Job Title: IOA - Director – Life Insurance, Annuities & Retirement (LAR) Role PurposeLead and scale newly won LAR middle-/back-office and contact center operations, stewarding $30M+ offshore P&L with a span of control 800+ FTE across multi-site delivery. Drive client outcomes, transformation (Lean, RPA, IDP), GenAI-enabled operating model, and new business sales & solutioning (RFI/RFP). Serve as the executive face to client COOs/Operations Heads and build a resilient, compliant delivery estate.Core ResponsibilitiesP&L & Growth • Own revenue ($30M+), EBITDA, margin improvement, and AOP delivery. • Shape commercial constructs: FTE/Txn/Outcome/Gainshare; drive unit economics (productivity, automation, right-shoring). • Pipeline governance with Sales/Solutions; forecast ramps, seasonality, attrition, cost-to-serve.Operations Leadership (800+ FTE) • Run multi-site middle/back-office for Life & Annuities (new business, U/W support, policy admin/servicing, claims, commissions, reconciliation) and Retirement support (recordkeeping ops), plus omnichannel contact center (voice/email/chat/social). • SLA rigor: accuracy, TAT, AHT, FCR, CSAT/NPS, QA, backlog/RTE, shrinkage, WFM capacity models, manage delivery penalty and earn back regimes. • Business continuity/DR, change & incident management.Client Leadership & Governance • Executive sponsor for CXO/COO-level stakeholders; run QBRs/MBRs, contract adherence, scope/change control. • Proactive risk registers; regulatory readiness; expansion roadmaps and upsell/cross-sell motions.Transformation, Automation & GenAI • Roadmap across value chain: Lean Six Sigma, RPA (UiPath/AA/Blue Prism), IDP (ABBYY/Hyperscience), GenAI (Azure OpenAI/Bedrock/Vertex). • Use cases: • Underwriting: requirements triage, medical/APS summarization, decision support. • Claims: adjudication assistance, fraud flags, FNOL ingestion. • Servicing: STP uplift, premium/commission reconciliation automation. • Contact Center: agent assist, knowledge retrieval, QA automation, sentiment/NBA. • Instrument benefits: STP%, automation rate, NIGO reduction, cycle time, $ savings.New Business & Solutioning (RFI/RFP) • Lead RFI/RFP responses; design operating model, SLAs, tech stack, locations, transitions, pricing, risk mitigations. • Conduct due diligence; build transformation-backed TCO/ROI narratives; executive orals & site tours.People & Culture • Build leadership bench (GM/DGM/SDM); scale competency academies (LOMA ALMI/FLMI, COPC). • Engagement & retention at scale; succession planning; DE&I; performance & rewards architecture.Risk, Compliance & Controls • Ensure GLBA, HIPAA/PHI (if applicable), AML/KYC, OFAC, state DOI compliance; for Retirement, align to ERISA/DOL expectations. • Maintain SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS (payments), ISO 9001/COPC QMS; audit readiness.Required Qualifications • 20+ years BFSI operations; 10+ years in Life, Annuities & Retirement. • Proven leadership of ≥800 FTE multi-site delivery and $30M+ offshore P&L. • Deep domain across L&A middle/back-office + contact center; strong WFM and service design. • Hands-on transformation (Lean SS, RPA/IDP, GenAI) with quantified outcomes. • Deal solutioning with authored RFI/RFP wins; transitions to steady-state at scale. • Executive client management; commercial negotiation; crisis management. • Familiar with policy admin platforms (ALIP/VPAS/LifePro), CX tech (Genesys/NICE/Amazon Connect/Five9), analytics.Preferred Certifications: LOMA ALMI/FLMI, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, COPC, PMP/PRINCE2, RPA vendor certs, ITIL.KPIs • Financial: Revenue growth, EBITDA, cost-to-serve, transformation savings ($). • Ops: SLA attainment, accuracy, TAT, AHT/FCR, backlog, rework, STP%. • Digital: Automation rate, IDP accuracy, GenAI adoption & benefits. • Client: CSAT/NPS, renewals/expansions, governance health. • People: Attrition, engagement, leadership bench, time-to-proficiency.Education • Bachelor’s degree required; MBA preferred. • LOMA certifications will provide an edge About Cognizant: Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) is an AI Builder and technology services provider, bridging the gap between AI investment and enterprise value by building full-stack AI solutions for our clients. Our deep industry, process and engineering expertise enables us to build an organization’s unique context into technology systems that amplify human potential, drive tangible outcomes and keep global enterprises ahead in a fast-changing world. See how at cognizant.ai or @cognizant. Additional employment information Compensation information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law. Applicants may be required to attend interviews in person or by video conference. In addition, candidates may be required to present their current state or government issued ID during each interview. Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. Your application and candidacy will not be considered based on race, color, sex, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.