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Newport Beach, California, United States
Onsite
Job Description:
Pacific Life’s Workforce Benefits division is a growth engine for the enterprise—operating with the speed of a startup and the rigor of a Fortune class financial services organization. In this influential leadership role, you will champion the seamless delivery of technology platform services that support Pacific Life’s Workforce Benefits division. Your expertise in service delivery will ensure that our platforms consistently perform at a high level—maintaining stability, security, and scalability while supporting ongoing innovation. As the steward of operational excellence, you will drive initiatives that enhance reliability and efficiency, positioning the organization for continued rapid growth and success.
As the business continues to scale, we are seeking an Assistant Vice President (AVP), Technology Platforms & Operations accountable for the reliability, resilience, and day-to-day operational excellence of the Workforce Benefits technology platform services. This role owns the “run” dimension of the operating model—ensuring platforms are stable, secure, scalable, and cost‑effective while enabling rapid product innovation.
This AVP leads platform services, infrastructure, DevOps, incident and service management, DR/BCP, and operational readiness across the technology footprint, partnering deeply with enterprise infrastructure, engineering excellence/SRE, service management, and risk functions. The role reports to the WBD CIO and operates as a critical stabilizing force as the business scales.
This role requires being on-site in Newport Beach, CA (preference) or Charlotte, NC.
Core Accountabilities
Ensure availability, performance, and resilience of all WBD platforms
Own incident management, service management, DR/BCP, and operational readiness
Lead platform modernization, operational automation, and cost‑to‑run optimization
Establish strong operational metrics, governance, and transparency
Build a durable platform talent and leadership bench
Key Responsibilities
Platform Operations & Reliability
Own day‑to‑day operational health of core business platforms, infrastructure, and shared services.
Ensure platforms meet enterprise standards for availability, security, compliance, and recoverability.
Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and systemic remediation.
Service Management & Operational Governance
Establish mature service management practices including change control, release readiness, and operational metrics.
Partner with Enterprise Service Management (e.g., change board, incident management) to ensure alignment and compliance.
Drive consistent reporting on uptime, incidents, DR posture, and operational risk.
DevOps, Infrastructure & Scale
Lead DevOps, infrastructure, and platform engineering capabilities to improve automation, observability, and scalability.
Partner with Product Engineering to ensure platforms enable—not constrain—delivery velocity.
Optimize cost‑to‑run while maintaining reliability and growth readiness.
Enterprise & Business Partnership
Act as the primary interface to enterprise infrastructure, platform teams, and engineering excellence for SRE.
Partner with operational leaders to align technology operations with business needs and service expectations.
Proactively surface operational risks and capacity constraints to executive leadership.
Talent & Leadership
Build and develop platform engineering, operations, and reliability leaders.
Clarify role ownership across platform and service teams to reduce noise and escalation.
Foster a culture of operational excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Qualifications
12+ years of experience leading enterprise platform operations, infrastructure, or SRE functions.
Proven track record operating large‑scale, cloud‑based platforms in regulated environments.
Proven success leading teams at scale in a highly regulated industry and complex matrixed organization.
Strong understanding of service management, DR/BCP, DevOps, and operational risk.
Executive‑level communication skills and calm, decisive leadership under pressure.
Salary Range: $225,000- $275,000
Internal Deadline to Apply: Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Base Pay Range:
The base pay range noted represents the company’s good faith minimum and maximum range for this role at the time of posting. The actual compensation offered to a candidate will be dependent upon several factors, including but not limited to experience, qualifications and geographic location. Also, most employees are eligible for additional incentive pay.
Your Benefits Start Day 1
Your wellbeing is important to Pacific Life, and we’re committed to providing you with flexible benefits that you can tailor to meet your needs. Whether you are focusing on your physical, financial, emotional, or social wellbeing, we’ve got you covered.
Prioritization of your health and well-being including Medical, Dental, Vision, and Wellbeing Reimbursement Account that can be used on yourself or your eligible dependents
Generous paid time off options including: Paid Time Off, Holiday Schedules, and Financial Planning Time Off
Paid Parental Leave as well as an Adoption Assistance Program
Competitive 401k savings plan with company match and an additional contribution regardless of participation
You Can Be Who You Are
We are committed to a culture of diversity and inclusion that embraces the authenticity of all employees, partners and communities. We support all employees to thrive and achieve their fullest potential.
What’s life like at Pacific Life? Visit Instagram.com/lifeatpacificlife
EEO Statement:
Pacific Life Insurance Company is an Equal Opportunity /Affirmative Action Employer, M/F/D/V. If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran, you have the right to request an accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center as a result of your disability. To request an accommodation, contact a Human Resources Representative at Pacific Life Insurance Company.