year legacy of purpose and integrity fuels our future. As we evolve into a more technology-, data-, and AI-enabled organization, we remain grounded in the values that drive lasting impact.
Our diverse business portfolio creates opportunities to make a difference across industries and communities-inviting bold thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and purpose-driven innovation. Here, you'll find the rare balance of long-standing stability and forward momentum, supported by an inclusive team that honors tradition while embracing progress.
As a Fortune 100 mutual company, we offer a place to grow your skills, contribute to meaningful work, and deliver solutions that matter. Your ideas drive what's next, and your growth powers it.
Our Benefits
We provide a full package of benefits for employees - and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work.Click hereto discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.
Our Commitment to Inclusion
At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace is fundamental to who we are and how we serve our communities. We have a longstanding commitment to creating an environment where individuals can contribute their best and succeed together. This foundation is rooted in our core values of humanity and integrity, ensuring that every employee feels valued and supported. By embracing a broad range of perspectives and experiences, we achieve greater success and fulfill our promise of providing financial security and peace of mind to families across all communities. Click here to learn more about New York Life's leadership in this space.
Recognized as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies, New York Life is committed to improving local communities through a culture of employee giving and volunteerism, supported by the Foundation. We're proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. To learn more about career opportunities at New York Life, please visit the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com.
Visit our LinkedIn to see how our employees and agents are leading the industry and impacting communities.
Visit our Newsroom to learn more about how our company is constantly evolving to meet our clients' and employees' needs.
Job Requisition ID: 93465