Director, People and Communications Innovation

Job Posting End Date: March 01

When you join the team at Unum, you become part of an organization committed to helping you thrive.

Here, we work to provide the employee benefits and service solutions that enable employees at our client companies to thrive throughout life's moments. And this starts with ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys opportunities to succeed both professionally and personally. To enable this, we provide:

• Award-winning culture
• Inclusion and diversity as a priority
• Performance Based Incentive Plans
• Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability
• Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!)
• Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution
• Mental health support
• Career advancement opportunities
• Student loan repayment options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flexible work environments

*All the benefits listed above are subject to the terms of their individual Plans.

And that's just the beginning...

With 10,000 employees helping more than 39 million people worldwide, every role at Unum is meaningful and impacts the lives of our customers. Whether you're directly supporting a growing family, or developing online tools to help navigate a difficult loss, customers are counting on the combined talents of our entire team. Help us help others, and join Team Unum today!

General Summary:
The Director of Innovation leads the development and execution of a forward-looking innovation strategy that advances People & Communications' vision and strengthens global organizational performance. This role identifies and champions opportunities to modernize processes, enhance operational efficiency, optimize the employee and customer experience, and introduce transformative technologies.

Partnering closely with HRIS, Employee Experience, People Analytics, Delivery, Solutions, and Centers of Excellence, the Director evaluates emerging trends, pilots new solutions, and oversees initiatives from concept through commercialization. By fostering a culture of creativity and experimentation, and translating complex insights into actionable recommendations for senior leadership, the Director serves as a strategic connector across P&C and the enterprise, ensuring innovative ideas are effectively prioritized, executed, and scaled.

Job Specifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, Technology, or related field (master's preferred)
• 8+ years of experience in innovation, strategy, or process improvement roles
• Proven track record of leading cross-functional projects and delivering measurable results
• Strong understanding of emerging technologies, digital transformation, and change management
• Excellent communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills
• Proven experience in HR innovation, digital transformation, or strategic program leadership
• Strong knowledge of HR technology, process optimization, and change management
• Expertise in design thinking, agile methodologies, and innovation frameworks
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills
• Ability to translate data insights into actionable strategies

Principal Duties & Responsibilities:

• Partner with leadership to develop and execute a forward-looking innovation strategy aligned with P&C's vision and organizational goals, incorporating emerging trends, technologies, and market shifts to inform strategic direction.
• Identify and champion innovation opportunities, including process improvement, automation, workforce optimization, and digital transformation-to enhance operational efficiency, risk management, and the employee and customer experience.
• Lead and foster creativity and experimentation by organizing ideation sessions, workshops, innovation sprints, and building innovation capability through training, playbooks, and governance.
• Evaluate, prioritize, and oversee innovation initiatives from concept through pilot to commercialization, partnering with Delivery, Solutions, COEs, HRIS, Talent & Inclusion, and key stakeholders across P&C and the Enterprise.
• Identify and pilot emerging technologies and engage cross-functional teams, vendors, startups, and industry experts to introduce cutting-edge solutions that address business pain points.
• Act as a strategic bridge between data science, business intelligence, and planning functions, translating complex data into clear, actionable insights and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Collaborate with Corporate Strategy and senior leaders to ensure alignment, define KPIs, measure impact, and maintain an innovation pipeline tracking ideas from concept to implementation.
• Provide actionable insights to support strategic planning, innovation investments, cost management, and enterprise-wide decision making.

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Unum and Colonial Life are part of Unum Group, a Fortune 500 company and leading provider of employee benefits to companies worldwide. Headquartered in Chattanooga, TN, with international offices in Ireland, Poland and the UK, Unum also has significant operations in Portland, ME, and Baton Rouge, LA - plus over 35 US field offices. Colonial Life is headquartered in Columbia, SC, with over 40 field offices nationwide.

Unum is an equal opportunity employer, considering all qualified applicants and employees for hiring, placement, and advancement, without regard to a person's race, color, religion, national origin, age, genetic information, military status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or protected veteran status.

The base salary range for applicants for this position is listed below. Unless actual salary is indicated above in the job description, actual pay will be based on skill, geographical location and experience.
$89,900.00-$169,900.00

Additionally, Unum offers a portfolio of benefits and rewards that are competitive and comprehensive including healthcare benefits (health, vision, dental), insurance benefits (short & long-term disability), performance-based incentive plans, paid time off, and a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match up to 5% and an additional 4.5% contribution whether you contribute to the plan or not. All benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of individual Plans.

Company:
Unum