Mutual Opportunities
Head of Strategic Expense Initiatives & Capabilities
Boston, Massachusetts; Springfield, Massachusetts; New York, New York
Thank you to our employees for voting us one of the top places to work in Massachusetts for five consecutive years!
Overview
Finance and Accounting is at MassMutual’s core, and our team is ushering in an era of growth. We are looking for bold ideas, creative solutions, and comfort embracing change. We strive to build a diverse team and leverage different points of view to optimize processes and build strong relationships.
Our team is motivated by challenging work that delivers substantial impact in a culture of accountability and collaboration. We treat policyowners and customers fairly and prioritize financial stability. Being part of a mutual company means that our teams can think long-term, and employees can dive deep into the complex structure of products and the organization.
Our finance teams are experts in their field and thrive in fast-paced environments. They balance the needs of the business and invest in the long term, while always putting the customer first. They align their work with our live mutual philosophy and strive to always make the right choice for our policyowners. We are building a team that truly embodies ‘together we move forward.’
“At MassMutual, finance is the heartbeat of our company. Maintaining financial strength and stability and earning trust are key to how we operate. And as a mutual life insurance company, we don’t have shareholders. This means that our finance team can think long-term when choosing the best paths to fulfill our purpose: helping people to secure their futures and protect the ones they love. We’re looking for dedicated, skilled, creative finance professionals to join us in tackling complex challenges. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to grow your career in a place that values your ideas and invites you to challenge the status quo.”
Job Description
Head of Strategic Expense Initiatives & Capabilities
Full-Time
Boston, MA, New York, NY or Springfield, MA
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Head of Strategic Expense Initiatives & Capabilities to be responsible for leading our expense organization and will have primary responsibility advance expense management initiatives, capabilities and policies – including 3rd party benchmarking interpretation and analysis of results driving key actions and alignment. This leader will also pioneer innovation including expansion of GBS capabilities and building out AI/Gen AI digital analyst functionalities. In addition, this leader with partner closely with Procurement and Strategic Priorities and delivery.
The ideal candidate will have experience in financial analysis and/or expense management as well as be fluent in life insurance, wealth management and annuity products. This individual should excel at working collaboratively and cross-functionally with both peers and leaders within and outside the finance function. Things move quickly and change quickly at MassMutual; this individual should be able to navigate ambiguity and mobilize teams and work at a nimble and fast pace. An ability to translate and distill complex financial issues into simple business context storylines while also providing the “so what.”
The position will lead a small team, and ensure it is proactive and highly customer-centric. Development is at the core of a learning culture. The position will need to help guide all team members through their development.
The team will need to research and drive education and adoption of expense benchmarking, partner with peers to establish and maintain unit cost frameworks to track and monitor progress. Manage the timing, accuracy and hands-on execution of deliverables. Ensure proper attribution of results with fact-based analysis guiding insights and decision support.
The Impact
The position is expected to:
- Drive alignment on YoY top-down expense guidance and support business and functional partners in delivering
- Design intuitive, actionable expense performance analysis to create transparency and surface savings opportunities (incl. an external lens / benchmarking)
- Enhanced reporting and deep analytics around overall expenses, headcount, pricing gaps
- New tools: HC scenario impacts, Global Business Solutions (GBS) net savings, scenario analysis around expense levers and pricing impacts – ongoing reporting & validation
- Potential for category-specific councils (software, travel, HC, 3P contractors, management consulting, etc.)
- Establish unit cost transparency on ‘run the business’ spend – prioritizing technology and operations areas and ongoing reporting
- Partner with Actuarial to deepen understanding of pricing expense allowances vs. actuals and benchmarking gaps to create awareness and align ELT on multi-year aspiration and then surgical levers to achieve. Track and monitor delivery of multi-year aspiration.
- Partner, influence and align capabilities and processes with Strategic Planning & Delivery (SP&D), PMO and Procurement to increase transparency to improve economics and execution rigor
- Build more robust and pro-active transparency to improve economics (connect business drivers to spend, 3rd party spend, portfolio execution and eventual benefit realization)
- Transparency into funding capacity and alignment (improve T shirt size), CBA, execution health metrics and benefit realization (SPD & BAU programs) – linkage to forecast (spend and benefits)
- Transparency into Procurement levers / options and drive strategic trade-off discussions w/ ELT/SLT in partnership with procurement. Create clear linkage to forecast (validate growth and savings vs. avoidance)
Pioneer innovation capabilities:
- Partner with colleagues to “Raise the bar” on robust and enhanced analytics to guide decision support (historical trends, correlations, enhanced transparency on BAU vs. outliers, etc.)
