Director Presale Operations

The next part of your journey is right around the corner — with The Standard.

A genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others is the foundation for everything we do. With a customer-first mindset and an intentional focus on building strong teams, we’ve been able to uphold our legacy of financial stability while investing in new, innovative technologies that support the needs of our customers. Our high-performance culture focused on operational excellence thrives thanks to remarkable people united by compassion and a customer-first commitment. Are you ready to make a difference?

Job Summary

The Standard is seeking a Director, Presale Operations to oversee the strategic direction and management of the Presale business area. In this role, you will ensure that RFP and Proposal requests for all products are responded to in an accurate and prompt manner. The Director will collaborate with key stakeholders in all major business areas (including Underwriting, Actuary, and Sales) to manage workflows & processes, and deliver competitive, comprehensive, and accurate RFPs and Proposals. The Director will lead the entire Presale team operations; from intake, quoting, and RFPs to testing, peer reviews and new technology to support the presale process. This role is dedicated to upholding best practices and maintaining operational excellence by driving a streamlined, high-quality internal process for delivering timely presale support. Your experience with Life & Supplemental Health products will be highly sought after.

Other Key Responsibilities:

• Conflict Resolution: Recognize and address conflicts between departments to produce timely and accurate proposal responses.
• Talent Development & Performance Management: Develop a talent pipeline to ensure adequate resources are available to meet customer demands and business cycles. Monitor workflow and manage team performance, addressing issues and conflicts constructively. Develop and maintain robust training programs to enable employees to manage varying levels of complexity. Manage budgets and resources to achieve goals.
• Data Analysis: Track and analyze data regarding capabilities, capacity and output. Create reporting to accurately track customer trends. Act as an expert resource to senior management and product owners.

Skills and Background You’ll Need

• EDUCATION: High School Diploma or GED required. Bachelor’s degree preferred, experience may be considered in lieu of.
• EXPERIENCE: 8+ years of progressively responsible leadership positions, people-leadership is a requirement. Quoting/RFP background or experience managing a complex team, including managers is required. Experience specifically with Life & Supplemental Health products is required.
• Strong knowledge of process improvement and change management theories & techniques.
• Excellent communication skills; verbal and written.
• Demonstrated proficiency with Salesforce reporting tool and MS Office Suite is required.
• Proven experience with data analytics, PowerBI tool is preferred.
• Experience in Salesforce and Workday is preferred.

Key Behaviors of a Successful Candidate

• Engaging Hearts & Minds: Creates a team identity and builds momentum toward a shared purpose.
• Strategic Visioning: Considers different future scenarios, opportunities and risks to generate operational plans that align with the business unit/function’s strategic vision.
• Developing People: Delivers both individual and group feedback to support ongoing development and overall department performance.

We have built an enduring legacy of stability, financial strength and exceptional customer service through the contributions of the service-oriented people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including medical, dental, vision and a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions

• An annual incentive bonus plan

• Generous paid time off including 11 holidays, 2 wellness days, and 8 volunteer hours annually — PTO increases with tenure

• A supportive, responsive management approach and opportunities for career growth and advancement 

• Paid parental leave and adoption/surrogacy assistance

• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools

In addition to the competitive salary range below, our employee-focused benefits support work-life balance. Learn more about working at The Standard.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on a variety of factors including individual and organizational performance.

• Performance guarantees may be applied to roles with highly incentivized compensation plans for a specified period of time to support a new hire’s transition into the sales incentive plan.

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Compensation is made up of a base salary, incentives, and/or other bonuses when applicable. This is a minimum range that can be increased based on performance and sales activity.

Salary Range:

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., and American Heritage Life Insurance Company and American Heritage Service Company, marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. Except where precluded by state or federal law, The Standard will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. The Standard offers a drug- and alcohol-free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on The Standard's property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation and employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. After any conditional offer of employment is made, the background check will include an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain and correct background information. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.