Manager, Workplace Solutions Enablement New

Horace Mann; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 126,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work environment

Periodic travel

Job summary

Horace Mann seeks a Manager, Workplace Solutions Enablement to turn Supplemental & Group priorities into action. You will translate strategy into structured plans, lead cross-functional initiatives, and build a team to execute with measurable results.

This role requires insurance industry experience, strong collaboration across Product, Distribution, Marketing, Operations, Technology, and Compliance, and the ability to navigate ambiguity while keeping leaders informed of risks and tradeoffs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Insurance industry experience, including Supplemental Insurance and/or Group Employee Benefits.
• Experience across multiple components of the insurance value chain (Product, Distribution, Operations, Marketing, Administration, Technology, CX).
• Prior people leadership experience with responsibility for development, workload management, prioritization, and performance.
• Autonomy with limited day-to-day supervision.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence without direct authority.
• Ability to operate in ambiguity and structure complex problems.
• Strong business judgment with clear decision escalation.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategic priorities into actionable plans, workstreams, deliverables, and enablement activities.
• Lead multiple complex cross-functional initiatives spanning product, distribution, go-to-market, digital, operations, and integration.
• Establish ownership, milestones, dependencies, and measures of success for key initiatives.
• Provide leadership with clear visibility into progress, risks, decisions, and outcomes.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

People leadership

Change management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Horace Mann is seeking a strategic, highly collaborative Manager, Workplace Solutions Enablement, to help turn our Supplemental & Group priorities into action and measurable business results.

In this role, you'll translate strategic direction into structured plans, lead complex initiatives across the business, and develop a team responsible for helping move priorities from concept through execution. You'll work at the intersection of Product, Distribution, Marketing, Operations, Technology, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and Customer Experience, bringing the right people together to solve challenges and advance business objectives.

This is an opportunity for an experienced insurance professional who thrives in ambiguity, knows how to create structure around complex problems, and can independently move work forward while keeping leaders informed of the decisions, risks, and tradeoffs that matter most.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy to Execution

• Translate Supplemental & Group strategic priorities into actionable plans, workstreams, deliverables, and enablement activities.
• Take broad or ambiguous strategic direction and determine the structure, resources, stakeholders, and next steps required to advance the work.
• Establish clear ownership, milestones, dependencies, and measures of success for key initiatives.
• Develop recommendations and proposed solutions within established strategic direction, escalating significant strategic decisions, investments, or business tradeoffs when appropriate.
• Provide leadership with clear visibility into progress, risks, decisions, and business outcomes.

Cross-Functional Initiative Leadership

• Independently lead multiple complex initiatives spanning product, distribution, go-to-market, digital, operations, and integration.
• Partner across Product, Distribution, Marketing, Operations, Technology, Compliance, Legal, Finance, and other functions to drive alignment and remove barriers.
• Represent Worksite Development and Supplemental & Group business priorities in cross-functional discussions and initiatives.
• Influence stakeholders and drive progress without relying on direct reporting relationships.
• Create structure and accountability while remaining adaptable as business priorities, regulatory requirements, organizational needs, and market conditions evolve.
• Directly lead an initial team of two employees, with accountability for team performance, development, workload allocation, prioritization, and quality.
• Coach and develop team members while establishing clear expectations and accountability.
• Delegate effectively and align team resources to the highest-value business priorities.
• Foster an environment of collaboration, ownership, sound judgment, and continuous development.

Business Solutions & Recommendations

• Develop recommendations using market, customer, distribution, competitive, operational and performance insights.
• Maintain strong knowledge of Supplemental & Group products, distribution channels, operations, and business processes.
• Structure complex or undefined business challenges, synthesize information from multiple sources and develop clear paths forward.
• Apply sound business judgment to determine which decisions can move forward independently and which require leadership escalation.

Business Readiness & Enablement

• Support product commercialization, distribution enablement, go-to-market execution, and organizational readiness.
• Ensure business teams and partners have the plans, resources, processes, and information needed to successfully execute new initiatives.
• Identify dependencies, resource constraints, implementation risks, and operational impacts early enough to support effective decision-making.
• Develop scalable and repeatable ways of working that improve execution across future initiatives.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of implemented solutions and identify opportunities for refinement.
• Establish practical measures of success and use business results to inform future recommendations.
• Improve cross-functional processes and ways of working to strengthen efficiency, transparency, accountability, and execution.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• Insurance industry experience, including experience with individual Supplemental Insurance, Group Employee Benefits, or both.
• Experience working across multiple components of the insurance value chain, such as Product, Distribution, Operations, Marketing, Administration, Technology or Customer Experience.
• Prior people leadership experience with responsibility for employee development, workload management, prioritization, and performance.
• Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously with limited day-to-day supervision.
• Proven ability to lead multiple complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Demonstrated success operating in ambiguity, structuring complex business problems, determining next steps and adapting as priorities change.
• Strong business judgment with the ability to distinguish between decisions that can be advanced independently and those requiring leadership escalation.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear recommendations.
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation and presentation skills.

Preferred

• Experience with product commercialization, distribution enablement, go-to-market execution, or business readiness.
• Experience working with agents, brokers, third-party administrators (TPAs), enrollment organizations or other employee-benefits distribution channels.
• Experience supporting strategic initiatives within Supplemental, Worksite, Voluntary Benefits or Group Insurance.
• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• People leadership and talent development
• Cross-functional influence and relationship management
• Business problem solving and decision-making
• Supplemental & Group insurance knowledge
• Product commercialization and business readiness
• Distribution and go-to-market enablement
• Executive-level communication and presentation
• Prioritization and resource management
• Adaptability and comfort with ambiguity
• Continuous improvement and operational execution

Additional Information

• Remote work environment.
• Periodic travel may be required.
• Role operates in a dynamic environment with multiple concurrent priorities and significant cross-functional interaction.
• Must be able to effectively lead employees and collaborate with stakeholders across geographically dispersed teams.

Pay Range

• $89,800.00 - $125,500.00 annually + bonus

Salary is commensurate to experience, location, etc.

Horace Mann was founded in 1945 by two Springfield, Illinois, teachers who saw a need for quality, affordable auto insurance for teachers. Since then, we’ve broadened our mission to helping all educators protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow. And with our broadened mission has come corporate growth: We serve more than 4,100 school districts nationwide, we’re publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: HMN) and we have more than $12 billion in assets.

We’re motivated by the fact that educators take care of our children’s future, and we believe they deserve someone to look after theirs. We help educators identify their financial goals and develop plans to achieve them. This includes insurance to protect what they have today and financial products to help them prepare for their future. Our tailored offerings include special rates and benefits for educators.

EOE/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Horace Mann ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

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