- Build Pilot Gen AI/agentic AI ad hoc analytics solution to support initial use case(s)
- Stand-up our Global Business Solutions (GBS) support team in India to support SEM (executive presentations and analysis for SLT/ELT reviews/recommendations)
- Assess technology tools and capabilities needs, design business requirements and secure funding
The Minimum Qualifications
- 10+ years of experience in senior finance roles with proven ability to work across a heavily matrixed organization to lead and influence through ambiguity to mobilize teams and peers to deliver on key results. Tech forward leader with proven track record of implementing new and innovative technologies with strong communication, training and change management skills
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to convey complex materials to all levels of the organization including senior executives and Board of Directors
- Demonstrated experience in implementing advanced forecasting / strategic planning techniques including activity based costing and zero-based budgeting
- Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in Business/Finance/Accounting or related discipline
- High degree of financial acumen
- Strong analytical skills; ability to analyze financial data sets and understand the “so what”
- Organized and detail-oriented; Ability to work well under pressure and manage multiple deliverables
- Proactive and self-motivated; anticipate upcoming client projects and deliverables
- Ability to think critically and demonstrate good judgment. Demonstrate experience with creative problem-solving
- Experience driving transformation efforts
- Ability to work through large data sets to understand key trends
- Innate desire to provide excellent service to clients
- MBA or CPA designation is a preference. Prior management consulting experience is also a preference.
#LI-LC1
MassMutual is an equal employment opportunity employer. We welcome all persons to apply.If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.
MassMutual will accept applications on an ongoing basis until such time as a candidate has been offered employment. The job description includes the main duties of this position, which may evolve over time. You may be required to perform other duties not listed.
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment.
Salary Range: $167,800-$220,200
Hiring Process
Explore
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Apply
Click the “apply” button on that job posting to complete and submit your application. Your application will be reviewed by a recruiter, which, due to the volume of applications received, may take some time as we carefully consider each application.
Screen
After your application has been reviewed, if you meet the qualifications for the role, a recruiter will reach out to you to start a conversation.
Interview
If you are invited for an interview, you will be scheduled to meet with the hiring manager and hiring team.
Offer
If you are extended an offer to join MassMutual and accept, your start will be contingent upon a satisfactory background check.
Hire
If you accept the offer, we will be so excited to welcome you to the MassMutual community!
If you need an accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us and share the specifics of the assistance you need.
By the numbers*
- 85% of employee respondents say they are proud to work at MassMutual
-
90
% of employee respondents say the work they do at MassMutual is meaningful - 85% of employee respondents say they feel encouraged to come up with new and better ways of doing things
*Source: 2025 MassMutual employee engagement survey
Award-Winning Culture
MassMutual is guided by a single purpose: We help people secure their future and protect the ones they love. As a company operated for the benefit of our members and participating policyowners, we are defined by mutuality and our vision to provide financial well-being for all Americans. It’s more than our company structure — it’s our way of life. We are a company of people protecting people. Our company exists because people are willing to share risk and resources and rely on each other when it counts.
We strive to build a thriving community where everyone is valued, included, and feels that they belong.
At MassMutual, we Live Mutual.
How We Work
MassMutual’s flexible workplace approach combines the importance of connecting in person and the flexibility of working remotely. Our hybrid model puts collaboration first with employees coming in at least three days per week to our spectacular campus settings and also enjoying the flexibility of remote Fridays, company-wide remote weeks, and a bank of flexible remote weeks to use throughout the year.
Benefits for the whole you (and your loved ones)
There’s more to your life than your job and there’s more to your aspirations than a paycheck. We take a holistic view of compensation and benefits that provides the flexibility to create a healthy balance in your life for work, family, and community. We offer the benefits you’d expect, like medical, dental, 401(k), and generous vacation time, but we also offer ones you might not expect, like three paid days for volunteering, a $1,250 annual Well-Being Wallet, and up to 320 hours of caregiver leave.
Explore some of our offerings below. Benefit details can be found here.
where we work
Springfield Office
1295 State Street, Springfield, MA
Boston Office
10 Fan Pier Blvd, Boston, MA
New York Office
2 Park Ave,
New York, NY
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