Our People

Our “A Rewarding New York Life” series shines a light on the breadth of opportunity available at New York Life and explores how a role here could check a lot of boxes when it comes to finding a rewarding career and nailing that work-life balance. 

With a history spanning 177 years, New York Life is an insurance company that thrives on its people. And when it comes to group life insurance, New York Life has been protecting employees and their families for several decades.

In 2020, with the acquisition of Cigna’s group insurance business, New York Life took an exciting step. This was the largest acquisition in the company’s history and resulted in what is now known as New York Life Group Benefit Solutions (GBS).

We spoke to a group of our dynamic GBS employees about who they are, what they do, and how New York Life supports their personal and professional goals. 

New York Life employee Harrison Goad is always on the quest for knowledge. As an Account Manager, he is responsible for answering clients’ questions and knowing something about everything.

Here he discusses his role with New York Life since transitioning into the company in 2020.
 

The Person / “Client facing”

Harrison majored in Health and subsequently worked as a Medical Biller. Combining medicine and business was a logical step for Harrison who moved into the insurance industry just over five years ago.

“I am now in a client-facing role, which I've wanted to do for quite a while. It's the health-business blend that I very much enjoy. I've been able to create relationships that will eventually help me further my career!”

Harrison has always tried to cultivate a healthy work-life balance. Finding this to be an integral part of the workplace culture at New York Life, he feels able to leave work at work. In his spare time, his hobbies include carpentry, smoking meats, and spending quality time with his family.
 

The Role / “Building relationships”

Harrison explains that account management is a role that sits somewhere between multiple internal teams and the customer. He liaises between different internal teams while remaining customer-facing. Building meaningful relationships with his clients is something Harrison finds particularly fulfilling.

“As an Account Manager, I maintain a book of 500 plus policies—equating to about 200 plus clients or policy owners! I try to maintain rapport with those clients. There are some that are pretty high touch, who require a lot of aid and have a lot of questions. We are the liaison between our claims team and the clients.”

“Insurance jargon can sometimes be very vague and convoluted. Being able to teach our clients exactly what their policies are is a crucial skill. Probably 40 percent of my role is that alone–explaining policies and answering questions.”

What else does Harrison find rewarding about his work? Learning from his diverse colleagues:

“At New York Life, I work with a variety of people from different backgrounds every day. We liaise with account executives, sales reps, underwriting teams, and claims teams. There’s this saying: ‘look for the smartest person in the room and talk to them. If you're this person, go to a different room.’”

“I get to work with plenty of people who are way smarter than me–I'm able to learn a ton from them.”
 

The Culture / “Inspiring and exciting”

When it comes to professional development, Harrison has utilized the programs available at New York Life and even enjoyed helping others along the way.

“In terms of training, it's been great. We shadow another Account Manager, and then that Account Manager becomes your mentor. I did it recently for one of our new hires. It helped her understand what I was doing day to day, but it also helped me because the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else.”

Overall, Harrison has felt welcomed at New York Life and is thriving on the energy he’s found at the company. There is a culture of growth and ambition that he’s found inspiring.

“New York Life just seems very ready to push forward. From our town hall meetings, you can see there is a lot of listening and leadership.”

“They care about what we think, and they take care of us so that we can take care of our clients. The company is on a really great path. Everyone seems excited and ready to grow.”

Feel inspired? Why not apply to one of our many open roles today.

New York Life is an equal opportunity employer M/F/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

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