Sr Director & Actuary - Annuity Product Development

Reposted 7 Hours Ago
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Milwaukee, WI, USA
Hybrid
160K-240K Annually
Senior level
Fintech • Insurance • Financial Services
Start-Up Vibes with The Stability of a Fortune 100 Company.
The Role
Lead annuity and other risk-product development strategies, enhancements, competitive research, and market expansion. Partner across compliance, regulatory, servicing, marketing, sales, and field teams to create competitive insurance solutions, manage project scope, schedule, and budget, and support product questions. The role requires strategic leadership, consensus building, actuarial expertise, strong insurance-product knowledge, and extensive product development experience.
Summary Generated by Built In
Primary Duties & Responsibilities:
  • For one or more risk product lines (life, annuities, disability income and long-term care), develop and execute product development strategies that leverage our fundamental company advantages, understand the markets in which the product line is most relevant, and ensure execution in coordination with a broad variety of departments across the company.
  • May assist the product line leader in the development of product line strategies to maximize sales growth and ensure achievement of healthy product line financial results.
  • Continually evaluate and refine the Company's risk products, including developing new products and adding product enhancements and features to remain competitive and increase sales and market share. This will include both evolution as well as more innovative approaches to risk products. In addition to core risk products, design and develop solutions for adjacent markets and products, as well as disruptive approaches to the financial security market.
  • Liaison to all levels of the field in order to proactively seek input on desirable products, features, and benefits. Use field insight, as well as client insight, to design and develop new products and features. Maintain co-creation with the field throughout the product development process.
  • Provide representation and advocacy for risk product lines in cross-departmental project teams focusing on compliance, supervision, regulatory issues, servicing, marketing and sales strategies, cross-selling and financial security planning, and coordinate efforts where necessary.
  • Analyze competitors' products, features, and benefits to determine how NM can best compete. When warranted, make recommendations that NM offer such types of products, features, and benefits.
  • Ensure that projects are completed to meet schedule, scope, and budget.
  • Assist the field and other home office staff on product questions.

Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Actuarial Science, marketing or related field plus a minimum of ten years of experience in insurance product development, competitive research, product compensation, or other areas of the risk product insurance industry.
  • Actuary background required.
  • Demonstrated ability to think and implement strategically.
  • Proven ability to lead decision making process through idea sharing and consensus building.
  • Demonstrated successful project leadership experience at Northwestern Mutual, or relevant external experience, with a keen focus on aligning project goals with Company strategy.
  • Strong knowledge of risk products.
  • High degree of personal initiative and self-motivation; ability to work on concurrent efforts, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
  • Effective communication skills with the ability to build rapport and gain acceptance of people at all levels in the home office and field; demonstrated ability to prepare and deliver clear and smooth presentations and well as convey information clearly and effectively in written format.
  • Series 6 & 26 required or successful completion within six months.

Desirable Qualifications:
  • MBA degree, JD degree, FSA designation, CLU designation, CPA designation, or other relevant degree or professional designation.
  • Fifteen years experience in life insurance product development, competitive research, product compensation, or other areas of the life insurance industry.

Skills You Have
  • Actuarial Expertise & Financial Analysis: Apply actuarial knowledge and analytical judgment to evaluate product design, financial performance, pricing considerations, and risk.
  • Annuity Product Development & Management: Develop and refine annuity products, features, and strategies that respond to client, field, competitive, and business needs.
  • Strategic Thinking & Learning Agility: Analyze complex issues, anticipate future implications, and quickly build knowledge in unfamiliar products, markets, or business environments.
  • Business Influence & Decision Leadership: Challenge established thinking, build consensus, and influence product decisions across leadership and business partners.
  • Cross-Functional Product Execution: Coordinate stakeholders, manage dependencies, and move complex product initiatives from strategy through implementation.

