Head of Claims & Benefits Operations

Job Description

Head of Claims & Benefits Operations | New York Life Insurance Company

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at New York Life Insurance Company, located in a hybrid work arrangement requiring 3 days per week in the office. New York Life builds trust and provides financial security, delivering on its promise to policyholders and beneficiaries during pivotal life moments. This executive leadership position is critical to driving operational excellence and leading enterprise-wide service execution across Service Operations. The role strengthens trust, improves scalability, and positions Service Operations as an industry leader.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Full-time
• Location: Hybrid – 3 days per week
• Pay: $180000–$260000 yearly
• Team: Service Operations Senior Leadership Team; leads Claims & Benefits Operations
• Mission: Drive operational excellence within Claims & Benefits and lead enterprise-wide service execution across Service Operations, ensuring accurate, compliant, and empathetic delivery of claims.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Enterprise Leadership: Set and execute the strategic vision for Claims & Benefits Operations, aligning with enterprise Service strategy and Service Operations senior leadership team priorities.
• Operational Accountability: Lead Claims & Benefits Operations with accountability for accurate, compliant, and empathetic delivery of approximately $5B in annual claims payments.
• Customer Experience: Drive a more unified, end-to-end beneficiary experience across Life, Annuity, and Waiver claims, reducing fragmentation and improving clarity.
• Modernization Initiatives: Champion modernization efforts including digital claim intake, auto-adjudication, intelligent routing, and enhanced customer communications, leveraging data and analytics.
• People Leadership: Lead and develop leaders across Claims & Benefits, cultivating a growth mindset and change leadership culture aligned to Service priorities.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance, Economics, or a related field; an executive career level leading large, multi-functional operations within Financial Services or Insurance.
• Experience: A minimum of 10+ years leading large operations with significant financial accountability, demonstrating success in multi-year transformation and modernization initiatives and influencing across highly matrixed organizations in regulated environments.
• Skills: Operational execution, workforce strategy, capacity planning, productivity management, risk management, compliance controls, and continuous improvement principles.
• Bonus: Master’s degree in Business or a related discipline preferred.