Sr Associate - Design Program Manager 92021

Location Designation:Hybrid - 3 days per week

Our New York Life culture has laid the foundation for over 180 years of commitment to our employees, agents, policy owners, and the communities where we live and work. Here you become a valued part of a welcoming, inclusive, and caring organization with a long-standing legacy in stability and growth. The strength revolves around our diversified, multi-dimensional business portfolio that goes beyond life insurance.

As a Fortune 100 company and industry leader, we provide an environment where you can explore your career ambitions, offering opportunities to tackle meaningful challenges and stretch your skills while balancing work and life priorities. You will be part of an inclusive team guided by our belief to always be there for each other-providing the support and flexibility to grow and reach new heights while making an impact in the lives of others.

You are our future, and we commit to investing in you accordingly.

Design Program Manager

Role Overview:

We are looking for an experienced and strategic Design Program Manager to join our growing Product Design Center of Excellence (CoE). This role is central to enabling world-class, user-centered digital experiences across New York Life's foundational products and platforms. You will be the connective tissue between product, design, engineering, and business leaders-ensuring our digital solutions reflect enterprise experience strategy and deliver measurable business impact.

As a key member of the Design CoE, you will help scale experience delivery, standardize best practices, and drive operational rigor across teams. You will support our transition toward seamless, consistent, and personalized experiences across key agent and client journeys, anchored in our mission of providing financial security and peace of mind.

What You'll Do:

• Define and manage design project timelines, deliverables, and resource plans in collaboration with design leads and product partners
• Coordinate cross-value stream design delivery across multiple product teams, ensuring consistency with Moments That Matter (MTM) and CHIP principles (Consistent, Holistic, Intuitive, Personalized)
• Drive governance of the enterprise design system (MADI), stewarding adoption and updates across design and development teams
• Track and report on experience roadmap milestones, team progress, and key design dependencies within PI planning cycles
• Facilitate cross-functional workshops, design reviews, and stage-gate checkpoints to ensure experience alignment and velocity
• Support the evolution of design operations, including intake, prioritization, artifact management, and documentation practices
• Champion the design team's voice across forums-bringing visibility to risks, celebrating progress, and advocating for scalable solutions
• Support onboarding, training, and team rituals that foster a culture of learning, equity, and craft excellence

What You'll Bring:

• 3-7 years of experience in program or project management, with at least 2 years in a design, UX, or creative environment
• Strong knowledge of design processes and systems within scaled agile frameworks (e.g., SAFe)
• Experience driving product and portfolio planning, sprint operations, and cross-team collaboration within a federated org model
• Deep familiarity with tools like Figma, Jira, Miro, Confluence, and Workfront or similar
• Demonstrated ability to track and connect design decisions to experience principles, journey outcomes, and business OKRs
• Outstanding communication, facilitation, and relationship-building skills with senior stakeholders
• Passion for delivering seamless, human-centered experiences even if not a designer by trade

Nice to Have:

• Experience with enterprise design systems and governance at scale
• Familiarity with research operations or content strategy practices
• Background supporting products across affluent and middle-market customer segments
• Exposure to experience visioning tools (journey mapping, MTMs, experience blueprints)

Pay Transparency

Salary Range:$95,000-$152,500

Overtime eligible:Exempt

Discretionary bonus eligible:Yes

Sales bonus eligible:No

Actual base salary will be determined based on several factors but not limited to individual's experience, skills, qualifications, and job location. Additionally, employees are eligible for an annual discretionary bonus. In addition to base salary, employees may also be eligible to participate in an incentive program.

Our Benefits

We provide a full package of benefits for employees - and have unique offerings for a modern workforce, including leave programs, adoption assistance, and student loan repayment programs. Based on feedback from our employees, we continue to refine and add benefits to our offering, so that you can flourish both inside and outside of work. Click here to discover more about our comprehensive benefit options or visit our NYL Benefits Site.

Our Commitment to Inclusion
At New York Life, fostering an inclusive workplace is fundamental to who we are and how we serve our communities. We have a longstanding commitment to creating an environment where individuals can contribute their best and succeed together. This foundation is rooted in our core values of humanity and integrity, ensuring that every employee feels valued and supported. By embracing a broad range of perspectives and experiences, we achieve greater success and fulfill our promise of providing financial security and peace of mind to families across all communities. Click here to learn more about New York Life's leadership in this space.

Recognized as one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies, New York Life is committed to improving local communities through a culture of employee giving and volunteerism, supported by theFoundation.We're proud that due to our mutuality, we operate in the best interests of our policy owners. To learn more about career opportunities at New York Life, please visit the Careers page of www.NewYorkLife.com.

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Job Requisition ID: 92021