Manager, Payment Center

Come join one of America’s fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures. Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard. We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good. Please note that we do not offer visa sponsorship for this position. Role Summary   The Manager, Payment Center provides inspirational leadership to teammates and works collaboratively with other leaders across After Issue Services and the Customer Innovation Group to achieve seamless service excellence. This leader is committed to sustaining a strong, focused team engaged in serving internal and external customers, with a focus on developing the team’s talent and ensuring an efficient strategy for completing multiple goals, including ensuring daily work is processed timely, accurately, and in accordance with acceptable standards and regulations.  The Manager also oversees teams responsible for posting payments and performing accurate and timely accounting on customer policies, ensuring customer requests are processed in good order and that both customer and company financial resources are properly handled. Because this department provides front-line customer service, this leader must be conversant in best practices to prevent fraud, audit standards, and other financial and regulatory aspects of transacting customer payments. This role partners closely with Treasury, Product, Hedging, Commissions, and other teams beyond CIG to drive positive upstream and downstream impacts.  The ideal candidate uses data to solve problems and effectively execute process improvements in a fast-paced environment. This role requires public speaking when presenting to agencies and demonstrated skill in decision-making and communication during tense escalation resolutions.  This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you will be in the office four (4) days per week during onsite core days.  Our current onsite core days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  The work schedule type and core days are subject to change with advance notification and manager discretion.  Essential Duties and Responsibilities   Responsible for staffing, training, employee development, goal setting, and performance management of the department; foster a culture of excellence and high performance by providing advanced coaching and development opportunities to team members.  Develop and maintain productivity and quality metrics to inspire superior team performance and service standards, identify and implement continuous improvement initiatives, and provide regular feedback and coaching to team members.  Collaborate with a wide variety of internal and external customers to effectively deliver exemplary service, drive operational excellence, and address the root cause of service issues.  Ensure that payment transactions and customer requests are processed in good order, and that both customer and company financial resources are properly handled in accordance with audit, fraud prevention, and regulatory standards.  Ensure the business area follows established processes and controls; monitor and maintain compliance-based requirements.  Maintain a deep and comprehensive knowledge of our products, services, systems, business processes, and key partners (internal and external) to ensure top-tier operational efficiency.  Address high-priority customer and agent inquiries with urgency and efficiency, ensuring their needs are met and exceeded.  All other duties as assigned.  Minimum Qualifications   Bachelor’s degree and 8 or more years of related work experience, OR an advanced degree and 5 or more years of related experience, OR 12 or more years of total equivalent work experience  Leadership skills in setting and communicating vision, purpose, and goals, and leading a high-performing team  Demonstrated strength in building effective teams and developing direct reports  Unwavering customer focus with a keen appreciation for the needs and interests of our distribution partners and buying customers  Excellent problem-solving skills and critical thinking; ability to anticipate challenges, break down barriers, and identify and execute solutions that achieve organizational goals  Demonstrated ability to empower, influence, and make connections between diverse sets of individuals  Top-notch communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex concepts and influence stakeholders at all levels of the organization  Exercises tact, discretion, and good judgment while working under pressure to get things done quickly and effectively through others  Organized with excellent time-management skills, including consistent follow-up and follow-through  Demonstrated effectiveness in a collaborative work environment  Ability to successfully pass a background check  Preferred Qualifications   Bachelor’s degree in a related field  Experience in the life and annuity industry  Banking or accounting experience  Prior experience leading a payment processing, cash application, or financial operations team  AI Proficiency Expectations:   At National Life Group, we view AI as an enabler of human potential. We use AI to help us work smarter, serve more clients, and keep our promises, while remaining a relationship-driven business where our people are our greatest strength.