Product Director, Nationwide Pet - Remote

Product Director

Are you passionate about being part of a team that delivers extraordinary care to help individuals and businesses prepare for and protect their retirement? If so, then Nationwide Financial could be the place for you! At Nationwide, "on your side" goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we're looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

This position can be fully remote for the right candidate.

We are seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to join our team as a Product Director. This role is pivotal in driving team performance and fostering a positive work environment. The ideal candidate will be a strong people leader, capable of managing a team of four direct reports and one indirect report.

Key Responsibilities :

• Provide clear direction, mentorship, and support to a diverse team. Inspire and motivate team members to achieve their best performance, while addressing areas for improvement with empathy and strategic guidance.
• Navigate ambiguity with ease, taking existing processes and developing innovative, solutions-based approaches to overcome challenges. Demonstrate resilience and adaptability in the face of obstacles.
• Implement effective performance management strategies to ensure all team members are aligned with organizational goals and are continuously improving.
• Foster open and transparent communication within the team, ensuring everyone is informed, engaged, and working collaboratively towards common objectives.

Qualifications :

If you are driven to develop real business intelligence from data to inform business decision making and can communicate complex issues in an understandable and relevant way, we want to know more about you! Leading our team provides the opportunity to influence the products offered and help Nationwide meet and exceed the needs of our customers in the marketplace today and into the future. As a Director, you'll lead a product management team that drives profitable growth through strategic product positioning across the country. We'll count on you to develop plans and initiate changes aligned with corporate objectives and specific market opportunities. You'll drive program and process implementation, along with relationship management, across all levels of leadership and with internal and external partners.

This role does not qualify for employer sponsored work authorization. Nationwide does not participate in the STEM OPT extension program.

Job Description Summary

Gathers detailed information from multiple internal and external sources regarding industry trends, key competitors and product performance to formulate directional insights to share with partners. May perform or assign research to others to complete detailed projects or formulate recommendations.

Analyzes product performance at a macro level across geography, distribution channel, and line of business. Analyzes leading indicators to identify trends, adverse impacts and proactively find opportunities for profitable growth. Applies judgement, understanding and curiosity to data and provides analysis considering multiple complexities to build fully developed solutions. Analyzes and reviews financial results, product profitability, business mix and competitive information and forecasts performance. Coordinates the analysis of others to include in larger reviews.

Completes work within established time and service standards. Manages timelines and resources to coordinate completion of project work through others. Leads and handles workflow of key cross-functional projects. Ensures all key processes are completed on time.

Develops comprehensive product strategy for overall profitability using rate reviews, pricing, risk appetite, underwriting strategy, etc. Applies and implements strategic decisions aligned with market strategies. Determines product mix and rates that impact the overall financial plan.

Consults with leaders and other internal partners on analysis, ideas and business performance, providing recommendations based on deep functional and geographic knowledge. Leads ongoing review and consultation on distribution and underwriting performance initiatives. Provides data and analysis to build understanding of complex issues and focus attention on important concepts with leadership. Promotes collaboration among partners to ensure alignment with initiatives. May be involved on industry boards or lead cross functional teams.

Communicates and presents product strategy and implements throughout the organization to achieve profit and growth objectives. Communicates information about pricing, organizational decisions, anticipated results, opportunities and focus areas to partners. Translates complex data and strategic concepts into understandable communications to be shared with multiple audiences. Discerns the most relevant information and employs appropriate messaging for the audience to instill confidence, convey the strategic vision and influence subsequent actions.

Builds and strengthens relationships with peers, internal and external partners to support completion of ongoing assignments. Leads team in development of relationships across key organizational areas. Provides strong leadership, is approachable, and instills trust.

Participates in training classes, department and company meetings. Pursues additional education to increase personal, professional and technical knowledge and skills. Plans and directs the development of the team and ensures appropriate training is created and delivered. Provides content or delivering information to help educate partners. Mentors and trains associates.

Supervises associate management including performance, salary planning and administration, training and development, workflow and organization planning, day-to-day management, hiring and placement and disciplinary actions for direct and possibly indirect reports.

May perform other responsibilities as assigned.

Reporting Relationships : Reports to Pet Product AVP. Typically leads four to eight direct and / or indirect reports.

Typical Skills and Experiences : Education : Bachelor's degree in insurance, actuarial science, mathematics, risk management, economics, finance, accounting, business administration or related field or MBA preferred.

License / Certification / Designation : Progress toward or completion of CPCU, AU CIC, INS ARM, actuarial exams or similar designations preferred.

Experience : Ten years of experience in underwriting and product preferred. Cross-functional experience from other areas and experience with data analysis preferred. Experience managing people strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Abilities and Skills : Detailed knowledge of core business functions, product, tools and capabilities. Strong understanding of financials, trend analysis and competitor data. Awareness of strategic business practices relating to product management capabilities. Excellent verbal and written communication skills to present information, communicate and influence individuals at all levels. Ability to get results, deal with ambiguity, solve problems, learn on the job, make quality decisions, see trends and patterns within data. Ability to lead projects, deal with competing priorities, timelines and resources to complete work. Strong organizational agility, political savvy, managerial courage, command skills and ability to lead and develop associates.

Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.

Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager's leader and Human Resource Business Partner.

Values : Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.

Job Conditions : Overtime Eligibility : Exempt (Not eligible)

Working Conditions : Normal office environment. Some overnight travel required.

ADA : The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.

We currently anticipate accepting applications until 09 / 12 / 2025. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.

We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including : medical / dental / vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.

Nationwide is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels challenged, appreciated, respected and engaged. Nationwide prohibits discrimination and harassment and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to any characteristic (or classification) protected by applicable law.