CVP; Continuous Improvement Sr. Sustainability Leader

Location Designation:
Hybrid - 3 days per week

Sr. Sustainability Leaders (SSLs) help to evolve and mature the Continuous Improvement (CI) system in partnership with the business across New York Life to drive improvements in employee engagement, customer satisfaction, productivity, quality, sustained change and innovation. To achieve this, the SSL will lead a matrixed team of Sustainability Leaders, who work with the business to identify opportunities to assess the health of the CI system, improve how we work, evolve the tools and capabilities, and coach teams to use them.

SSLs will support one or two business lines, depending on the size, to gain deep understanding of the business and how CI drives improvements within the business.

You will have the opportunity to build leadership skills, shape the organization and its processes, and advance your career at New York Life. You will also benefit from exposure to senior leaders within the organization, including C‑level executives, build deep relationships in the business units you support, and hone written and oral communication skills. Most importantly, you will play a critical role in shaping the future of New York Life and improving our performance.

• CI Management System support
  • Deepen the adoption of CI principles, systems, and tools through coaching
  • Ensure teams have the necessary training and skills, and reinforce behaviors with business leaders
  • Lead a team of Sustainability Leaders on their day‑to‑day support of business teams and execution of improvement plans
  • Support Business Sustainability Leaders in developing systems that connect strategy, objectives, goals, and metrics to problem solving across the business
  • Work closely with deployment teams to transition support of CI coaching as they complete deployment and move into sustainability
• Assessment
  • Create output and facilitate improvement plans in conjunction with business leaders and Sustainability Leaders
  • Measure the CI maturity of the business units you support
• Skill Building
  • Coach department leaders, managers, team leads, and Sustainability Leaders on the CI management system
  • Support leader walk activities with HR and finance senior leaders
• Impact achievement and reporting
  • Influence aspiration setting to continually raise the ambition, targets, and vision of CI at NYL
  • Drive incremental value
• Continuous improvement
  • Change behaviors at all levels by influencing stakeholders and raising awareness around current ways of working and opportunities to improve
  • Help develop and deploy the next evolution of CI capabilities to reach the next level of excellence
  • Support advanced and cross‑team problem‑solving sessions
  • Facilitate a Community of Practice with other Sr. Sustainability Leaders and Business Sustainability Leaders to evolve CI tools, share best practices, and maintain standards across the organization

• BS/BA degree or equivalent
• Track record of leading and developing others, with a passion for coaching
• 5+ years experience with Continuous Improvement, Lean Management, or Operational Excellence
• 6+ years of relevant experience in coaching and team management
• Experience leading in a matrix environment
• Passion for and ability to drive change in how we work at New York Life
• Curiosity and openness to learn new ways of working
• Ability to thrive when faced with ambiguity and to lean into uncomfortable situations for growth
• Ability to influence stakeholders, including direct reports, front‑line employees, and leaders
• Low self‑orientation; focus on helping leaders win and achieve results via CI
• Impact‑oriented; bias to action, entrepreneurial spirit, and drive to pursue improvement opportunities
• Strong problem‑solving skills, including analytical thinking and data synthesis for recommendations
• Systems‑level thinking to connect across processes and organizations
• Proven track record of successful project management and managing multiple deliverables against timelines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, tailored to convey complex concepts and facilitate training
• Remote work expected; will travel to affiliated offices roughly once monthly for 2–3 days for training and…