Professional Diversity Network Looking for Vice President-Continuous Improvement, Head of Sustainability at New York, NY Full Time

Location Designation:Hybrid – 3 days per week

When you join New York Life, you’re joining a company that values career development, collaboration, innovation, and inclusiveness. We want employees to feel proud about being part of a company that is committed to doing the right thing. You’ll have the opportunity to grow your career while developing personally and professionally through various resources and programs. New York Life is a relationship-based company and appreciates how both virtual and in-person interactions support our culture.

Purpose Of The Role

As part of the CI journey, the CI Central Team will ensure that business units have the knowledge and capabilities in place to sustain the management system that forms the basis of the Continuous Improvement way of working.

The Head of Sustainability is responsible for architecting and supervising the implementation of an enterprise-wide approach to sustaining the Continuous Improvement way of working, including developing enterprise- and BU-wide policy deployment and problem-solving capabilities, coaching and training Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders in their roles, coordinating the execution of sustainability assessments, partnering with the Head of Deployment, HR, and business unit/ functional area leaders to identify Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders, partnering with the Finance function to ensure gains from sustainability are verified, and maintain CI external relationships. As a senior member of the CI Central team, this person will also be an advocate for CI in their interactions with staff and leadership throughout the organization and be responsible for building interest and buy-in for the CI transformation throughout the company.

Develop enterprise- and BU-level policy deployment and problem solving capabilities

• Partner with Senior Sustainability Leaders and Business Unit Leaders to ensure a cascading set of metrics, targets and performance dialogues
• Partner with Senior Sustainability Leaders and Business Unit Leaders to establish a cascading root cause problem-solving system
• Partner with Senior Sustainability Leaders and Business Unit Leaders to educate BU leaders on policy deployment and establish a policy deployment process where demanded by the business
• Support the Head of Operations in coaching the EC on implementing regular performance dialogues using visual boards, metrics and targets; root cause problem solving; and educating the EC on the policy deployment process

Coach and train Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders in their roles

• Partner with the Head of the CI Academy to develop a standard onboarding training program for new Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders
• Supervise Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders in the creation of the WILOs
• Coach Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders in the execution of their WILOs
• Provide regular feedback and coaching to Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders
• Create and maintain skills matrixes for Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders
• Provide input into Sustainability Leader performance reviews and compensation decisions with local business leaders

Coordinate the execution of sustainability assessments

• Partner with the Head of CI Academy to develop a standard approach and methodology for conducting Continuous Improvement sustainability assessments at the tier 1-2 levels
• Refresh the approach every 6 months during the initial years and then every 12 months beyond
• Partner with the Head of Deployment and business leaders to establish a quarterly assessment cadence across the Enterprise
• Partner with Sustainability Leaders at the local level to support specific assessments by scheduling necessary assessors. When Senior Sustainability Leaders are present, ensure they are providing similar support
• Supervise co-creation of 100-day plans between the Sustainability Leader and business leaders and ensure plans are responsive to gaps surfaced in the assessment

Partner with HR, Head of Deployment, and business leaders to identify Sustainability Leaders and Senior Sustainability Leaders

• Maintain job descriptions for Sustainability and Senior Sustainability Leaders
• Determine initially required sustainability resources at the start of a slot
• Engage the Head of Deployment, HR, and business leaders at the start of a slot to identify potential Sustainability Leaders, ideally among the Local Change Agents on the Slot
• Engage the Head of Deployment, HR, and business leaders to ensure initial Sustainability Leaders are hired no later than at the conclusion of month 3 of an initial deployment within a value stream

Partner with Finance function to ensure gains from sustainability are verified

• Work closely with designated functional support from Finance function to ensure gains from sustainability are made transparent, validated, and documented

Maintain external relationships

• Ensure the company maintains a robust network within the broader external CI practitioner community
• Ensure the company conducts regular go-and-see visits at other leading companies (including, but not limited to other leading financial institutions) for senior and mid-level business leaders as well as members of the community of practice
• Ensure the company hosts other financial institutions as a way of building morale and ensuring best practices are sustained

Build executive awareness & buy-in

• Build credibility of and promote CI amongst organizational leaders up to and including the EC through the delivery of immersion sessions, formal and informal executive communication
• Create and maintain plan to develop awareness at the executive level and to generate interest before, during and after the transformation
• Coach executive sponsors and slot leaders on role modelling and CI Leadership through formal CI Leadership training programs
• Coordinate immersion sessions (i.e. go-and-see visits) to other leading Lean companies

Key Linkages

• Head of CI
• Head of Deployment
• Head of CI Academy
• Human Resources (Learning and Development)

Experience

• Exposure to CI or similar transformation programs applying lean techniques
• Experience managing multiple large-scale projects using a mixture of internal and external resources
• Experience managing influencing and coaching stakeholders at all levels
• Team leadership experience preferred

Salary Range

Overtime eligible:Exempt

Discretionary bonus eligible:Yes

Sales bonus eligible:No

Click here to learn more about our benefits. Starting salary is dependent upon several factors including previous work experience, specific industry experience, and/or skills required.

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 theFoundation.We’re proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. We invite you to bring your talents to New York Life, so we can continue to help families and businesses “Be Good At Life.” To learn more, please visit LinkedIn, our Newsroom and the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com.

Job Requisition ID:90032

PDN-9b4aac5d-e978-48df-bccc-c66c3f3a633f