Senior Associate, Universal Purchase Experience Product Owner

Location Designation: Hybrid - 1 day per quarter
Job Description - Universal Purchase Experience Product Owner
Overview of New York Life
New York Life's culture has laid the foundation for over 180 years of commitment to our employees, agents, policy owners, and the communities where we live and work. Here, you become a valued part of a welcoming, inclusive, and caring organization with a long-standing legacy in stability and growth. As a Fortune 100 company and industry leader, we offer opportunities to tackle meaningful challenges, grow your career, and make a real impact on the lives of others.
Business Unit Overview
New York Life's Purchase Experience (PX) value stream is transforming the end-to-end purchase experience for agents, clients, and operations across all product lines, including life insurance, annuities, long-term care, disability insurance, business solutions, and wealth management.
Role Overview: Universal Purchase Experience Product Owner
The Universal Purchase Experience (UPX) Product Owner supports modernization of New York Life's new business capabilities by executing on defined priorities while partnering closely with technology, operations, compliance, distribution, and other value streams.
This role supports delivery of assigned UPX capabilities and contributes to execution and continuous improvement aligned to the PX strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Product Ownership & Strategy

• Support delivery of key capabilities within the Universal Purchase Experience (UPX), enhancing purchase processes and workflows by leveraging digital tools and data insights.
• Support the product lifecycle for assigned UPX capabilities, including backlog definition, delivery, launch, and continuous improvement under the guidance of Product Management leadership.
• In partnership with the Product Manager, contribute to maintaining a product roadmap supporting PX modernization objectives.
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows and modernize capabilities, providing recommendations for prioritization.
• Create, manage, and refine the product backlog based on customer needs, business value, and strategic direction.
• Clearly communicate user stories, requirements, and priorities to development teams.
• Engage with stakeholders to gather feedback, understand requirements, and ensure alignment with defined objectives.
• Provide recommendations on scope, features, and priorities for Product Manager review, escalating risks and trade-offs as needed.
• Review completed work to ensure it meets acceptance criteria and quality standards, including participation in UAT activities.
• Partner with support teams to help triage and resolve production issues.

Innovation & Modernization

• Partner with technology teams by providing operational and user insights to support future-state architecture discussions.
• Evaluate industry trends to identify innovation opportunities.
• Champion intuitive, consistent, and frictionless experiences for agents, clients, and internal users.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Collaborate with business owners, technology, operations, compliance, and distribution partners.
• Work closely with UX/UI teams to support user-centered digital workflows.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across value streams to execute aligned priorities and ensure requirements and delivery expectations are clearly understood.

Execution & Delivery

• Execute sprint-level delivery activities including backlog grooming, sprint planning support, UAT coordination, and release readiness.
• Translate business needs into product requirements, epics, and user stories.
• Partner with technology teams on sprint planning and release execution.
• Manage vendor interactions where applicable.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory and compliance requirements.

Qualifications
Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Technology, or a related field.
• 3-5 years of experience in product, business ownership, or operations roles supporting digital initiatives.
• Experience supporting digital product initiatives in a cross-functional environment.
• Strong proficiency in Jira and Microsoft Office products such as Excel, PowerPoint and Word
• Strong understanding of life and annuity products, suitability, replacements, funding, and new business workflows.
• Experience driving process optimization and modernization.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working in Agile environments.

Preferred

• Experience with new business systems (front end eApplications, Suitability rules-engines, internal/external funding).
• Knowledge of digital purchase journey best practices.
• Agile certifications (PO/PM, PMI-ACP) or equivalent experience.

Core Competencies

• Strategic and analytical thinker
• Customer- and advisor-focused mindset
• Strong collaboration and influencing skills
• Passion for digital transformation and modernization

#LI-JM14
Pay Transparency
Salary Range: $81,000-$115,500
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.
Please note: This role requires FINRA licensed and/or FINRA Associated Person pre-hire fingerprinting.
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: 93421