Direct Summer Internship Program - Insurance Operations

NYL Direct Insurance Operations Internship

Shape your future with a dynamic internship experience at New York Life. Your internship journey is designed to challenge you through hands-on work experience that will equip you with valuable skills you can use anywhere. You will build your network through collaboration and connection with talented interns and experienced employees through team-building activities, mentorship programs, and social events. By the end of your internship, you'll be equipped with new skills, meaningful business experience, and a network that will propel you forward in your career journey.

New York Life Direct is an industry leader in direct-to-consumer life insurance, delivering streamlined coverage directly to individuals. Insurance Operations for NYL Direct is based in Tampa, FL and includes the Direct Call Center, Claims Operations, Policy Administration, and Underwriting Operations. Our team of 300+ employees supports more than two million direct-to-consumer policy owners. Our mission is simple and powerful: "Do the right thing for all customers, every day."

Beginning in June and ending in August, this 10-week summer internship program provides hands-on experience within the Strategy & Support organization of Insurance Operations. This team enables our production areas through training and procedures, quality assurance, reporting and analytics, fraud prevention, customer insights, digital customer service capabilities, project management, process improvement, and strategic planning.

This hybrid role includes in-office collaboration in our Tampa office Tuesday through Thursday and provides meaningful interaction with senior leaders, cross-functional partners, and fellow interns. Interns will have the opportunity to contribute to real business priorities, develop solutions, and see how their work can improve the employee and customer experience.

What You'll Do:

As a NYL Direct Insurance Operations Intern, you will contribute to operational excellence through project management, business analysis, process improvement, technology, and strategy initiatives that directly impact customer experience and operational performance.

During the summer, you will:

• Support the planning, tracking, and execution of operational projects and strategic initiatives, with opportunities to own defined deliverables.
• Conduct research and analyze workflows, process data, customer insights, and performance metrics to identify trends, root causes, and opportunities for improvement.
• Evaluate existing business processes and recommend opportunities to simplify work, reduce manual effort, improve efficiency, and enhance the customer and employee experience.
• Contribute to digital transformation, customer service optimization, and other strategic priorities across Insurance Operations.
• Explore, design, prototype, and test AI-enabled solutions—including custom GPTs, AI agents, workflow automations, or similar emerging technologies—to streamline processes, improve knowledge access, support decision-making, and enhance employee productivity.
• Apply Generative AI and other emerging technologies responsibly to support research, analysis, process documentation, ideation, and business deliverables while adhering to applicable company policies and data protection standards.
• Develop presentations, executive summaries, business cases, process maps, and stakeholder updates that translate analysis into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Utilize analytical and reporting tools such as Excel (including pivot tables, charts, and data modeling) and visualization platforms such as Micro Strategy or Tableau to generate insights and communicate findings.
• Collaborate with team members and cross-functional partners to understand business challenges, gather requirements, evaluate potential solutions, and support implementation.
• Participate in professional development workshops, networking events, mentorship opportunities, and fireside chats with senior leaders.
• Partner with team members on case studies and special projects, culminating in a final presentation or solution demonstration that highlights findings, recommendations, and business impact.

What You'll Bring:

• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.
• Ability to translate data, research, and complex information into clear, actionable insights and recommendations.
• Comfort working with data, metrics, and reporting tools.
• Curiosity about emerging technologies, including Generative AI, automation, and their potential application to business and operational challenges.
• Ability to learn new technologies and tools quickly; prior experience building AI solutions is a plus but not required.
• Ability to collaborate effectively in a team-oriented, cross-functional environment.
• Initiative, intellectual curiosity, adaptability, and a continuous-improvement mindset.
• Interest in operations, strategy, project management, technology,…