Sr. Director, Project Management

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 Project Management Practice Lead is accountable for building and continuously evolving the enterprise Project Management capability to enable disciplined execution, sustained delivery momentum, and effective delivery of complex business and technology initiatives. The role establishes the professional standards, competencies, methods, tools, governance, and development pathways that enable Project Managers to successfully orchestrate delivery across business, technology, suppliers, operational teams, and shared services. The Practice Lead ensures project management practices strengthen execution without creating unnecessary administrative overhead, adapting the discipline as delivery methods, organizational needs, and technology capabilities evolve. The Practice Lead serves as the leader and steward of the Project Management profession, developing Project Managers who can operate with increasing autonomy, business acumen, systems thinking, and executive influence. The role partners closely with Portfolio Management, Business Analysis, Technology Delivery, Business Architecture, and enterprise leadership to identify systemic delivery friction, strengthen cross-functional ways of working, and continuously improve the organization's ability to translate investment decisions into successful This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you are in the office four 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 Project Management Capability & Practice Leadership Define and continuously evolve the enterprise Project Management operating model, professional standards, delivery principles, methodologies, tools, and practices. Establish clear expectations for how Project Managers own integrated project plans, orchestrate cross-functional delivery, manage dependencies and risks, enable decisions, and maintain focus on intended business outcomes. Ensure Project Management practices are appropriately scalable based on initiative complexity, risk, regulatory requirements, and organizational impact. Maintain consistency in core delivery disciplines while allowing Project Managers to adapt their approach to the needs and conditions of individual initiatives. Establish clear role boundaries and effective ways of working between Project Management, Portfolio Management, Business Analysis, Technology Delivery, Architecture, Quality Engineering, business stakeholders, suppliers, and operational teams. Talent & Career Development Own and continuously evolve the Project Management career architecture, competency framework, role expectations, and promotion criteria, ensuring clear standards for progression across all PM levels. Assess PM capability and establish development plans that strengthen delivery planning, orchestration, decision facilitation, business acumen, systems thinking, stakeholder leadership, and executive influence. Coach Project Managers through progressively complex assignments, enabling growth from creating delivery discipline to maintaining delivery momentum and ultimately optimizing delivery flow across complex enterprise initiatives. Develop and scale onboarding, learning, mentoring, experiential development, and certification opportunities that build a strong pipeline of Project Management talent for current and future enterprise needs. Foster a culture of accountability, curiosity, continuous learning, candid feedback, and professional excellence across the Project Management community. Delivery Excellence & Practice Assurance Establish clear expectations for integrated planning, delivery health, risk and dependency management, stakeholder communication, decision support, implementation readiness, governance, and post-implementation stabilization. Assess Project Management effectiveness across the enterprise, identifying where coaching, capability development, intervention, or changes in delivery approach are needed to strengthen execution. Coach Project Managers through complex delivery situations, strengthening their ability to structure tradeoffs, resolve ambiguity, facilitate difficult decisions, and maintain delivery momentum while preserving their ownership and accountability. Identify recurring delivery patterns, systemic bottlenecks, decision delays, governance friction, and cross-functional issues, using these insights and lessons learned to improve Project Management practices and broader ways of working. Promote disciplined, outcome-focused execution while simplifying governance and eliminating administrative practices that create burden without materially improving delivery outcomes. Governance, Risk & Organizational Improvement Establish and continuously evolve risk-based Project Management governance that provides appropriate control, transparency, and accountability while scaling requirements to initiative materiality, comple