*This position is in office full time, 5 days a week and does not have an option for hybrid or remote due to the nature of the role.*

Who are we?

Western National Insurance Group is a private mutual insurance company with over 120 years of experience serving customers' property-and-casualty insurance needs in the Midwestern, Northwestern, and Southwestern United States. Known as “The Relationship Company®,” we define success as a measure of the relationships we’ve built over time. In everything that we do, we know that delivering a friendly and helpful interaction makes for a better experience for everyone involved. That’s the power of “nice”. At Western National, nice is something we work to bring to every person and organization with whom we partner and serve.

Does this opportunity interest you?

Western National is seeking a Product Implementation Manager to join our team!

The individual in this role will provide guidance, methodology, and formal organization for assigned projects. They will drive initiatives under consideration, provide formal organization and tracking methods for product initiatives through discovery, assessment, recommendation, approval, prioritization, and execution. They will drive completion of comprehensive business case and cost benefit analysis for proposed initiatives, responsible for drafting plans with input from Product Manager and in support of strategic direction (if assigned). They will provide daily management to the assigned product implementation or business analyst team through staffing, setting direction, performance management, training, coaching, and development. Lastly, they will provide project / product management leadership for organizational or special projects as assigned, in support of strategic objectives and company success.

What are the responsibilities and opportunities of this role?

• Partners with product teams and leaders across the enterprise to coordinate work necessary to assess potential business processes and software implementation initiatives, ensuring successful implementation of multifaceted product initiatives and business process efficiencies.
• Proactively coaches, mentors, directs, and develops individuals to achieve individual, departmental, and company goals.
• Handles the hiring, mentoring, training, performance management, and professional development of assigned individuals to build a team that is best-in-class at communication, collaboration, and facilitation to support and enhance the experience of our customers.
• Leads the product implementation and business analyst teams in ensuring predictable, consistent, and successful project / product delivery by standardizing, applying, and optimizing requirement elicitation and identification of test case scenarios.
• Identifies opportunities to deliver business value through business process improvement, organizational change, and / or technology integration.
• Develops and implements best practices to ensure all implementation functions are fully documented, supportable, repeatable, and are in compliance with applicable regulations.
• Participates in tactical planning, resource management, and budgeting.
• Ensures self and assigned team promote and work according to the Company Core Values of Connectiveness, Empowerment, and Accountability.
• Works to maintain and improve employee engagement and job satisfaction.
• Performs special projects and other duties as assigned.
• Takes the lead and mobilizes action to resolve problems and / or improve processes swiftly. Stays engaged when necessary to avoid potential risks to scope, budget and / or timeline.
• Applies knowledge and experience to help solve problems of broad scope and complexity.
• Consistently acts according to our customer experience standards, including responding quickly, maintaining a positive attitude, building rapport, demonstrating empathy, managing the customer’s expectations, using the proper communication channel for the situation, and taking ownership to ensure the customer’s issue is resolved.

What are the must-have qualifications for a candidate?

• Ability to lead change with positive influence on people and processes.
• Prior experience leading requirements gathering, analysis, user journeys, value streams, test scenario identification, and user acceptance testing.
• Demonstrated ability to lead high-performing teams, including coaching or training in a formal setting.
• Proven ability to communicate clearly and effectively both verbally and in writing to technical and nontechnical audiences.
• Ability to build and maintain relationships, including serving as communication bridge between technical and business audiences.
• Proven ability to think critically and effectively communicate with customers, stakeholders, technology teams, various business units, and vendor resources.
• Exceptional ability to informally influence people and process.
• Demonstrated advanced organizational and prioritization skills.
• Proven ability to organize deliverables to accomplish multiple priorities of higher impact and risk within specified timeframe.
• Strong problem-solving, planning, negotiation, and execution skills.
• Sound judgment and conflict resolution skills.
• Strong leadership, organization, and facilitation skills.
• Proficient use of various core systems, office and computer equipment, and software packages.
• Expertise with tools used for project management, software development life cycle, or organizational development.
• Understanding of insurance terminology and systems.

What will our ideal candidate have?

• IIBA or PMP designation preferred.
• Property-and-casualty insurance experience.
• CPCU or similar industry certification a plus.

Compensation overview

The full hiring range for this role is $112,300 - $146,000, annually. However, the base pay offered may vary depending on the job-related knowledge, skills, credentials, and experience of each candidate, as well as other factors such as the scope and location of the role. Candidates looking for compensation outside of the posted range are encouraged to apply and will be considered based on their individual qualifications and / or may be considered for other positions.

Culture and Total Rewards

Western National has long been known as “The Relationship Company®”, and caring for our employees is part of that relationship commitment. We value connectiveness, empowerment, and accountability, and we believe that our employees are our biggest asset.

Currently ranked as the 41st largest private company by revenue in Minnesota (Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal), Western National has earned accolades year-over-year as an employer of choice and garnered multiple awards for wellness in the workplace. Western National has also been named a Top Workplace by the Star Tribune for the past four consecutive years. In addition, the Group is consistently recognized as a Ward’s 50 property-and-casualty insurance company for its outstanding financial results.

Western National offers full-time employees a significant Total Rewards Package, including:

• Medical insurance plan options and other standard employee benefits, including dental insurance, vision benefits, life insurance, disability insurance, and more!
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) Plan (participants are eligible for 100% matching on the first 6% of their contributions)
• Wellbeing Program, including onsite fitness studio
• Paid Time Off – including holiday, vacation, and volunteer
• 100% company-paid tuition reimbursement for approved job-relevant coursework and access to The Institutes (Risk and insurance education)
• Paid parental leave
• Bonus opportunities

Western National believes in supporting balance between work and life by providing a flexible work environment, which includes a variety of hybrid and remote work arrangements designed to balance individual, job, department, and company needs.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.

Western National provides employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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