This position has been classified as a Registered Representative under NMIS guidelines and requires fingerprinting.Series 26 - FINRA, Series 6 - FINRA
Compensation Range:
Pay Range - Start:
$160,000.00
Pay Range - End:
$240,000.00
Geographic Specific Pay Structure:
Structure 110:
Structure 115:
We believe in fairness and transparency. It's why we share the salary range for most of our roles. However, final salaries are based on a number of factors, including the skills and experience of the candidate; the current market; location of the candidate; and other factors uncovered in the hiring process. The standard pay structure is listed but if you're living in California, New York City or other eligible location, geographic specific pay structures, compensation and benefits could be applicable, click here to learn more.
Grow your career with a best-in-class company that puts our clients' interests at the center of all we do. Get started now!
Northwestern Mutual is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes talented individuals of all backgrounds. We are committed to creating and maintaining an environment in which each employee can contribute creative ideas, seek challenges, assume leadership and continue to focus on meeting and exceeding business and personal objectives.
Skills
Data Literacy (NM), Risk Evaluation (NM), Customer, Market & Ecosystem Knowledge (NM), Technical & Digital Acumen (NM), Learning Agility & Critical Thinking (NM), Cross Functional Partnering & Planning (NM), Investment Products (NM), Customer Centricity (NM), Insurance Products (NM), Product Management (NM), Product Positioning (NM), Decision Making (NM), Analytical Thinking (NM), Customer Service Mindset (NM), Product Development (NM), Accountability (NM), Talent Development & Planning (NM), Adaptive Communication (NM), Industry Knowledge (NM), Business Influence (NM), Solution Design Oriented Thinking (NM), Consulting (NM)
FIND YOUR FUTURE
We're excited about the potential people bring to Northwestern Mutual. You can grow your career here while enjoying first-class perks, benefits, and our commitment to a culture of belonging.
  • Flexible work schedules
  • Concierge service
  • Comprehensive benefits
  • Employee resource groups

Skills Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Actuarial Science, Marketing, or a related field
  • At least 10 years of experience in insurance product development, competitive research, product compensation, or another risk-product insurance function
  • Actuary background
  • Strategic thinking and implementation ability
  • Decision-making leadership through idea sharing and consensus building
  • Successful project leadership experience
  • Strong knowledge of risk products
  • Ability to manage concurrent efforts, prioritize, and meet deadlines
  • Strong written, verbal, presentation, and relationship-building communication skills
  • Series 6 and Series 26 licenses, or successful completion within six months
  • MBA, JD, FSA, CLU, CPA, or another relevant degree or professional designation
  • 15 years of experience in life insurance product development, competitive research, product compensation, or another life insurance function

What the Team is Saying

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Northwestern Mutual Compensation & Benefits Highlights

  • Retirement Support — Retirement programs feature both a 401(k) and a company‑funded cash balance plan, with materials noting age+service‑based credits and periods when additional employer funding is directed to the pension‑style plan. Vesting timelines are specified for each plan, signaling a long‑term, security‑oriented design.
  • Healthcare Strength — Health coverage spans medical, dental, and vision with Lyra mental‑health support, on‑site Mutual Health Centers in select locations, virtual care options, and fitness reimbursement or on‑site gyms. This breadth positions core health benefits as comprehensive for eligible corporate employees.
  • Parental & Family Support — Programs include paid parental leave, caregiving leave, and family‑building supports such as fertility, adoption, and surrogacy assistance. These offerings extend beyond baseline benefits to cover key life stages for families.

Northwestern Mutual Insights

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The Company
HQ: Milwaukee, WI
8,400 Employees
Year Founded: 1857

What We Do

You’ll Like It Here At Northwestern Mutual, we believe that our lives and our work matter. And that doing what’s right is good for everyone. We follow through by designing tech that improves the community and cultivating creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere. These guiding principles have allowed our company to grow for more than 160 years. Here, you’ll be with a team who emphasizes integrity and prioritizes security to design experiences that better everyone. You’ll work in cross functional teams to create optimal solutions that are rooted in innovative strategy and thoughtful execution. And you’re provided development tools and opportunities to become a leader all with the support of a collaborative team. You’ll be surrounded in a culture that values innovation and works to always evolve to stay ahead of trends and client needs. We are intentional in seeking out team members who will challenge us. Our employees choose us for the career opportunities, commitment to philanthropy and desire to have a meaningful impact in the lives of our clients. You have career passions and goals. We have ambition and opportunity for you to grow your future in tech. Discover today: https://careers.northwesternmutual.com/

Why Work With Us

We invest in our people. We know careers are about choices, so we provide intentional opportunity. Here you can build creative ways to make finance accessible anywhere and revolutionize traditional processes. As a mutual company, our focus is our people — whether professional development or investments in the community. 

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Northwestern Mutual Offices

Hybrid Workspace

Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.

We offer a flexible, hybrid approach for our employees . Teams are in the office a few days a week and work from home the others.

Typical time on-site: Flexible
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HQMilwaukee, WI
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