New

Director Program Management

Madison, WI; Dallas,TX; Plano, TX

Horace Mann is seeking a Director of Program Management a senior leadership role responsible for leading large-scale, enterprise-wide technology programs with significant business and operational impact. This role operates autonomously and provides strategic oversight across complex initiatives while leading, mentoring, and developing program and project management professionals.

This position plays a critical role in ensuring that information technology solutions—particularly Life and Health insurance systems—are delivered at scale, meet company standards, align with regulatory and business requirements, and drive measurable outcomes across the enterprise.

This role is hybrid with commute to either Dallas/Plano, Tx office or Madison, WI.

Key Responsibilities

Program & Delivery Leadership

  • Lead and oversee large, complex IT programs and portfolios, including enterprise insurance system implementations.
  • Carry out procedures to ensure all information technology solutions and services meet company standards and user requirements.
  • Assist with the development of business cases, including scope, benefits realization, cost models, and resource planning.
  • Define and clarify program and project scope, objectives, and success metrics.
  • Develop, monitor, and manage program plans, schedules, and budgets.
  • Monitor program progress, risks, dependencies, and deliverables across multiple workstreams.
  • Identify critical program risks and develop mitigation and recovery strategies to ensure successful outcomes.

People Leadership & Organizational Management

  • Determine program organizational structure; define roles and responsibilities across project and program teams.
  • Lead, mentor, and develop direct reports, including program managers and project managers.
  • Direct and monitor other project managers to ensure delivery discipline, consistency, and quality.
  • Set clear direction, motivate teams, and assign work to deliver results consistent with approved plans.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

  • Coordinate activities across technology, product, operations, compliance, and business teams.
  • Serve as the primary point of contact for program sponsors, steering committees, and executive leadership.
  • Prepare and deliver executive-level program status reports, dashboards, and communications.
  • Communicate complex program issues and decisions clearly to leadership, up to and including the executive level.

Strategic & Enterprise Impact

  • Think strategically across the enterprise, ensuring programs align with long-term business and technology strategies.
  • Apply deep Life and Health insurance domain knowledge to guide prioritization, solution design, and execution.
  • Champion continuous improvement in program governance, delivery methodology, and execution maturity.
  • Support and promote ongoing education and excellence in project and program management practices across the organization.

Required Qualifications & Experience

  • Bachelor’s Degree required. 
  • 15+ years of experience leading large-scale IT programs, including enterprise insurance system implementations.
  • Must have Life and Health insurance industry experience, with deep understanding of insurance operations and systems.
  • Must have IT program management background, managing complex, multi-year, multi-vendor initiatives.
  • PMP or Agile certification is required (PMP, PgMP, SAFe, Scrum Master, or equivalent).
  • Proven experience operating at the executive and board-facing level, managing senior stakeholders and steering committees.
  • Demonstrated success leading cross-functional, geographically distributed teams.
  • Strong financial acumen, including experience managing large program budgets.
  • Exceptional leadership, communication, and decision-making skills.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience managing core insurance platform implementations, system modernization, or digital transformation initiatives.
  • Experience working within regulated financial services environments.
  • Advanced degree in Business, Technology, or related discipline preferred.

Additional Information

  • Normal office environment.
  • Periodic travel may be required.
  • Ongoing education in Project and Program Management is required and supported.

Pay Range:

  • $105,200.00 - $147,950.00/annually 

Salary is commensurate to experience, location, etc.

Horace Mann was founded in 1945 by two Springfield, Illinois, teachers who saw a need for quality, affordable auto insurance for teachers. Since then, we’ve broadened our mission to helping all educators protect what they have today and prepare for a successful tomorrow.  And with our broadened mission has come corporate growth:  We serve more than 4,100 school districts nationwide, we’re publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: HMN) and we have more than $12 billion in assets.

We’re motivated by the fact that educators take care of our children’s future, and we believe they deserve someone to look after theirs.  We help educators identify their financial goals and develop plans to achieve them.  This includes insurance to protect what they have today and financial products to help them prepare for their future. Our tailored offerings include special rates and benefits for educators.

EOE/Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status

For applicants that are California residents, please review our California Consumer Privacy Notice

All applicants should review our Horace Mann Privacy Policy

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Horace Mann ’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.