Wealth Management Customer Service Team Leader

Guardian Life; Bethlehem (Northampton County); Hybrid; USD 69,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

Guardian Life’s Bethlehem-based Park Avenue Wealth Management Team Leader role combines frontline leadership with strategic initiatives to elevate customer experience. You will coach, develop, and motivate a high-performing team while ensuring adherence to compliance and security standards.

The position emphasizes collaborating with senior leaders, driving continuous improvement, and managing resources to achieve key performance metrics in a hybrid work model with travel up to 10%.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 2-3 years of high touch customer service or operations experience with retirement/wealth mgmt knowledge.
• Excellent leadership, analytical, verbal and written communication, and emotional intelligence.
• Ability to build relationships with senior leaders and teams; trusted SME.
• Strong accountability, discretion, and independent decision making.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, take initiative and problem-solve.
• Strong time management and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple business processes or functions.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leadership to drive strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts.
• Lead day-to-day business operations and be primary contact for colleagues and partners.
• Oversee and coach a high performing team with development feedback.
• Create a culture of diversity and innovation to empower employees.
• Manage budgeted resources to meet goals and KPIs.
• Monitor schedule adherence and ensure right coverage for customers.
• Analyze root-cause issues driving escalations and improve experiences.
• Provide responses to customer feedback and drive service improvements.
• Identify and communicate risks and performance to senior leadership.
• Lead or collaborate on department projects and recruitment strategy.
• Manage annual performance review process and objective setting.

Skills

Leadership

Customer service

Operations management

Coaching

Communication

Time management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree or relevant degree/work experience

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

OneNote

Job description

Hybrid - In office 3 days per week

Bethlehem

New York

Full time

R000110152

As one of our Park Avenue Wealth Management Team Leaders, you will be at the heart of our Contact Center’s day to day operations. You will have the opportunity to lead, manage, coach, develop, and motivate an award-winning team of frontline colleagues to meet our commitments to customers while living our Guardian Values. You will demonstrate leadership competencies and behaviors needed to influence change and accelerate impact through a consumer centric, growth mindset.

The role of an Park Avenue Wealth Management Team Leader is instrumental in exceeding customer service expectations, and achieving individual, team and organizational performance goals. Your contributions will be critical in driving colleagues to reach the highest level of service excellence, employee engagement, continuous improvement of operational processes and self-service offerings, while adhering to compliance and security requirements.

You will

• Partner with leadership to drive strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts, influencing operational practices, leading change management activities, and ensuring the team successfully adapts to evolving business needs and customer expectations.

• Lead day-to-day business operations and achieve optimal business results, serving as primary point of contact for colleagues, critical business partners and customer escalations.

• Oversee and inspire a high performing team through daily coaching, training, and call/contact listening, providing tailored development feedback to each team member, and driving employee engagement.

• Create a culture of diversity and innovation where employees feel safe and empowered to share their thoughts/ideas; effecting change that will benefit team members and enhance service experiences.

• Effectively execute and manage budgeted resources against business goals to ensure that commitments and key performance metrics are achieved.

• Proactively monitor schedule adherence and behaviors to ensure team members are in the right place, at the right time, to effectively serve our customers.

• Proactively analyze root-cause issues that generate service escalations, unnecessary customer effort, or multiple contacts on same service issue, adversely impacting the overall customer experience.

• Provide thoughtful responses to customer experience feedback, assisting with service recovery and/or implementing business improvements to drive persistency and service excellence.

• Proactively identify and communicate with senior leadership regarding business performance, adverse impact of decisions on customers and potential risks to the business.

• Effectively lead and/or collaborate on department projects and ongoing recruitment strategy.

• Manage annual performance review process, helping leadership team to set objectives and key results.

You have

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 2-3 years of high touch customer service or operations experience, specifically with strong retirement and/or wealth management knowledge and background.

• Excellent leadership, analytical, verbal & written communication skills, and emotional intelligence.

• Ability to create effective relationships with senior leaders, peers, colleagues, and partners and be recognized as a trusted subject matter expert and resource.

• Exceptional level of accountability, discretion, and independent decision making.

• Ability to effectively prioritize tasks, take initiative and problem-solve.

• Excellent time management and organizational skills.

• Strong ability to simultaneously manage multiple business processes or functions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or relevant degree/work experience preferred.

• Proficiency in Microsoft products, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

Reporting Relationships

• This position reports to the Head of Park Avenue Wealth Management Service and Third-Party Technology.

Position Location & Travel

• Bethlehem or Hudson Yards locations.

• 10% Travel depending on location of direct reports, any off-site Conference/Learning Development, and to attend annual Leadership Team Summit (when required).

Salary Range:

$68,970.00 - $113,310.00

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, 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 inquires 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