Financial Analyst - Strategy and Operations

Guardian Life Insurance; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 88,000 - 144,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian Life Insurance is seeking a Financial Analyst to join the Group Benefits Finance team in the United States. The role focuses on financial analytics, performance insights, and decision support across Operations, Service, Claims and Transformation.

Reporting to the Head of Operations, Service, Claims & Transformation Finance, you will partner with FP&A, Actuarial, and senior leadership to deliver actionable insights, enhance cost transparency, and influence financial outcomes through

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Actuarial Science, or related field.
• 4+ years FP&A, financial analysis, or operational analytics experience.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills linking financial and operational data.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint proficiency.
• Ability to synthesize complex data into clear insights.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Analyze business performance, risks, and opportunities across Operations, Service, Claims, and Transformation.
• Provide targeted financial analysis for executive decision-making and planning.
• Evaluate cost drivers and identify efficiency and performance improvements.
• Develop executive-ready materials with financial and operational insights.
• Partner with Operations, Transformation, Actuarial, FP&A and Product teams.

Skills

Advanced Excel

PowerPoint

Strong analytical skills

Communication

Collaboration across functions

Data storytelling

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Finance/Accounting/Economics/Actuarial Science

Tools

Tableau

Power BI

Job description

Is the opportunity to join a culture where “We Do the Right Thing,” and “We Courageously Shape Our Future Together” important to you? If so, Guardian is seeking a resolute motivated individual to join our team as a Financial Analyst.

Reporting to the Head of Operations, Service, Claims & Transformation Finance, this role plays a central position within Group Benefits Finance, supporting financial analytics, performance insights, and strategic decision support across all operational areas.

Financial Analyst partners closely with Operations, Service, Claims, Transformation, Actuarial, FP&A, and senior leadership to deliver actionable insights, enhance cost transparency, and support business decision-making. This role combines operational rigor, executive reporting, and forward-looking analytics to influence financial outcomes and support transformation priorities.

This role partners closely with Operations, Service, Claims, Transformation, Actuarial, FP&A, and senior leadership to deliver actionable insights, enhance cost transparency, and support business decision-making. This role combines operational rigor, executive reporting, and forward-looking analytics to influence financial outcomes and support transformation priorities.

You will:

Financial Analysis & Decision Support

• Analyze business performance, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities across Operations, Service, Claims, and Transformation
• Support senior leadership decision-making through targeted financial analysis, business planning, and operational insights
• Evaluate unit cost trends and underlying business drivers to identify efficiency and performance improvement opportunities
• Communicate financial implications, trade-offs, and risks through clear recommendations

Business Case Development & Value Capture

• Build and maintain business cases for Claims & Service initiatives, including investments, transformation efforts, and operating model changes
• Quantify financial impact, including cost savings, productivity improvements, ROI, payback period, and other value drivers
• Track results against business case commitments and identify variances, risks, dependencies, and financial implications
• Partner with business leaders to monitor value capture and ensure benefits are realized and sustained
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce cost leakage, and enhance financial outcomes across Operations, Claims & Service

Operational Insights & Executive Storytelling

• Develop executive-ready materials highlighting key insights, trends, risks, and opportunities
• Translate complex financial and operational information into clear, actionable insights for leadership
• Identify emerging trends in claims experience, service demand, and cost performance

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with Operations, Service, Claims, Transformation, Actuarial, Product, and FP&A teams to align financial insights with operational priorities
• Support assigned initiatives with financial guidance, decision support, and targeted analysis
• Influence outcomes through data-driven recommendations and thoughtful analysis

You have:

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Actuarial Science, or related field
• 4+ years of FP&A, financial analysis, or operational analytics experience
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with ability to connect financial and operational data
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint proficiency
• Ability to synthesize complex data into clear, actionable insights
• Strong communication and collaboration skills across functions

Preferred

• Experience in insurance or financial services
• Familiarity with operational metrics such as unit cost, productivity, volume, complexity, and claims drivers
• Experience supporting transformation initiatives, value capture, or business case development
• Experience with Tableau, Power BI, or similar visualization tools

Ability to

• Analyze variances across actuals, plan, forecast, and prior periods
• Identify key drivers of financial and operational performance
• Translate data into insights, recommendations, and leadership-ready narratives
• Manage multiple priorities and deliver high-quality work on tight timelines
• Bring curiosity, ownership, and continuous improvement to recurring reporting and analysis

Location:

Hybrid role - 3 days in a Guardian office located in Bethlehem PA; Hudson Yards, NYC; Holmdel, NJ; Pittsfield, MA; or Boston, MA. 2 days WFH.

Salary Range:

$87,930.00 - $144,465.00

The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.

Our Promise

At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.

Inspire Well-Being

As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits. Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.

Accommodations

Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual’s known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [e-mail]. Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquiries related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.

Visa Sponsorship

Guardian Life is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment-based visas (e.g., such as an H-1B). In order to be a successful applicant, you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship/support now or at any time in the future.

Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment

As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools ("AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.

Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to [e-mail], making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via [e-mail].

Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here.