Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week 

Director of Digital Design Strategy and Innovation 

Summary:

• Full-time
• Based in New York City
• Hybrid | Onsite 3x/week (Tues-Thurs)
• Marketing, Product & Design

What makes us stand out:

As an award-winning Fortune 100 Company, diversity and humanity are deeply rooted values in our company culture. We are vocal advocates for a supportive and inclusive work culture that inspires our employees to do meaningful, life-changing work. We believe there is a wealth of knowledge we can learn from one another, and that together, we can enact real-world change.

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. If you're ready to channel your creativity and strategic insight into an environment that values impact, we can't wait to welcome you to our team.

“Having built my entire career at New York Life, I have a deep appreciation for our history of providing financial security and peace of mind to our policy owners and clients.” – Craig DeSanto, Chair, President & CEO of New York Life

About the role:

New York Life is embarking on an ambitious journey to deliver industry-leading digital experiences for our customers and agents/advisors. This is a transformative role where creativity meets purpose. Beyond concepting, this role is about the strategy and execution of digital product design strategies, concepts, and visions that inspire key partners across the organization to new heights of what’s possible to deliver on NYL’s mission and strategy.

We are seeking a visionary Director of Digital Design Strategy and Innovation to lead transformative design initiatives that elevate our customer and financial advisor/agent experiences. This role will drive innovative design strategies that connect users with intuitive, engaging, and seamless digital solutions. By collaborating across product, marketing, technology, and design teams, this leader will shape design practices that enhance customer and agent journeys, strengthen brand trust, and improve business outcomes.

What you’ll do:

Design Strategy Development:

• Develop human-centered and data-driven digital product design strategies for 0-1 and 1-n digital product execution, enhancements, innovation, and strategic concept validation to deliver on NYL business strategies and OKRs
• Connect digital design strategies for end-to-end cohesive and seamless experiences across departments and digital products
• Partner with product, technology, business, program and other leaders to envision seamless design experiences across a range of digital product experiences for consumer/customers, agents/advisors and other priority users.
• Deliver design artifacts such as wireframes, interactive prototypes, and visual concepts that translate strategic objectives into impactful experiences
• Develop scalable design strategy frameworks, guidelines, and principles to ensure seamlessness and cohesion across products.
• Lead efforts to integrate emerging design tools and techniques, including generative AI, to rapidly accelerate design innovation and especially rapid prototyping
• Develop and deliver compelling storytelling and visual communications/materials to convey design strategies to all levels of NYL stakeholders
• Design, deliver, and scale design workshops with stakeholders (e.g., product designers, product managers, etc.) to develop, iterate, and align on design strategy

Innovation & Emerging Technology:

• Identify and experiment with cutting-edge design tools and frameworks, including AI-enhanced design systems, to push creative boundaries and accelerate concept validation.
• Stay up to date on advances, use cases, and applications of GenAI (e.g., agentic AI)
• Foster an experimentation culture, leveraging design-driven frameworks to rapidly test and iterate on new digital concepts
• Champion the adoption of intelligent design practices that personalize experiences, improve engagement, and simplify complex digital interactions.
• Utilize insights from user testing, research, and data analysis to refine design strategies and enhance product outcomes.
• Partner with UX research and other research and data teams to develop scalable approaches for testing and validating innovative design concepts to minimize risk and optimize outcomes.

Leadership & Collaboration:

• Lead a matrixed team of designers, agencies, and contractors for the purposes of delivery design strategies, concepts, and other artifacts
• Influence and inspire cross-functional teams to embrace design as a strategic driver of growth and customer loyalty.
• Collaborate with business leaders, IT teams, and marketing stakeholders to align design strategies with broader organizational objectives.
• Develop and deliver training programs that democratize design thinking, design innovation, and collaboration

Portfolio **You must include a portfolio or case studies as a document or link with your resume when applying. Please DO NOT use file sharing software such as Drop Box or Google Docs as we cannot access them.**

What you bring: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Design, Human-Centered Design, or related field; equivalent experience considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in digital design leadership, innovation strategy, or product design
• Minimum of 3 years leading design agencies and/or contractors/freelancers
• Proven experience aligning design strategy with business objectives to drive measurable outcomes.
• Strong background in user-centered design, accessibility, and UX best practices.
• Familiarity with AI-driven design tools and their application in enhancing digital experiences.
• Excellent communication and leadership skills with a track record of influencing diverse teams and senior stakeholders

Pay Transparency

Overtime eligible: Exempt

Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes 

Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual’s experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.

