Vice President, Field Communications

Location Designation: Hybrid - 3 days per week 

Role Overview:

The Vice President, Field Communications serves as the enterprise voice of the field, accountable for designing and executing the communications strategy that drives alignment, engagement, and performance across our 12,000+ agents and 110+ General Offices nationwide. This role is both strategic and transformational—responsible for elevating how New York Life connects its field force to the company’s mission, business strategy, and culture.

As Vice President, you will lead a multi-disciplinary communications function—including writers, planners, designers, and digital specialists—setting vision and standards for how field communications are planned, governed, delivered, and measured. You will partner with Agency leadership, Corporate Communications, and enterprise leaders to ensure that messages are clear, consistent, and impactful.

This role requires enterprise leadership, innovation, and change stewardship, balancing immediate business needs with longer-term transformation—especially as communications evolve through AI, advanced analytics, and new digital platforms.

What You’ll Do:

• Communications Leadership
• Serve as the senior communications advisor to Agency leadership, setting the vision, standards, and long-range strategy for field communications.
• Govern and evolve all communications channels (intranet, field emails, publications, and digital platforms) with a focus on reach, relevance, and measurable impact.
• Develop thought leadership and storytelling platforms that strengthen leaders’ ability to influence and inspire.
• Culture and Engagement Stewardship
• Build and continuously reinforce the connection between the field and New York Life’s mission, values, and culture.
• Drive engagement through storytelling, recognition, and content that fosters belonging and shared purpose across a diverse, nationwide distribution system.
• Future-Ready Transformation
• Anticipate and harness the potential of emerging technologies (AI, data, digital platforms) to modernize communications governance, delivery, and personalization.
• Establish an operating model that is efficient, innovative, and scalable, enabling the communications function to be nimble, agile, and responsive to evolving business needs.
• Talent Leadership
• Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing communications team, fostering innovation, collaboration, and growth.
• Identify and cultivate future leaders, ensuring the function is continuously building capacity and skills aligned to enterprise needs.
• Enterprise Connector
• Partner across the enterprise to ensure alignment of messages and integration of field insights into enterprise communications.
• Ensure strategies and initiatives reflect and respond to agent and manager realities.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive communications leadership experience, ideally in life insurance, financial services, or other relationship-driven industries.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise-scale communications functions with measurable business impact.
• Exceptional executive presence, with the ability to influence senior leaders and navigate complex organizational environments with transparency and integrity.
• Proven experience modernizing communications functions, including governance, measurement, and adoption of new technologies, while championing innovation and continuous improvement.
• Strong strategic orientation, with the ability to balance immediate priorities with long-term vision and adapt direction quickly as business needs evolve.
• Track record of developing top talent, creating inclusive teams, and leveraging diverse perspectives to enhance creativity and problem-solving.
• Deep knowledge of content strategy, internal communications, and sales enablement, with the ability to connect communications directly to enterprise goals and policyholder value.
• Collaborative and results-driven leader who can build alignment across functions, reso