CVP - Senior Director, Digital Product & Design Operations

$175,000 - $225,000/Yr

New York Life - New York, NY

Full-time - Senior

Hybrid - New York, NY

Insurance Carriers and Related Activities

About the position

We are seeking an innovative and results-driven Senior Director of Product and Design Operations to lead and evolve the operational infrastructure supporting our Value Stream Digital Product Management Team and Digital Product Design Center of Excellence (CoE). This is a strategic leadership role that combines operational excellence, cross-functional collaboration, and a customer-centric mindset to enhance agility, improve delivery, and foster a culture of innovation. This role will report to Marketing's VP of Digital Product Experience and work closely with senior product, design, and technology leaders to drive the strategic vision and operational efficiency of our digital ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and manage a high-performing team responsible for operational frameworks, processes, and tools across product management and design functions.
• Establish and optimize workflows that support the efficient delivery of value stream-aligned products and high-quality digital design experiences.
• Collaborate with cross-functional leaders to ensure operational processes align with value-stream / enterprise goals and regulatory requirements.
• Manage tools, contracts, budgets, vendors, to ensure operational efficiency / identify ongoing improvements.
• Develop and manage frameworks for product planning, prioritization, and portfolio management to ensure alignment with business and customer goals.
• Partner with product leadership to establish and track OKRs, ensuring visibility into progress and outcomes.
• Implement agile best practices to improve the speed and quality of product delivery while supporting the unique needs of financial services teams.
• Build and scale operations for the Digital Product Design CoE, including design system governance, tooling, and resource planning.
• Foster collaboration between design teams and product teams to ensure cohesive user experiences aligned with brand and customer needs.
• Oversee the adoption and evolution of design principles, standards, and best practices across the organization.
• Act as a liaison between product management, design, technology, and business units to ensure alignment and effective communication.
• Advocate for the operational needs of product and design teams at the executive level, ensuring alignment with enterprise-wide initiatives.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives that enhance operational efficiencies and improve customer-centric outcomes.
• Establish reporting frameworks and dashboards that provide actionable insights into the performance of product and design teams.
• Identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies in current processes and implement solutions that improve velocity and quality.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, tools, and methodologies, ensuring the organization remains competitive and innovative.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in digital product or design operations, with a proven track record of managing complexity with financial services programs or similarly regulated industry.
• Demonstrated experience working with value stream frameworks and Centers of Excellence in a scaled agile environment.
• Expertise in building and scaling operational frameworks that support agile product management and design functions.
• Ability to translate enterprise goals into actionable operational strategies.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing multidisciplinary teams in matrixed environments.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and align diverse stakeholders.
• Proficiency in data analysis and reporting to drive decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Familiarity with tools such as Workfront, Jira, Confluence, Miro, Figma, and other relevant product and design platforms.

Nice-to-haves

• Deep understanding of user needs and how to operationalize processes to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
• Ability to lead teams through transformation and build buy-in across all levels of the organization.
• Understanding of compliance and regulatory requirements relevant to financial services.

Benefits

• Full package of benefits for employees including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs.
• Annual discretionary bonus eligibility.
• Incentive program participation eligibility.