Unum is a company of people serving people. As one of the world’s leading employee benefits providers and a Fortune 500 company, Unum’s financial protection benefits help protect more than 36 million working people and their families from the financial impact of illness or injury. Unum’s three distinct, but similarly focused US businesses – Unum US, Colonial Life, and Starmount Life – are each a market leader in making disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental, and vision insurance accessible in the workplace.
Headquartered in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Unum also has significant US operations in Portland, Maine, – and over 35 field offices nationwide. Colonial Life is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina with over 40 field offices nationwide. Starmount Life is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the dental and vision center of excellence for Unum in the US.General Summary:This position is responsible for discovering and driving innovative solutions that help drive the Unum Group long-term growth strategy. The leader in this role will assume responsibility for managing Unum’s Corporate Venture Capital fund.
The incumbent will focus on business development activity (sourcing/discovery/relationships), manage the CVC fund accounting and associated reporting, work closely with active governance models, and partner with peers to drive strategic priorities. The incumbent will work closely with external partners and effectively bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and internal business teams. The leader in this role will manage the portfolio of CVC investments aligned with P&L strategy to ensure balance, ROI structure, and work closely with legal, treasury, accounting to ensure up to date information and reporting is validated and accurate. This position will report to the VP, Unum Ventures.
Principal Duties and Responsibilities
- Support Unum Group enterprise strategic priorities by identifying, analyzing, and addressing complex business issues while discovering innovative solutions and technology opportunities to address them
- Ensure alignment of innovation initiatives/opportunities and Unum Group overall growth strategy
- Explore the range of business opportunity available to Unum and in the wider US/International market
- Identify, analyze and prioritize new entrepreneur engagement opportunities through extensive sourcing and discovery, competitive research, local market analysis, while maintaining a strong understanding of businesses adjacent to Unum and important macro trends (regulatory, technological, economic, social and demographic)
- Partner with external entities like Plug and Play, Venture Capitalists, and other Accelerator/Incubators to identify clear pilot opportunities that the organization can rapidly (and realistically) launch to market
- Manage day to day engagement with pilot startups, own pilot/project management and deliverable execution, and partner with other departments and/or functional heads
- Prepare presentations to senior leadership and Board of Directors as needed.
- Assess likely revenue and profit impacts of innovative ideas and evaluate against the costs – make recommendations and build business cases to test new concepts and ideas
- Develop and maintain internal network of contacts to validate concepts, support innovative frameworks, and partner to drive pilots and opportunity assessments
- Manage the corporate venture capital fund, budget, and associated reporting
Job Specifications
- Bachelor’s Degree required, MBA preferred
- 7+ years experience in business strategy, Venture Capital, innovation, working with startups, or consulting; or equivalent relevant work experience
- Comfortable working at all levels in the organization from the C-suite to business unit professionals
- Assimilate and adapt to Unum’s culture while managing change using strong influencing skills, while operating in a new/unfamiliar environment, and working effectively within a highly matrixed organization.
- Knowledge of the basic economics of financial services & business services companies
- Focused on quick results and fast turnaround.
- Very strong problem structuring and analytical skills
- Very strong modeling and presentation writing skills
- Very strong verbal and written communication skills
- Superior project management skills; strong collaborator
- Ability to navigate in fast paced environments; comfortable with tight deadlines, fast turnaround times and ambiguity
Travel Requirements
- Travel requirements vary significantly based on active project requirements and can be higher and lower throughout the year; estimated overall travel is 10-25%
Relocations services can be provided for this position.
Our company is built on helping individuals and families, and this starts with our employees. We want employees to maintain a positive balance, which is why we provide access to the benefits and resources they need to invest in themselves. From our onsite fitness facilities and generous paid time off to employee professional development programs, we are committed to helping employees live and work their best – both inside and outside the office.
If interested, please apply here.
