Description
About the role
Symetra is seeking an Agency Services Manager to develop leaders, strengthen service and help shape the future of a growing part of our business.
Reporting to the AVP, Agency Services, you will lead Unit Managers responsible for Contracts & Licensing and quality assurance for that work, and directly manage two Contracts & Licensing trainers. Your teams manage the onboarding, contracting, licensing, appointments and ongoing service that enable financial professionals and distribution partners to sell Symetra products and support growth across our Life, Retirement, and Benefits businesses.
This role combines day-to-day operational leadership with meaningful involvement in strategic initiatives and transformation. We’re looking for a proven people leader with experience leading managers and a strong background in insurance operations, ideally in Agency Services, Contracts & Licensing, or distribution support. You bring sound judgment, fresh perspective, and the initiative to move work forward while helping others succeed. This is an opportunity to broaden your leadership impact and help shape the future of a growing business.
Requirements
What you will do
Lead and develop leaders. Coach and empower a team of front-line managers and directly lead two trainers. Set clear expectations, provide candid feedback, address performance and create meaningful development plans. Build leadership bench strength by helping managers strengthen their judgment, ownership and ability to develop others.
Own operational performance. Lead contracting and licensing operations through your managers, ensuring financial professionals and distribution partners receive timely, accurate service. Stay ahead of staffing and service needs, resolve issues quickly, and continually look for ways to make it easier to do business with Symetra.
Turn quality insights into improvement. Oversee quality assurance for Contracts & Licensing, using results to strengthen controls, reduce rework and improve processes. Partner with Compliance, Legal and other teams to maintain effective procedures and follow corrective actions through completion.
Strengthen training and readiness. Guide the trainers in delivering employee onboarding, ongoing learning, cross-training and support for new technology, processes and ways of working. Use quality findings and business needs to shape training priorities and ensure learning translates into stronger performance.
Translate strategy into execution. Partner with the AVP to prioritize and deliver growth and transformation initiatives. Turn direction into clear plans, owners, milestones and outcomes. Lead cross-functional work and prepare teams for changes in products, processes and technology while sustaining day-to-day service.
Manage budgets and resources. Prepare and manage operating budgets for your areas, monitor expenses and explain variances. Develop staffing and capacity recommendations, prioritize competing demands and make informed trade-offs across service, quality, cost and change delivery.
Represent Agency Services with confidence. Build relationships across Distribution, New Business, Technology, Product, Finance and other teams. Represent Agency Services in leadership and cross-functional meetings, including on behalf of the AVP. Make decisions within delegated authority, follow through on commitments and proactively communicate progress, risks and decisions.
What you bring
Significant, progressive experience in service or operations leadership, including demonstrated success directly managing and developing other people managers.
A record of improving service, quality and team performance in a complex operational environment, with an understanding of controls and compliance expectations.
Experience leading cross-functional initiatives and implementing process or technology changes with measurable results.
Strong business and financial acumen, including experience using performance data, managing budgets and making staffing or resource decisions.
Clear, confident communication and the ability to build credibility, influence across teams and represent your function with senior leaders and business partners.
Proactive ownership and dependable follow-through: you anticipate what needs attention, make sound decisions, keep others informed and drive work to completion.
A commitment to developing people, learning the business and adapting as priorities evolve.
A college degree or equivalent relevant work experience.
Additional experience we value
Experience in life insurance or annuity operations, particularly producer contracting, licensing or appointments, is preferred. Familiarity with independent marketing organizations, broker general agencies or broker-dealer distribution channels is also valuable, as is experience overseeing operational quality assurance, training programs or workflow modernization.