Director, Sales Operations - Downers Grove, IL

Position Overview:

This position serves as an operational “chief of staff” for the national and regional accounts sales group. General duties include:

• Development and implementation of the overall business strategy for the sales group
• 3-5 year business planning
• Ownership of all sales compensation programs
• Budget responsibility for sales group, including office space analytics
• Develop and implement strategy for field configuration
• Responsible for annual division planning, including ROI measurements
• Analytics including sales trending, productivity measurements, and modeling to create hiring strategies
• Relationship management with Blues distribution partners

Essential Job Functions:

• Responsible for the implementation of all business strategies for the regional and national accounts sales groups at FDL
• Responsible for the internal sales compensation program, including an annual review of the program to ensure effectiveness and recommendations for changes, and the external, broker incentive program. When necessary; partner with legal and internal administrator to ensure successful implementation of the programs.
• Provide input and assist in issues relating to the sales groups’ projects, programs, and goals.  Develop 3-5 year planning by identifying measurable goals and objectives.  Responsible for monitoring implementation, ongoing progress, and revising objectives as appropriate.
• Develop various sales models, including hiring strategies and productivity modeling, by analyzing sales trends and ROI metrics
• Develop and implement a strategy for field configuration and presence, including a regular in-depth analysis of geographical market trends
• Responsible for oversight, management, and forecasting of the annual budget, which may include monitoring, variance analysis, and monthly reporting to Sales VPs
• Manage relationships with Blues partners, including annual reviews of contracts and ongoing relationship management
• Oversee training program for all sales personnel
• Create speeches and presentations for the VPs of Sales for both internal and external audiences; facilitate presentations as required.
• Promote cross-departmental collaboration
• Meet regularly with Sales VPs to keep abreast of divisional activities; ensure important activities are brought to their attention.
• Comply with HIPAA, Diversity Principles, Corporate Integrity, Compliance Program policies and other applicable corporate and departmental policies

Position Requirements:

• Bachelor degree
• 10 years experience in insurance industry
• 5 years of management experience
• Experience in a sales/marketing environment
• Experience with financial or statistical analysis
• Interpersonal skills; verbal and written communication skills; presentation skills
• Excellent PC skills including Word, Excel, Powerpoint

Preferred Position Requirements:

Bachelor degree in Business Administration

Fort Dearborn Life Insurance Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V.