Generous benefits, including:

• Flexible work arrangements: We’re blending the best parts of both worlds so you can maximize your work experience and gain a better work-life balance
• Time away: Generous time off plans, holiday schedules, and summer Fridays
• Extensive health coverage: Medical, dental, vision coverage, and bonus flexible spending accounts
• Caring support for new parents: Fertility treatments and support, eight weeks paid leave for all parents whether through birth, adoption, foster care, or surrogacy, total parental leave for up to six months, and back-up childcare options
• Opportunities to prosper professionally and career coaching: Career development, including professional training and development programs, and tuition reimbursement
• Wellness benefits: On-site amenities, including gym facilities, cafes, and wellness centers
• Explore our full set of benefits

Working at New York Life:

• Award-winning work culture: We believe that guiding leadership, inclusive values, and deep connections are the backbone of strong communities. That’s why we’ve been named a Top 50 Learning & Development Teams award winner and one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies.
• Stability meets the thrill of innovation: Named #1 Employer for Tech Talent in Insurance Industry (The Everest Group).
• Do good work and do well by others: We received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index.
• Flex work models: We believe that collaborative thinking can bring forth meaningful real-world change. That’s why we’ve invested in our workforce and our work culture.  We also offer flexible work models (two days in the office) as part of our continued commitment to supporting our employees to do their best work.
• Purpose-driven & a long-standing legacy in stability: For over 175 years, this commitment to helping others has been at the heart of New York Life. Our purpose-driven mission attracts like-minded talent: people who are passionate about seeing their careers prosper while also doing good for others. Our continued investment and commitment to our company values has proven incredibly successful for our clients, our workforce, and our company.
• Backed by a world-renowned legacy of giving back: New York Life is committed to improving local communities through a culture of employee giving and volunteerism, supported by the Foundation.
• Our diversity promise: It’s our mission to advocate for the financial security and success of people in every community. This is why we view diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as guiding principles in our brand and our culture. We’ve also been named one of the top 50 companies in Forbes’ 2024 America’s Best Employers for Diversity.
• Proud partners of NYY, MLB, and USSF: As the official partner of the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball, and US Soccer Federation, you may have the opportunity to work with major sports brands to deliver online and in-stadium experiences for NYL agents and consumers.

Pay Transparency

Salary Range: $119,000-$170,000 

Overtime eligible: Exempt 

Discretionary bonus eligible: Yes 

Sales bonus eligible: No 

Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual’s experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.

Please note: This role requires FINRA licensed and/or FINRA Associated Person pre-hire fingerprinting.

Our Benefits

We provide a full package of benefits for employees – and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work. Click here to discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace is fundamental to who we are and how we serve our communities. We have a longstanding commitment to creating an environment where individuals can contribute their best and succeed together. This foundation is rooted in our core values of humanity and integrity, ensuring that every employee feels valued and supported. By embracing a broad range of perspectives and experiences, we achieve greater success and fulfill our promise of providing financial security and peace of mind to families across all communities. Click here to learn more about New York Life’s leadership in this space.​

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 the Foundation. We're proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. To learn more about career opportunities at New York Life, please visit the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com.

​Visit our LinkedIn to see how our employees and agents are leading the industry and impacting communities.

Visit our Newsroom to learn more about how our company is constantly evolving to meet our clients' and employees’ needs.

Job Requisition ID: 93454