At EMC, you’ll put your skills to good use as an important member of our team. You can count on gaining valuable experience while contributing to the company’s success. EMC strives to hire and retain the best people by engaging, developing and rewarding employees.
*The ideal candidate for this role would live within 1 hour of the Des Monies Metro*
Leads the development and execution of innovative strategies that align with EMC’s business objectives and drive differentiation in the marketplace. Creates sustained value for EMC, its agents, policyholders, and its team members. Learns continuously about EMC, its customers, external trends, and technological developments. Manages and oversees the innovation portfolio, ensuring the effective implementation of processes that deliver measurable ROI. Collaborates with business units, EMC leaders, and external partners to foster a culture of innovation and continuous improvement. Facilitates partnerships with accelerators and start-up incubators to maximize value for EMC and its stakeholders. Acts as a trusted advisor, stays abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovative business models to educate and guide the organization. Ensures that innovation initiatives are aligned with the strategic goals of the department and the organization, contributing to the multiyear strategic plan and annual objectives. Leads and manages a team while simultaneously owning and driving a specific portfolio of innovation initiatives.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
Idea Life Cycle Management
Ensures that innovation initiatives are aligned with the strategic goals of the department and the organization, contributing to the multiyear strategic plan and annual objectives
Identifies innovation opportunities within the EMC’s appetite and recommends innovative solutions to address business challenges and opportunities
Implements a disciplined approach to assessing problems and potential solutions, providing formal recommendations to strategy partners on whether to pursue these opportunities
Leads and develops teams on idea management, ensuring efficient workflow from ideation to implementation, reporting, and clear communication
Tracks the progress of idea implementation, evaluates outcomes, and report findings, while holding other business units accountable for delivery
Forges and maintains strategic partnerships with business units to gain a deep understanding of their strategic plans and objectives
Organizes and leads events to foster a collaboration to brainstorm, prototype, and test new ideas and validate business value
Leverages low code solutions to rapidly develop and deploy innovative solutions
External Partnerships:
Leads the development and execution of innovation strategies that align with EMC’s business objectives and drive differentiation in the marketplace
Establishes and nurtures strategic partnerships with accelerators such as Global Insurance Accelerator and Broker Tech Ventures (BTV) and other external innovation ecosystems, ensuring these partnerships deliver measurable value
Oversees the end-to-end investment process, including negotiating terms, structuring deals, and collaborating with internal stakeholders to ensure seamless integration of startups within the innovation portfolio
Leads the process with internal stakeholders to leverage external partnerships via proof of concept (POC) and pilots for mutual benefit and strategic alignment
Promotes collaboration and knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries, integrating external inputs and sharing internal innovations with partners to maximize impact
Oversees, considers and approves budget for innovative pilots and POCs
Leads cross-functional teams to design and implement POCs and pilots, including with Generative AI
Validates hypotheses by evaluating the outcomes of POCs and pilots, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and organizational goals
Works with Digital Product Management and Information Technology to ensure seamless integration of POCs into production environments, addressing technical challenges and ensuring priority and scalability
Business and market insights:
Monitors industry trends and emerging technologies to identify opportunities for innovation and growth
Analyzes market data and competitor activities to inform strategic decision-making
Provides insights and recommendations on potential impacts and opportunities related to industry trends
Develops and maintains a strategic and trend intelligence framework to support proactive decision-making and long-term planning
Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to gather and disseminate strategic intelligence
Ensures the organization remains agile and responsive to changes in the industry landscape.
Applies knowledge of business and the marketplace to advance organization goals
Builds culture and develops team members while overseeing Innovation department:
Collaborates with team members to establish performance goals and monitors status, conducts performance reviews, and provides coaching
Interviews, hires, and recommends salary adjustments for team members
Resolves disciplinary issues, reviews results, action plans, and progress
Develops team expertise and completes succession planning, including identifying talent and implementing development plans for critical positions
Supports diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives
Fosters an innovative culture, including supporting new ideas and providing guidance on potential changes
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
The education and experience below are required for the job unless labelled as preferred:
Bachelor’s degree in business management or a related field
Master’s degree in business administration or related field preferred
Ten years of business transformation experience in insurance, banking or financial services, including at least six years of developing and implementing innovation processes experience
Prior leadership experience
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES
Advanced understanding of innovation and its application to business
Strong knowledge of insurance marketplace preferred
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Exceptional attention to detail, organizational, and time management skills
Excellent analytical, investigation, and problem-solving abilities
Strong business acumen and presentation skills
Demonstrated exceptional ability to influence stakeholders from all levels
Strong interpersonal skills to work effectively with internal and external customers and to foster relationships
Strong analytical, investigation and problem-solving abilities
Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality
Our employment practices are in accordance with the laws that prohibit discrimination due to race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, religion, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, active military status, citizenship status, marital status or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local laws.
All of our locations are tobacco free including in company vehicles.