The MetLife Marketing organization is evolving to enable our Next Frontier strategy. The organization has outlined a new vision – to be a customer-centric and data-driven growth engine that takes accountability for contributing meaningful enterprise value and building customer equity.
The organization is on a journey to create a high-performing team equipped with modern capabilities. This will require us to change the organization’s expectation of marketing and shift the Marketing focus areas. The expected outcomes of this evolution are 1) growth – marketing as an investment with a predictable contribution to enterprise value, 2) efficiency/effectiveness through a data-driven DNA, 3) capability maturity leading to sophisticated technical and strategic capabilities, and 4) talent alignment to enable a modern, agile marketing organization that nurtures, develops, and attracts top talent.
The Director of Agile Marketing is a player-coach role responsible for leading, mentoring, and developing a team of agile marketing managers and the education and enablement of marketers across Global Brand and Marketing. This individual will spearhead the adoption and continuous improvement of agile marketing practices across the organization. As the player-coach this person will run scrums/agile ceremonies etc. for one or more Marketing PODs made up of a cross-functional core team and extended team. This person will drive the development of training materials, manage key agile marketing initiatives, and ensure consistent application of agile principles in the day-to-day operations of the MetLife marketing department.
The ideal candidate will have a strong background in agile marketing, possess excellent leadership skills, and be passionate about fostering a culture of continuous improvement and collaboration.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Team Leadership and Coaching: Hire, lead, mentor, and manage a team of agile marketing managers. Act as a coach for both individual contributors and teams to foster agile adoption and ensure effective execution of marketing initiatives.- Training and Development: Develop and deliver training programs and materials related to agile marketing methodologies that best work in and for the MetLife Global Brand and Marketing team. Ensure all team members, including Agile Marketing Managers and all marketing staff, are equipped to effectively apply agile principles in their work.
- Agile Framework Management: Oversee the implementation and management of agile marketing processes, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, retrospectives, and sprint reviews. Ensure the consistent and efficient operation of all agile teams, both as a Scrum Master and leader of other Scrum Managers, also known as Agile Marketing Managers.
- Agile Strategy and Continuous Improvement: Identify opportunities to enhance agile marketing practices and workflows, driving innovation and process improvements across marketing pods, other MetLife departments and within Workfront and other applications across the marketing technology landscape. Ensure agile methodologies are aligned with the broader business drivers, marketing goals and strategies.
- Stakeholder Collaboration: Collaborate with senior leadership, technical platform owners (e.g. WorkFront) and cross-functional marketing teams to align agile practices with business goals. Ensure timely communication and transparency regarding project progress, challenges, and successes.
- Best Practices and Documentation: Document and share best practices and learnings from agile marketing initiatives. Promote a knowledge-sharing culture to enable teams to adopt and adapt agile methods effectively. Maintain a resource hub that marketers can access and self-educate, learn and develop a comprehensive understanding of our new ways of working. This includes case studies that outline what marketers are doing within their PODs to drive the business forward, lessons learned and areas for improvement.
- Performance Monitoring and Reporting: Track and report on the performance of agile marketing teams, including key metrics such as velocity, sprint success rates, and project completion timelines. Use data-driven insights to inform improvements and training requirements.
- Problem Solving and Conflict Resolution: Proactively address potential issues, remove roadblocks, and resolve conflicts that arise within agile teams. Foster an environment of open communication and problem-solving.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's degree in Marketing, Business, or a related field; MBA or relevant certification in Agile (e.g., Certified Scrum Master) is a plus.
- 5+ years of experience in a marketing role,and 5 years of experience managing teams in an agile marketing environment.
- Demonstrated success in scaling, coaching and leading agile marketing teams, with a strong understanding of agile principles, frameworks (e.g., Scrum, Kanban), celebrations, definitions and methodologies.
- Experience developing training materials and leading training sessions for teams at different levels of agile maturity.
- Strong organizational and project management skills, with a proven track record of managing multiple projects and teams simultaneously.
- Proficiency with agile marketing tools such as Workfront, Jira, or similar platforms.
- Excellent communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills with an ability to inspire agile best practices across a large enterprise organization, not just in philosophy but in pragmatic, real world situations.
- Ability to collaborate with senior leadership and cross-functional teams to drive alignment and achieve marketing goals.
- A proactive and flexible mindset, with the ability to adapt to evolving business needs and drive continuous improvement.
