Head of Marketing - Strategy & Operations at Guardian Life · New York…

Head of Marketing - Strategy & Operations Location: New York Position Overview The is a critical leadership role responsible for driving Strategy & Operations for the overall operational efficiency of the FPRS & CSWM Marketing organization. This role serves as a senior strategic advisor and operational partner to the Head of Marketing (FPRS & CSWM) and as a trusted advisor to senior marketing leadership—acting as a primary interface to executive stakeholders and ensuring that strategy is translated into clear priorities, disciplined execution, and measurable outcomes. The role owns the end-to-end marketing operating model, including process design, performance management, planning, and budget oversight. A core expectation of this position is to influence decision-making through executive-level communication—synthesizing complex strategies, operational realities, and performance insights into concise, action-oriented narratives for QBRs, leadership meetings, steering committees, and ad hoc executive forums. Success in this role requires a strong marketing foundation, exceptional business judgment, comfort operating at the executive level, and the ability to seamlessly move between strategic leadership and hands-on execution. Key Responsibilities Own and evolve the marketing operating model, ensuring scalable, repeatable execution across teams, channels, and initiatives Design and continuously improve enterprise-grade processes, workflows, and governance models that drive efficiency, clarity, and accountability Act as a central integrator across Marketing, Sales, Product, Finance, Technology, and Compliance, partnering with senior leaders to drive alignment, resolve trade-offs, and deliver against shared priorities Proactively identify risks, resourcing constraints, and execution challenges; provide executive-level options, implications, and recommendations to enable timely decisions Establish and maintain consistent operating rhythms, planning cadences, and decision-making forums across the marketing organization Develop dashboards and reporting that provide leadership with reliable, actionable insights Translate performance data into clear, concise executive narratives, including implications, risks, and recommended actions Lead the development and facilitation of Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), owning storyline, structure, and final executive-facing deliverables for senior leadership audiences Prepare presentations, readouts, and written materials for executive and senior leadership meetings, proactively framing decisions, trade-offs, and recommended actions Serve as an extension of the Head of Marketing, managing priority intake, decision and issue escalation, and follow-through across leaders to ensure commitments turn into action Serve as the primary liaison for firm/agency alignment, partnering with field leaders to translate requests into clear workstreams and advising the Head of Marketing on what to prioritize and execute Serve as a strategic thought partner to senior marketing leadership, helping shape priorities, messaging, and decision framing Own leadership operating rhythm for the Head of Marketing (staff meetings, 1:1s, exec forums), including agenda-setting, pre-reads, decision capture, and follow-ups Enable effective communication across senior stakeholders by synthesizing inputs, clarifying decisions, and aligning execution Drive strategic prioritization for the organization (annual priorities, OKRs, and cross-functional commitments), ensuring alignment to business outcomes and capacity Lead the annual and multi-year marketing planning and budgeting process, in close partnership with Finance Develop business cases, investment proposals, and ROI narratives to support strategic initiatives Track and manage marketing spend, capacity, and headcount against approved plans Ensure disciplined execution while enabling flexibility to respond to evolving business priorities Qualifications & Experience 10+ years of experience in marketing operations, marketing strategy, business operations, or related roles Strong marketing background required, including understanding of campaign execution, channels, performance measurement, and go-to-market dynamics Proven experience partnering with and influencing executive and senior management stakeholders (VP/SVP and equivalent), with demonstrated ability to drive decisions and outcomes Experience operating as an executive advisor/strategic operations partner to a senior leader in a complex, matrixed organization Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional initiatives without direct authority Deep experience with marketing technology platforms, analytics, and operational enablement Exceptional ability to synthesize complexity into executive-ready narratives and presentations Highly effective communicator with strong executive presence Comfortable balancing strategic leadership with hands-on execution Education Bachelor’s degree required MBA or relevant advanced degree strongly preferred Location This role is hybrid with 3 days a week in our Hudson Yards NYC location Salary Range: $132,420.00 - $217,545.00 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, and 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 MyHR@glic.com. 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 is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment visas. In order to be a successful applicant. you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship. 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") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues. Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to MyHR@glic.com, making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via MyHR@glic.com. Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here. Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.