Business Support & Execution, Assistant Director

The Business Support & Execution, Assistant Director leads strategic transformation initiatives that support business priorities and operational and organizational objectives. This role partners across business, operations, product, and technology teams to assess current-state processes and capabilities, identify opportunities for optimization and standardization, and translate strategy into executable solutions.

This is a role for someone who brings a strategic perspective with a strong bias for execution. You will evaluate capabilities and operational value streams to identify opportunities for standardization and optimization while remaining closely involved in the work required to move from strategy to implementation. You will also partner with business and functional leaders to shape future operational capabilities, assess downstream impacts, and translate strategic priorities into scalable, sustainable improvements. Key areas of focus may include retirement plan recordkeeping operations, client onboarding, process modernization, standardization across products, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities.

What You’ll Do

Initiative Leadership, Governance & Delivery

• Lead complex, cross-functional business operations initiatives, collaborating with stakeholders to establish execution approaches, decision-making processes, and accountability practices that drive alignment, operational effectiveness, and sustainable outcomes.
• Translate organizational strategy into a clear future state across people, processes, governance, roles, capacity, controls, technology, and ways of working. 
• Coordinate execution across interconnected teams and workstreams, managing priorities, dependencies, decisions, and implementation trade-offs.

Operational Strategy & Optimization

• Assess current-state processes, workflows, technologies, and operating practices to identify opportunities for optimization, modernization, automation, and standardization across products and business areas.
• Synthesize operational processes, technology capabilities, dependencies, and gaps into recommended future-state and interim solutions, highlighting trade-offs and business impacts.
• Use data, metrics, and business insights to prioritize opportunities and evaluate operational and business outcomes.

Risk, Readiness & Implementation

• Identify and manage complex risks, issues, dependencies, and organizational barriers, escalating significant decisions or concerns as appropriate.
• Assess operational readiness and client-service continuity, partnering with stakeholders to develop transition and interim operating plans addressing roles and impacts, procedures, training, communications, and feedback.
• Lead implementation and stabilization activities to support successful adoption and sustainable business outcomes.

Stakeholder Leadership

• Build alignment and shared accountability across business, operations, product, and technology stakeholders.
• Facilitate key planning and decision-making discussions, resolve competing priorities, and translate complex operational and technology considerations into actionable recommendations.

Execution Excellence & Capability Development

• Define and track transformation value across service, quality, cost, risk, client experience, automation, adoption, and scalability, ensuring benefits are sustained and the operating model continues to improve.
• Improve execution practices, tools, documentation, reporting, and processes, including opportunities to leverage AI-enabled capabilities.
• Share best practices and provide guidance to consultants, analysts, project leads, and business partners.

• 10+ years of experience in business execution, program leadership, consulting, business analysis, organizational initiatives, process improvement, change leadership, or equivalent experience.
• Experience leading large, complex, cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholder groups, business functions, or operational areas.
• Experience establishing or supporting governance, execution approaches, accountability frameworks, and delivery disciplines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage risks, dependencies, organizational impacts, implementation challenges, and competing priorities in complex environments.
• Experience facilitating alignment among leaders and stakeholders across teams, functions, and organizational boundaries.
• Experience leading organizational, operational, process, data, system, or technology-enabled change.
• Experience assessing current-state operations and translating findings into future-state recommendations and executable solutions.
• Experience using metrics, reporting, and business insights to support decisions and evaluate outcomes.
• Strong communication, facilitation, relationship management, problem-solving, and influencing skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with retirement plan recordkeeping, including defined contribution, ESOP, defined benefit, or pension risk transfer.
• Experience with operational transformation, process optimization, or standardization across multiple products or business areas.
• Experience supporting client onboarding or other complex, cross-functional client-service processes.
• Experience with automation, AI-enabled capabilities, or other technology-enabled approaches to improving business operations.

Work Environment

• Limited travel may be required.

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.

Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants

Investment Code of Ethics

For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.

Experience Principal

At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.

Principal is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.

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