Director, Change, Adaptability & Communication – Global Specialty

The Hartford•Hartford, CT

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a dynamic and talented Change, Adaptability & Communication Director to lead and drive adaptability in Global Specialty and shape vision for a differentiated experience as we transform underwriting across people, processes, data, and technology. This role is a unique blend of change leadership, operational excellence, and cultural transformation, ensuring smooth transitions and sustainable impact in a fast-evolving environment. This role requires strong emotional intelligence, innovative thinking, curiosity to solve business problems, and strong influence and ability to build followership to lead transformative projects in a complex, matrixed environment. Reporting in through the Operational Excellence team, this role sits at the heart of ensuring that continuous operational improvement is not only delivered, but adopted, embedded and sustained across a complex and matrixed organization. This role orchestrates enterprise change by translating strategy into meaningful shifts in mindset, behavior, and ways of working – partnering closely with agile teams and leadership to make change real, durable and measurable. If you thrive in ambiguity, love problem-solving, and excel at organizing and driving complex change while fostering a growth mindset, this role is for you. This role will work closely with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure transformation initiatives are seamlessly adopted and sustained. This role can have a Hybrid or Remote work arrangement.  Candidates who live near one of our office locations will have the expectation of working in an office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday).  Candidates who do not live near an office will have a remote work arrangement, with the expectation of coming into an office as business needs arise.

Requirements

7+ years of Wholesale Underwriting experience within a carrier; Global Specialty experience strongly preferred.
5+ years of proven leadership within guiding teams through large‑scale, continuous change—setting vision, inspiring teams, and driving accountability.
5+ years leading or supporting technology and process transformation initiatives.
7+ years of extensive experience executing complex projects, managing deadlines, and driving results.
7+ years of strong background in change management or organizational development, including planning, execution, and measurement.
Hands-on experience with change frameworks such as ADKAR, Prosci, Kotter, or Change Consulting.
Strong understanding of Agile principles and decentralized change models where delivery teams own day‑to‑day execution.
Demonstrated adaptability, agility, and responsiveness across evolving business needs; able to partner with HR, Training, and leadership to support change adoption (e.g., workforce planning, training).
Exceptional communication skills—able to “storytell” by translating complex ideas into clear, compelling messages that inspire change.
Strong collaboration and influence skills with the ability to navigate matrixed environments, build trust with senior leaders, and act as a strategic thought partner.
A successful individual will be highly adaptable and comfortable with ambiguity; passionate about continuous improvement and innovation; high EQI and TQI, empathetic and people-centric approach to change; data-driven and able to translate insights into action; strong facilitator with a knack for storytelling and engagement.

Responsibilities

Change Leadership & Mindset Shifts: Champion adaptability and a positive change mindset across teams, driving accountability and sustained adoption.
Design and implement strategies that reduce resistance and accelerate adoption of key initiatives.
Act as a transformation coach, reinforcing leader accountability for adoption while supporting employees through change.
Stay attuned to cultural and behavioral misalignments to ensure leadership team is positioned to reinforce change outcomes.
Balance strategic oversight with hands on support to reinforce momentum and amplify results.
People & Process Transformation: Lead cross-functional teams in the development and execution of change management plans.
Operate within a decentralized change model, where agile teams own day-to-day change execution.
Establish structure, standards and expectations that enable teams to drive effective change.
Partner with business, product, and technology to align transformation efforts.
Step in as needed to support teams while building scalable, repeatable change mechanisms.
Communication: Translate complex changes into clear, user-centered communication that drives understanding and adoption.
Build transparent and cohesive communication strategies that create predictability and consistency across initiatives and teams.
Ensure technology implementations are aligned and supported by deliberate user adoption strategies and communication plans.
Develop frameworks and toolkits to improve and enable change management to happen locally through workshops, training, communication strategies and practical tools that empower teams.
Insights: Leverage best-practices, data-driven insights and observations that continuously assess what is working, what is not and why.
Design and develop thoughtful, creative and sustainable practices to establish metrics that measure the effectiveness of change.
Partner collaboratively to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented change strategies and make timely, data-backed adjustments to ensure sustainable, positive impact.