AVP Technology Business Operations & Strategy

Job Description:

The AVP, Technology Business Operations & Strategy, is a pivotal executive role within the Workforce Benefits division at Pacific Life. This position is responsible for guiding the division’s technology ecosystem with the rigor expected of a Fortune-class organization and the agility of a growth-focused team. Success in this role demands a well-rounded blend of expertise in quality assurance, operational excellence, business management, and strategic vendor partnerships. This leader will champion initiatives that foster reliability, cohesion, and continuous improvement across interconnected platforms and teams, ensuring the division remains a high-performing engine for sustainable growth.

As an executive leader, this leader holds accountability for divisional technology investments, workforce planning, and vendor strategy. This includes managing key contracts, multi-year technology roadmaps, and ensuring seamless alignment with both the finance organization and broader enterprise technology partners. Candidates who excel in this role will demonstrate strong business acumen, strategic foresight, and the ability to collaborate across all levels of the business. They will drive innovation, maintain operational discipline, and build effective partnerships that strengthen the division’s position within Pacific Life and support its continued growth.

Strong business management acumen is critical for management of divisional technology budgets and associated resources, including internal and vendor-provided resources. Success also depends on building and sustaining effective vendor partnerships—overseeing contracts and performance as a key component of the role. An analytical mindset and a focus on metrics are essential to monitor productivity, inform decisions, and sustain high performance throughout the division.

As the business continues to scale, this leader holds the accountability for scaling capabilities and the operating model—ensuring the Workforce Benefits technology ecosystem operates as a cohesive, reliable, and governable system. This role is accountable for delivery excellence, technology roadmaps, strategic technology initiatives, technology business management, vendor assurance, quality programs, and cross‑ecosystem alignment.

This leader integrates disparate operating models across the complex technology ecosystem, vendors, leadership teams, and enterprise partnerships to assure high quality while reducing friction, risk, and rework. This role also has responsibility for negotiating, executing, and managing multiple contracts, statements of work, purchase orders, invoices, and overall budget management.

Reporting to the division’s CIO, the role requires exceptional political savvy, enterprise partnership, and the ability to lead horizontally while balancing the pull into day‑to‑day operations.

This role requires being on-site in Newport Beach, CA or Charlotte, NC.