Manager, Product

Thrivent is seeking a Manager, Product to define and advance the strategy and roadmap for Application Fulfillment across Life, Health, and Annuity. The role leads modernization of application workflows and technology, manages and develops three product practitioners, and partners across business and technology teams to improve operational performance and advisor and client experiences.

Responsibilities:

• Own product strategy and roadmaps. Define and advance the vision, strategy, and roadmaps for Application Fulfillment across Life, Health, and Annuity, aligning business capabilities and product investments with advisor, client, and operational outcomes
• Lead and develop people. Directly manage three product practitioners, providing clear expectations, coaching, feedback, and development opportunities while fostering a high-performing, collaborative team culture
• Strengthen product management practices. Coach product practitioners and business stakeholders in applying effective product management practices across discovery, prioritization, delivery, adoption, and measurement
• Prioritize across a complex portfolio. Lead prioritization and investment trade-offs across multiple products and initiatives, balancing business value, operational needs, modernization priorities, technical dependencies, and available capacity
• Advance application fulfillment capabilities. Lead the evolution of capabilities supporting application intake, case processing, requirements management, underwriting coordination, and policy issuance. Partner across product domains and with technology providers to simplify workflows, increase automation, and improve integration across the application lifecycle
• Deliver measurable outcomes. Establish and monitor product health metrics and business KPIs, driving improvements in application cycle time, straight-through processing, operational productivity, and advisor and client experiences
• Lead customer and user discovery. Engage advisors, clients, and internal users to understand needs, identify friction and opportunities, validate hypotheses, and inform product strategy and prioritization
• Build cross-functional alignment. Partner with business capability owners, adjacent product teams, engineering, design, analytics, and operations to establish shared outcomes, clarify ownership and dependencies, and coordinate solutions across interconnected business capabilities
• Manage product investment. Apply financial management principles to product planning, budget administration, business cases, and investment decisions, ensuring resources are directed toward the highest-value opportunities
• Model Thrivent’s leadership competencies, Model the Way, Rally the Team, and Deliver Outcomes, and foster a culture that reflects Thrivent’s purpose, promise, and values

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience
• 10+ years of relevant business experience, including experience as a product manager, product owner, or in a similar role
• Experience in life insurance, health insurance, including disability income or long-term care, or annuities, with an understanding of the related business processes and operational environment
• Expertise in Agile product management, stakeholder management, customer and user research, technology management, and process design
• Understanding of iterative development and software development processes, including how technical dependencies affect product planning and delivery
• Ability to translate business strategy and customer needs into prioritized product roadmaps and measurable business outcomes
• Ability to coach and guide product practitioners and build alignment across business and technical stakeholders
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and influence skills across organizational levels, including strong facilitation and executive communication skills
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to navigate competing priorities across complex products
• Understanding of emerging technology and its potential application to business and customer needs
• Prior people-management or supervisory experience
• Experience with insurance application processing, application fulfillment, back-office platforms, or operational workflow modernization
• Experience establishing product management practices and helping product owners and business stakeholders adopt a product operating model
• Experience developing business cases, product strategies, and roadmaps supported by clear value measures and business outcomes
• Proven experience leading and influencing cross-functional teams within large, complex organizational initiatives
• Experience partnering with third-party vendors and managing dependencies across interconnected products and platforms