About The JobVariable is an innovation team within a Fortune 100 company. Our mission is to experiment with new technologies and ideas to understand the future. We are committed to encouraging a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment where innovation thrives. We drive impact at scale.
The Innovation Strategist is an entrepreneurial who leads work at the intersection of strategy and execution. Build the tools and experiences that empower our company, advisors, and help our clients thrive. Work with a talented team of engineers, designers, data scientists and financial experts to define product vision, strategy and deliver experiences to enable clients to achieve financial security.
What You'll Do
Set Product Vision: Collaboratively define and communicate a clear vision for innovation experiments and new solutions, grounded in business strategy, customer insight, and emerging technology opportunity
Develop Roadmap: Lead the development and socialization of a program roadmap that reflects stakeholder priorities, strategic bets, and a realistic path to value
Define and Track KPIs: Establish measures of success for innovation experiments and use outcome data to validate strategic direction and inform go or no-go decisions
Validate the Right Solution: Drive the discovery and definition phase of innovation programs, using research, stakeholder input, and experimentation to validate that proposed solutions address the right problems before committing to build
Gather and Synthesize Requirements: Lead cross-functional work to identify, pressure-test, and prioritize requirements, translating ambiguous opportunity spaces into well-scoped program definitions
Stakeholdering: Build and manage relationships with executive partners, business leaders, and technology stakeholders, proactively bringing strategic recommendations and leading conversations that shape program direction
Executive Communication: Develop and deliver executive-ready briefings, narratives, and decision-support materials that make complex innovation work accessible and actionable for senior audiences
User Insights: Anchor program decisions in qualitative and quantitative research, customer insight, and experimentation results, and synthesize findings into a clear strategic point of view and working with design partners to ensure concepts are grounded in this insight.
Facilitate Ceremonies: Facilitate daily scrums, sprint planning sessions, sprint reviews, and retrospectives, continuously improving how the team operates
Emerging Technology: Evaluate AI and other emerging technologies for strategic fit and enterprise applicability, leveraging a working knowledge of how these capabilities are evolving
What You'll Bring
Bachelor's degree
5+ Years of prior experience with at least 4 working in a Product Management Role or innovation consulting, with agile team experience
Knowledge Preferred: formal business analyst, engineering or testing experience, knowledge of the financial services industry, comfortable working in ambiguity, pressure-testing assumptions, and validating the right solution before committing to build
Strong executive communication and storytelling skills, with experience developing materials for and presenting to senior leadership
Working knowledge of AI and its practical enterprise applications, with an understanding of how capabilities are evolving and where the technology is heading
Must have demonstrated cross functional work in previous experience along with strong communication skills, time management, project management skills, business acumen and high self-awareness/EQ
Demonstrated previous research experience, influence skills, initial leadership exposure, ability to translate product requirements into technical requirements, and work in ambiguity and solutioning
Solves complex problems; take a new perspective on existing solutions; exercise judgment based on the analysis of multiple sources of information
Skills You Have
Cross Functional Partnering & Planning - Facilitates collaboration, communication, coordination, and planning with individuals and teams from different functions within the organization, and who have different areas of expertise, to achieve common goals
Strategic Thinking - Uses critical thinking and knowledge of business demand to plan, design, prioritize and execute high impact initiatives and programs
Attention to Detail - Focuses on specific details to spot and correct errors in advance of them being found and surpass quality expectations. Performs work with thorough proofreading for presentation, content, accuracy, and overall quality
Adaptive Communication - Formulates strategies to be used to convey complex information about services, products, systems, or processes to targeted audiences; communicates and liaises between technical and non-technical audiences
Analytical Thinking - Organizes and compares various aspects of a situation to comprehend and identify key or underlying complex issues through the use of quantitative data and analysis; leverages strong business acumen, problem solving, and interpersonal skills to think critically about situations from multiple perspectives and consistently seeks ways to improve processes
Customer Centricity - Applies a customer first mindset to design and continuously improve solutions, systems, processes, and services that support enterprise strategy, impact critical business outcomes, and drive organizational success
#LI-Hybrid
Compensation Range:
Pay Range - Start:
$136,800.00
Pay Range - End:
$205,200.00
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.
Teamwork (NM) - Advanced, End-User Advocacy (NM) - Intermediate, Customer Centricity (NM) - Advanced, Cross Functional Partnering & Planning (NM) - Advanced, User Analysis (NM) - Advanced, Inclusive Design (NM) - Advanced, Continuous Improvement (NM) - Advanced, Information Architecture (NM) - Intermediate, Professional Curiosity (NM) - Advanced (Inactive), Strategic Thinking (NM) - Intermediate, Analytical Thinking (NM) - Intermediate, Creating Mockups (NM) - Intermediate, User Interface Design (NM) - Advanced, User-Centered Design Process (NM) - Advanced, Coaching & Mentoring (NM) - Intermediate, Attention to Detail (NM) - Advanced, Divergent Thinking (NM) - Intermediate (Inactive), Adaptive Communication (NM) - Advanced, Usability Heuristics (NM) - Advanced, Governance (NM) - Intermediate, Product Design (NM) - Advanced
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.
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Flexible work schedules
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Concierge service
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Comprehensive benefits
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Employee resource groups
