Director, Corporate Governance

The next part of your journey is right around the corner — with The Standard.

A genuine desire to make a difference in the lives of others is the foundation for everything we do. With a customer-first mindset and an intentional focus on building strong teams, we’ve been able to uphold our legacy of financial stability while investing in new, innovative technologies that support the needs of our customers. Our high-performance culture focused on operational excellence thrives thanks to remarkable people united by compassion and a customer-first commitment. Are you ready to make a difference?

Job Summary:

The Director, Corporate Governance provides strategic leadership and oversight of the company’s corporate governance operations. This role is responsible for maturing the governance framework, advising on governance issues, preparing board materials, subsidiary management, and ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and organizational strategy.

The Director partners closely with senior executives, the Corporate Secretary, and board members to enable effective governance, transparency, and decision-making and serves as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and the board on governance matters and leads initiatives that strengthen governance processes, mitigate risk, and enhance organizational integrity. Additionally, the Director leads and develops a team of corporate governance professionals, driving operational excellence, continuous improvement, and strong cross-functional collaboration across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities:

Governance Operations Strategy & Advisory

• Lead the development and continuous evolution of the enterprise corporate governance operations strategy, framework, and policies.
• Serve as an advisor to senior leadership and the board on governance practices, regulatory requirements, and emerging trends to ensure governance practices support effective decision-making, transparency, and risk management, including accurate and timely board and committee materials and governance filings.

Operations and Governance

• Provide oversight of and ensure delivery of corporate governance processes, including coordination of board and committee agendas, preparation of board and committee materials, and ensuring accurate documentation of board and committee activities.
• Partner with the Corporate Secretary and executive leadership to ensure timely, accurate, and high-quality board operations.
• Guide governance-related interactions between senior leadership and the board.

Talent Leadership & Organizational Capability

• Lead, coach, coordinate, and develop a team of corporate governance professionals.
• Establish clear performance expectations and foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning to enhance organizational capability and support evolving governance needsEnterprise Governance & Compliance Integration

• Oversee governance operational practices across all subsidiaries to ensure consistency, compliance, and alignment with enterprise standards.
• Partner with Legal, Compliance, and other functions to ensure integrated governance processes and adherence to regulatory requirements.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Identify and implement improvements to governance processes, tools, and reporting by leveraging technology, creating benchmarks, and following industry best practices to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the team.

Skills and Background You’ll Need:

Education: Bachelors degree required, JD or other relevant post graduate degree preferred

Experience:

• 7-10 years of progressive experience in a corporate governance role, with working knowledge of applicable corporate governance practices, including 3+ years of experience managing corporate governance professionals.
• Strong knowledge of corporate governance frameworks, regulatory requirements, risk management practices, and best practice standards.
• Hands-on experience managing boards of multiple entities and working closely with legal teams internally and externally.
• Solid experience in change management and process improvement with a people-focused approach that drives results.
• Prior experience with regulatory filings across entity changes and state compliance regulations.

Key Behaviors of a Successful Candidate:

Winning together: Excellent communication & collaboration skills, with demonstrated ability to influence senior leadership and build relationships with all levels of the business. Viewed as a resource to the division, providing leadership in his/her key areas of responsibilities.  Subject matter expert with the ability to negotiate and influence management decision making. 

Improvement Mindset: Thinks innovatively, brings ideas to life, and seeks continuous improvement.  Approaches business challenges from a broad corporate perspective. Anticipates and removes barriers to accomplish business objectives. Ability to collaborate effectively with stakeholders at all levels and drive continuous improvement initiatives. Constantly pursue exceptional results that take us “next level.”

Driving success: Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate complex requirements into actionable governance practices

Engaging Hearts & Minds: Fosters an empowered, collaborative team and cultivates trusted relationships across functions. Ability to drive team performance to goals. Provides training and development to immediate team members.  Significant role as a resource/mentor to others in the compliance team.

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We have built an enduring legacy of stability, financial strength and exceptional customer service through the contributions of the service-oriented people who choose to work at The Standard. To ensure we can attract and retain the best talent, when you join The Standard you can expect:

• A rich benefits package including medical, dental, vision and a 401(k) plan with matching company contributions

• An annual incentive bonus plan

• Generous paid time off including 11 holidays, 2 wellness days, and 8 volunteer hours annually — PTO increases with tenure

• A supportive, responsive management approach and opportunities for career growth and advancement 

• Paid parental leave and adoption/surrogacy assistance

• An employee giving program that double matches your donations to eligible nonprofits and schools

In addition to the competitive salary range below, our employee-focused benefits support work-life balance. Learn more about working at The Standard.

• Eligibility to participate in an incentive program is subject to the rules governing the program and plan. Any award depends on a variety of factors including individual and organizational performance.

The actual compensation for this role will be based on a combination of education and experience, knowledge and skills, position budget, internal equity, and market data.

Salary Range:

Standard Insurance Company, The Standard Life Insurance Company of New York, Standard Retirement Services, Inc., StanCorp Mortgage Investors, LLC, StanCorp Investment Advisers, Inc., and American Heritage Life Insurance Company and American Heritage Service Company, marketed as The Standard, are Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, sex, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or veteran status or any other condition protected by federal, state or local law. Except where precluded by state or federal law, The Standard will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. The Standard offers a drug- and alcohol-free work environment where possession, manufacture, transfer, offer, use of or being impaired by an illegal substance while on The Standard's property, or in other cases which the company believes might affect operations, safety or reputation of the company is prohibited. The Standard requires a criminal background investigation and employment, education and licensing verification as a condition of employment. After any conditional offer of employment is made, the background check will include an individualized assessment based on the applicant’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain and correct background information. All employees of The Standard must be bondable.