VP, Broker and Communication Firm Relationship Management

Position: VP, Broker and Communication Firm Relationship Management

Job Location: Flexible, USA

Department:

The Group Benefits organization is responsible for the strategic direction, growth and management of MetLife's industry leading U.S. employee benefits business. Our sales force works directly with customers or through brokers, exchanges, and other third parties to distribute our broad range of Group Life, Dental, Vision, Group Disability, Global Benefits, Total Absence Management, Group Property & Casualty, Accident, Hospital Indemnity, Critical Illness and Legal Plan products and services. Group Benefits sells a broad portfolio of insurance solutions to employers and other eligible groups helping to make MetLife the largest provider of employee benefits in the United States.

The Role:

This role is responsible for focusing on maximizing the distribution of Group Benefits through established Brokerage & Consulting firms and maximizing the distribution of Third Party Technology firms – in particular Communication Firms. This role is the leader of the entire Product Director Organization, as well as competitive Intelligence (36 individuals, 20 of whom are sales executives on sales plans). The role has key relationships with our external marketplace – i.e., brokers, and consultants and the practice leaders at these consulting firms rely on the individual in this role for sales and operational related questions. This role will now be expanded to include the national broker relationship and communication firm team so that we have a single organization overseeing the holistic relationships with these firms, adding another direct report and 6 indirect reports. This role will continue to have direct accountability for assisting our sales partners with hitting their relevant sales plans for the following products: Dental, Disability, FML, Total Absent Management, Life (Basic, Supplemental and AD&D), Accident, Hospital, Critical Illness, Whole Life, and Executive Benefits (GSI and GVUL/GUL). Since this role was last evaluated, this responsibility has expanded to several new products – Pet Insurance, HS&SA products, Whole Life & new capabilities available as a result of the Versant acquisition. This role also has a key partnership with our Product and Pricing teams for the products listed. This leader and the team serve as the voice to the product on behalf of the internal and external marketplace. They provide feedback from the external – where are we losing, where are we winning, and what trends are we hearing about. From an internal perspective, the Product Director team is the single point of contact for all product specific issues, concerns, and expertise, inclusive of training needs. This role, as well as the Product Directors are also an integral part of all major projects and programs that involve the products – such as Small Business Solutions, Disability Evolution, A&H Enhancements, launch of whole life, and go to market strategy for Versant, HS&SA & Pet.

Key Relationships:

• Reports to: Vice President, Product COE
• 8 direct reports including Broker Relationship Managers, Communication Firm Relationship Managers, Firm Relationship Coordinators

Key Stakeholders:

• National Accounts & Regional Market Leadership
• VP Communications
• VP HR Technology
• Product
• UW & Service

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop & secure deep understanding of each firm’s strategy including technology/digital and wellness.
• Develop a unique MetLife business plan to reflect partner strategy and drive execution cross functionality:
  • Dependencies with underwriting, product, service, technology, legal
  • Tight coordination with NA & Regional Sales & Strategy
  • Tight coordination with VP HR Technology
  • Alignment & commitment with each firm
  • Quarterly benchmarks, reporting and action planning
  • Develop National business plans that can be executed and driven at the local level
• Influence senior leaders to ensure a holistic approach for prioritization, collaboration, transparency, and alignment of initiatives impacting key partners
• Create trusted relationships with key partners that take a long-term view of business opportunities in driving MetLife’s success
• Proactively create opportunities to work across both internal and external boundaries to develop innovative solutions to meet partner’s needs
• Maximize distribution of Group Benefits through established emerging Third-Party Technology Firms, with a focus on communication firms. Develop a deep understanding of these firms and create a strategy specific to MetLife’s offerings and what differentiates MetLife from competitors.
• Responsible for all metrics for both Broker and Communication Firm Financials – Sales, PFOs, Earnings
• Assist in the development of and oversee the execution of strategies targeted to the center of excellence teams within each firm. Work in close coordination with sales and the product COE team in these efforts

Essential Business Experience and Technical Skills:

Required:

• 10 years of Broker facing roles within Group Insurance
• Deep working relationship with Large Broker Firms (i.e., Mercer, Aon, WTW)
• Intimate knowledge of MetLife key leaders, Products, Sales, Service, UW and Legal and ability to work at leadership levels to drive decisions
• Deep understanding of the end-to-end sales and implementation processes including enrollment, implementation, and connections through 3rd parties, including our internal & external capabilities
• Thorough understanding of marketplace trends
• Strong financial acumen around product earnings
• Ability to direct and motivate team of market-facing relationship managers
• 30%-50% Travel
• Life and Health license