Institutional Retirement Solutions Technology Capabilities and Strategies Leader (Hybrid)

*At Securian Financial the internal position title is Engineering Sr Mgr.*

Position Overview

The Institutional Retirement Solutions (IRS) Technology Leader is a business-focused technology leader accountable for shaping and advancing the technology and data strategy that enables growth differentiation and operational excellence across Securian Financials Institutional Retirement Solutions business.
This role is hands-on and personally accountable for developing and executing the IRS technology strategic plan and data strategy advancing the use of AI and emerging technologies and delivering enterprise and market-specific initiatives that drive measurable business value. The leader will partner closely with IRS business product actuarial investment operations and enterprise technology teams to modernize capabilities supporting Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Institutional Financial Products and adjacent retirement solutions.
Operating at the intersection of business strategy technology execution and innovation this leader brings understanding of the institutional retirement and insurance landscape and translates market opportunity into modern scalable and resilient technology solutions. This role is designed for a leader who combines strategic thinking with active execution and leads an evolving and growing team of technology professionals. The position reports to the Head of Institutional Retirement Solutions Technology and acts as an enterprise and strategic partner with both the IRS and Enterprise Technology teams.

Key Responsibilities

Technology Strategy and Planning

• Owns and actively develops the Institutional Retirement Solutions technology strategy ensuring alignment with business growth objectives enterprise priorities and long-term market evolution.

• Creates and maintains a multi-year IRS technology strategic plan and roadmap inclusive of core platforms data AI and emerging capabilities required to compete and win in institutional retirement markets.

• Drives strategic analysis solution framing vendor analysis/selection and partners closely on business case development for priority initiativesbringing technology insight directly into business decision-making.

• Partners with IRS business leadership to translate PRT and institutional product strategies into executable technology and data capabilities.

• Serves as a visible technology thought partner within the IRS organization using business-oriented language and outcomes to influence direction and investment.

• Leads technology architecture and capability discussions to advance/mature capabilities bringing together people process technology and data enablers in partnership with architects engineers and product leaders to drive business value.

Platform Data AI & Emerging Capabilities Innovation and Modernization

• Partners on the development and execution of the IRS data strategy including analytics reporting data governance and integration across actuarial underwriting investment finance and operations domains.

• Advances the use of AI analytics and automation to enhance pricing risk assessment operational efficiency client experience and decision support.

• Identifies pilots and scales emerging technologies that create competitive advantage in institutional retirement markets.

• Partners with enterprise data architecture and security teams to ensure solutions are compliant resilient and privacy-by-design.

• Owns the end-to-end lifecycle of IRS technology capabilities from strategic concept and business case development through delivery adoption value realization and eventual modernization or retirement.

• Collaborates with enterprise architecture and shared services to ensure IRS needs are represented and integrated into broader enterprise capabilities.

Market & Enterprise Execution

• Drives execution of both enterprise-wide initiatives and IRS-specific market solutions in partnership with Product Delivery/Enablement business and shared services leaders ensuring delivery of tangible value into the business.

• Sponsors and leads cross-functional initiatives that improve speed to market scalability and ease of doing business for market and internal partners.

• Acts as a senior escalation point for IRS technology deliveryremoving impediments managing risk and ensuring accountability for outcomes.

• Ensures technology solutions operate safely securely and reliably with appropriate service levels resiliency and controls consistent with industry expectations.

Leadership Talent Development and Partnerships

• Leads and develops a small team of engineers aligned to IRS priorities fostering a high-performance accountable and inclusive culture.

• Fosters organizational depth succession readiness and talent development to support sustained growth while growing team collaboration and high performance.

• Balances internal talent development with effective use of vendors global delivery partners and third-party platforms.

• Builds strong trusted relationships across business technology actuarial investment and operations leadersexerting influence through expertise credibility and outcomes.

• Partners early with business leaders to evaluate and enable third-party and hybrid delivery models as the business enters new markets leading build-vs-buy-vs-partner decisions and the implementation of scalable sustainable solutions/delivery models.

Required Qualifications:

• Experience leading technology strategy and delivery within insurance institutional retirement pension risk transfer asset management or related regulated financial services environments.

• Demonstrated success developing and executing business-aligned technology and data strategies with personal accountability for outcomes.

• Strong understanding of institutional retirement solutions including PRT defined benefit pension dynamics or institutional financial products.

• Proven ability to apply data analytics and AI to drive business insight operational efficiency and competitive advantage.

• Strong technical acumen with the ability to guide decisions related to architecture integration security scalability and resiliency.

• Experience leading complex initiatives across enterprise and market-specific contexts.

• Demonstrated success leading high-impact teams and influencing outcomes in matrixed environments including building strong internal and external partnerships

• Proven experience evaluating and implementing third-party and hybrid technology solutions including partnering with external providers assessing build-vs-buy-vs-partner options and enabling scalable delivery models that support growth and operational sustainability

• Ability to communicate effectively with executive business actuarial and technology stakeholders using business-first language.

• Comfort operating in ambiguity balancing strategic thinking with hands-on leadership and execution.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience directly supporting Pension Risk Transfer institutional pricing underwriting or actuarial technology capabilities.

• Background in modern engineering practices including Agile delivery cloud-based platforms automation and DevOps.

• Experience modernizing legacy insurance or retirement platforms while maintaining operational stability.

• Demonstrated external awareness of institutional retirement market trends competitor capabilities and emerging technology applications.

#LI-hybrid **This position will be in a hybrid working arrangement.**

Securian Financial believes in hybrid work as an integral part of our culture. Associates get the benefit of working both virtually and in our offices. If youre in a commutable distance (90 minutes) youll join us 3 days each week in our offices to collaborate and build relationships. Our policy allows flexibility for the reality of business and personal schedules.

For more information regarding Securians benefits please review our Benefits page.

This information is not intended to explain all the provisions of coverage available under these all cases the plan document dictates coverage and provisions.

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