The posting
The Head of Product Strategy & Platform Innovation is a senior leadership role responsible for the strategic evolution, differentiation, and commercial success of our open‑architecture wealth management product platform. This individual wakes up every day thinking about what’s next—how product, partners, packaging, and go‑to‑market strategy come together to create a compelling, modern, and advisor‑centric platform across fee‑based advisory, annuities, and alternatives. We do not manufacture products. Our competitive advantage comes from curation, partnership, design, positioning, and delivery. This role exists to ensure our platform is not merely comprehensive—but distinctive, relevant, and growth‑oriented. The role works horizontally across the organization—marketing, sales, business development, training, product management—and externally with asset managers, insurance carriers, TAMPs, and portfolio managers. Success requires influence without direct ownership, entrepreneurial energy, and a strong commercial mindset.
Key Responsibilities
Product Strategy & Innovation
- Own the forward‑looking product strategy across advisory, annuities, and alternatives within an open‑architecture ecosystem.
- Identify gaps, white spaces, and emerging opportunities driven by advisor needs, client behavior, regulation, and competitive dynamics.
- Design differentiated product constructs, solutions, and portfolios by creatively leveraging third‑party partners rather than manufacturing products.
- Translate industry trends (e.g., retirement income, tax efficiency, private markets, managed solutions, model portfolios) into actionable platform initiatives.
Platform Differentiation & Go‑to‑Market
- Develop clear go‑to‑market strategies for platform capabilities, including positioning, messaging, and advisor value propositions.
- Partner closely with Marketing to ensure product stories are simple, compelling, and commercially effective.
- Work with Sales and Business Development to align product strategy with advisor adoption, growth objectives, and field readiness.
- Drive clarity around why advisors should use specific solutions—not just what is available.
Partner Strategy & Ecosystem Management
- Serve as a senior point of engagement with asset managers, insurance carriers, TAMPs, and product sponsors.
- Evaluate, onboard, and rationalize partners with a focus on quality, differentiation, economics, and strategic fit.
- Co‑create solutions with partners where appropriate, including custom portfolios, white‑labeled offerings, or exclusive access strategies.
- Maintain a strong commercial lens on platform economics, scalability, and advisor impact.
Cross‑Functional Leadership & Influence
- Act as a strategic connector across Product Management, Sales, Marketing, Training, and Business Development.
- Provide strategic direction while leveraging existing execution teams for implementation.
- Influence priorities and outcomes without direct people ownership, using clarity, credibility, and collaboration.
- Partner with Training and Sales Enablement to ensure advisors understand not just products—but how to use them in holistic planning conversations.
What Success Looks Like
- Advisors view the platform as thoughtful, differentiated, and easy to position with clients.
- Product initiatives are clearly linked to advisor adoption, client outcomes, and revenue growth.
- Partners see the firm as a strategic collaborator, not just a distributor.
- The platform evolves proactively—not reactively—to market and advisor needs.
Qualifications & Experience
- 10+ years of experience in wealth management, asset management, insurance, or fintech, with exposure to RIA and broker‑dealer environments.
- Deep knowledge of fee‑based advisory, annuities, alternatives, and managed solutions.
- Demonstrated ability to build or evolve open‑architecture platforms without manufacturing products.
- Strong commercial and go‑to‑market orientation—understands how strategy translates into advisor behavior.
- Proven success working cross‑functionally and influencing outcomes without direct authority.
- Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to balance vision with practical execution.
- Comfortable operating with ambiguity and turning ideas into scalable initiatives.
Why This Role Matters
- This role ensures our product platform moves from “robust but pedestrian” to strategically curated, commercially sharp, and advisor‑obsessed—without disrupting what already works operationally.
- It complements strong execution with vision, innovation, and market leadership.
Salary Range:
$155,370.00 - $255,255.00
The salary range reflected above is a good faith estimate of base pay for the primary location of the position. The salary for this position ultimately will be determined based on the education, experience, knowledge, and abilities of the successful candidate. In addition to salary, this role may also be eligible for annual, sales, or other incentive compensation.
Our Promise
At Guardian, you’ll have the support and flexibility to achieve your professional and personal goals. Through skill-building, leadership development and philanthropic opportunities, we provide opportunities to build communities and grow your career, surrounded by diverse colleagues with high ethical standards.
Inspire Well-Being
As part of Guardian’s Purpose – to inspire well-being – we are committed to offering contemporary, supportive, flexible, and inclusive benefits and resources to our colleagues. Explore our company benefits at www.guardianlife.com/careers/corporate/benefits. Benefits apply to full-time eligible employees. Interns are not eligible for most Company benefits.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Guardian is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, marital status, disability, military or veteran status, or any other classification protected by applicable law.
Accommodations
Guardian is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. Guardian also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified job applicants (and employees) to accommodate the individual's known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would create an undue hardship. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact [email protected]. Please note: this resource is for accommodation requests only. For all other inquires related to your application and careers at Guardian, refer to the Guardian Careers site.
Visa Sponsorship
Guardian Life is not currently or in the foreseeable future sponsoring employment-based visas (e.g., such as an H-1B). In order to be a successful applicant, you must be legally authorized to work in the United States, without the need for employer sponsorship/support now or at any time in the future.
Notice Regarding Guardian’s Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruitment
As part of Guardian’s job application process, Guardian may use artificial intelligence tools (“AI Tools") to automate the sorting and filtering of information provided by applicants as part of its preliminary screening. This preliminary screening may be used to help identify applicant materials and resumes relative to their indication that the applicant meets the requirements for the specific job for which they are applying, as specified in the listing posted on Guardian’s jobs website (Careers at Guardian at https://www.guardianlife.com/careers). At Guardian, we do not use AI Tools to substantially assist or replace human judgment or discretionary decision making in our hiring process. All hiring decisions will be made by Guardian colleagues.
Please be aware that if you apply for a specific position with Guardian, you will have the choice of opting out of Guardian’s use of AI Tools during the job application process. If you would like to request an alternative process that does not utilize AI Tools or would like to request a reasonable accommodation, within ten business days of your position application, you must email your request to [email protected], making sure to provide your name and job requisition identification number. Guardian will retain your applicant materials and resume and all information therefrom in accordance with Guardian’s document retention policy, a copy of which you may request via [email protected].
Additionally, at applicable times, Guardian will make public the most recent bias audit results for such AI tools, which may be found here.
Current Guardian Colleagues: Please apply through the internal Jobs Hub in Workday.
