Lead the future of Advanced Life Planning.
This is a rare opportunity to shape strategy, elevate talent, and influence some of the most complex and high‑impact life insurance cases across our distribution ecosystem. As Senior Director of the Life‑Focused Advanced Consulting Group (ACG), you will sit at the intersection of strategy, technical excellence, and thought leadership—driving outcomes for financial professionals and their clients while building a best‑in‑class consulting organization.
What You’ll Do
As a senior leader and trusted expert, you will:
- Lead Life ACG strategy and execution, setting priorities and direction across all Life distribution channels to ensure alignment, consistency, and maximum impact.
- Serve as the senior escalation point for complex, high‑value life cases, delivering consultative case design and product positioning support to financial professionals, wholesalers, and key accounts.
- Act as the primary senior liaison to Life distribution, overseeing and refining the Life interaction model—including intake, triage, delivery, and ongoing relationship management—to create seamless, high‑quality partner experiences.
- Champion advanced education and thought leadership, delivering main‑stage presentations and CE/CPE‑eligible content, and partnering with Marketing and Sales to author and deploy high‑impact advanced sales plays and marketing assets.
- Own performance, governance, and risk across Life ACG activity by defining and tracking key metrics, strengthening controls, and continuously improving processes.
- Attract, develop, and inspire technical talent, modeling a collaborative, inclusive culture while mentoring emerging experts and future leaders.
- Embrace technology, data, and AI‑enabled tools to modernize advanced casework, generate sharper insights, and elevate the advanced planning experience for internal partners and clients.
What We’re Looking For
We’re seeking a strategic, credible, and forward‑thinking leader who brings:
- Deep expertise in advanced life insurance planning, including experience with complex, high‑net‑worth or institutional cases.
- Proven leadership at scale, with success building, leading, and evolving high‑performing consulting or advanced sales teams.
- Strong influence and executive presence, able to partner with senior distribution leaders, key accounts, and external financial professionals.
- Thought leadership and teaching excellence, with experience presenting advanced concepts to diverse audiences and translating complexity into clear, compelling guidance.
- A builder’s mindset, comfortable shaping strategy, defining operating models, and improving processes in a dynamic environment.
- Curiosity and adaptability, with enthusiasm for leveraging data, technology, and AI to enhance decision‑making and client outcomes.
- A collaborative, people‑first approach, grounded in integrity, inclusion, and a commitment to developing others.
FINRA Series 6 and 26 is required within 120 days of hire.
This is a fully remote position! However, candidates located in Columbus, Ohio, Des Moines, IA or Scottsdale, AZ will collaborate in office 3 days a week.
Job Description Summary
If you are a natural relationship-builder who loves working with customers, financial professionals and organizations to provide solutions, we want to know more about you!
As a Senior Director, you'll drive overall strategy and day-to-day leadership of the different Advanced Consulting Group (ACG) business teams respectively - Annuity, Life and Retirement Solutions. You will develop and direct strategy for the Advanced Sales department to serve multiple sales channels by crafting and maintaining critical relationships both inside and outside Nationwide. You'll lead a team of highly credentialed and experienced consultants who are responsible for driving sales of all Nationwide's financial products.
Job Description
Key Responsibilities:
Supervises execution and delivery of commitments and performance levels of team. Oversees and ensures service standards. Administers the performance management process for team, including goal setting, development plans, performance discussions and ongoing coaching. Evaluates and administers salary and merit reviews.
Serves as the primary liaison to sales leadership and business channels. Responsible for assisting in strategy development, implementation and determining the ACG support needs of the various sales channels and business areas.
Provides comprehensive consultation and case design to advisers, agents, firms and wholesalers.
Travels and speaks at events on sophisticated concepts related to life insurance, annuities, mutual funds and retirement plans.
Leads the development of marketing, sales and technical materials to increase advanced marketing sales. Facilitates the due diligence and compliance process for all advanced sales marketing concepts. Acts as liaison with Compliance and General Counsel to introduce new marketing concepts to the market, to gain as much market share as possible.
Authors and publishes tax and sales related articles, position papers, sales ideas and presentations on sophisticated financial product applications for use in business planning, estate planning, retirement accumulation planning and retirement income planning.
May perform other responsibilities as assigned.
Reporting Relationships: Reports to Associate Vice President, Advanced Consulting Group. Leads a team of three to four Directors.
Typical Skills and Experiences:
Education: Bachelor’s degree; Juris Doctorate, with areas of focus in tax and estate planning and/or business planning.
Certification/Licenses: FINRA Series 24/26 license required. CPA, CLU, CHFC preferred.
Experience: Typically, eight to 10 years of industry experience.
Knowledge, Abilities and Skills: Proven ability to lead highly credentialed, high- performing team and experience dealing with sophisticated tax and regulatory issues and understanding sales distribution. Collaborates effectively across functions and sales channels to build positive relationships. Confirmed leadership skills needed to set direction for consulting teams and delivering effective implementation for business partners. Optimally and persuasively communicates, both one-on-one and with large groups, highly sophisticated and technical materials in an understandable and applicable manner, in writing and in person. Applies an understanding and effectiveness in navigating the political structure of the organization.
Other criteria, including leadership skills, competencies and experiences may take precedence.
Staffing exceptions to the above must be approved by the hiring manager’s leader and Human Resources Business Partner.
Values: Regularly and consistently demonstrates the Nationwide Values.
Job Conditions:
Overtime Eligibility: Exempt (Not eligible)
Working Conditions: Normal office environment. Frequent travel within assigned region. Most leaders work from a remote location, such as an office out of their home. A valid driver’s license and safe driving record may be required.
ADA: The above statements cover what are generally believed to be principal and essential functions of this job. Specific circumstances may allow or require some people assigned to the job to perform a somewhat different combination of duties.
We currently anticipate accepting applications until 10/05/2026. However, we encourage early submissions, as the posting may close sooner if a strong candidate slate is identified before the deadline.
Benefits
We have an array of benefits to fit your needs, including: medical/dental/vision, life insurance, short and long term disability coverage, paid time off with newly hired associates receiving a minimum of 18 days paid time off each full calendar year pro-rated quarterly based on hire date, nine paid holidays, 8 hours of Lifetime paid time off, 8 hours of Unity Day paid time off, 401(k) with company match, company-paid pension plan, business casual attire, and more. To learn more about the benefits we offer, click here.
This position could be filled within any of the lower 48 U.S. states.
