Manager, Sales Desk

Come join one of America’s fastest-growing insurance companies. Since 1848, National Life Group has aimed to keep our promises, providing families with stability in good times and in bad. Throughout that history, we have provided peace of mind to those families as they plan their futures.

Our mission extends beyond the insurance and annuities policies that we offer. We strive to make the world a better place through our grants from our charitable foundation, paid volunteer time for our employees, environmentally sustainable and healthy workplaces, and events that promote the work of nonprofits in our own backyard.

We foster a collaborative environment with opportunities for growth and encourage our associates to live our values: Do good. Be good. Make good.

Role Summary

The Manager, Sales Desk leads a team of Internal Sales Specialists who support life insurance and annuity sales activity for National Life Group. This role is accountable for coaching, developing, and directing the team to deliver strong sales support, service quality, and distribution results.

The position serves as a key connection between the Sales Desk and the field, translating agent, agency, and field leader needs into clear coaching priorities, team development plans, and process improvements. The manager partners closely with Distribution leadership and internal business partners to strengthen field relationships, improve execution, and advance opportunities across the sales process.

The ideal candidate brings sales leadership experience, strong business judgment, and a market-oriented mindset with the ability to build trust, develop talent, and drive accountability in a fast-paced environment.

This position currently offers an onsite work schedule, with the expectation that you will be in the office four (4) days per week during onsite core days. Our current onsite core days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The work schedule type and core days are subject to change with advance notification and manager discretion.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop Internal Sales Specialists supporting life insurance and annuity sales activity.

• Set clear performance expectations and provide ongoing feedback, coaching, training, and performance management.

• Build team capability through quality review, development planning, and continuous learning.

• Promote a market-connected, distribution-focused mindset that reflects field priorities, agency needs, and competitive dynamics.

• Partner with external sales teams, field leaders, agencies, and Distribution leadership to align Sales Desk activity with business goals.

• Gather and synthesize feedback from agents, agencies, field leaders, and sales partners to identify trends, barriers, and opportunities.

• Translate field and market insights into coaching priorities, team training, sales enablement, and process improvements.

• Collaborate across Distribution, Operations, Marketing, Product, Technology, and other partners to improve sales execution and the agent and agency experience.

• Foster a collaborative culture centered on accountability, service excellence, and results.

• Identify and develop future talent through succession planning, development planning, and career growth support.

• Use technology, CRM tools, reporting, and operating practices to improve team effectiveness and efficiency.

• Monitor performance metrics and team output to ensure goals and service standards are met.

• Travel as needed for training, field engagement, relationship building, and business meetings.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.

• 5 years of sales, sales support, distribution, financial services, or related experience.

• Demonstrated ability to coach, develop, or influence others in a professional setting.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, changing environment.

• Up to 10% travel required.

Preferred Qualifications

• 2 or more years of people leadership or team leadership experience.

• Experience leading a sales desk, internal sales team, distribution team, or relationship management function.

• Knowledge of life insurance, annuity products, financial services distribution, or independent agency models.

• Experience with CRM tools, including Salesforce.com.

• Demonstrated ability to use field feedback, business insights, and performance data to improve sales execution and partner experience.

• Strong ability to build relationships across field sales, internal partners, and leadership teams.

• Experience developing high-performing teams through coaching, training, accountability, and development planning.

AI Proficiency Expectations:

At National Life Group, we view AI as an enabler of human potential. We use AI to help us work smarter, serve more clients, and keep our promises, while remaining a relationship-driven business where our people are our greatest strength.

All applicants are expected to:

• Leverage approved AI tools, where appropriate, to improve the efficiency, quality, and impact of their work.

• Stay curious and open to new AI-enabled ways of working.

• Exercise sound judgment by reviewing and validating AI-generated content.

• Maintain accountability for the accuracy, quality, fairness, and integrity of work products by adhering to National Life's AI guiding principles.

• Use AI responsibly and in accordance with company policies related to confidentiality, data privacy, security, compliance, retention, and intellectual property.

Additional Expectations for AI-Forward Roles

Core Competencies

Cultivates Innovation - Fosters innovation by taking calculated risks; Work cooperatively with others to produce innovative solutions.

Ensures Accountability - Holds self and others accountable to meet commitments and performance goals.

Directs Work - Provides direction, delegates, and removes obstacles to get work done.

Demonstrates Emotional Intelligence - Exhibits the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions and how emotions can influence others; Uses a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and opportunities.

Exhibits Critical and Creative Thinking - Engaging thinking skills that focus on logic and reasoning to make decisions (critical) and innovative solutions to solve problems (creative).

Leads Change - Facilitates change and transition at the individual and team level; Develops strategic goals for aligning with change.

Develops Talent - Builds team(s) equipped for the future by applying coaching techniques for developing team members to meet their professional/personal goals and the organizational goals; Listens and responds with empathy; Asks thought provoking questions.

Inspires Others - Motivates and influences others by creating an environment where teams can do their best work; Partners across the organization to achieve results.

Base Pay Range . The base pay range for this position is the range National Life reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for the position taking into account the wide variety of factors, including: prior experience and job-related knowledge; education, training and certificates; current business needs; and market factors. The final salary or hourly wages offered may be outside of this range based on other reasons and individual circumstances.

Additional Compensation and Benefits . The total compensation package for this position may also include a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave), dependent on the position offered. The successful candidate may also be eligible to participate in National Life’s discretionary annual incentive programs, subject to the rules governing such programs. If hired, the employee will be in an "at-will position" and National Life reserves the right to modify base salary (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation or benefit program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

National Life is accepting applications for this role on an ongoing basis and the role remains open until filled.

Salary Pay Range

$67,500—$99,000 USD

National Life Group® is a trade name of National Life Insurance Company, Montpelier, VT – founded in 1848, Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, Addison, TX – chartered in 1955, and their affiliates. Each company of National Life Group is solely responsible for its own financial condition and contractual obligations. Life Insurance Company of the Southwest is not an authorized insurer in New York and does not conduct insurance business in New York. Equity Services, Inc., Member FINRA/SIPC, is a Broker/Dealer and Registered Investment Adviser affiliate of National Life Insurance Company. All other entities are independent of the companies of National Life Group.

Fortune 1000 status is based on the consolidated financial results of all National Life Group companies.

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National Life Group

1 National Life Dr

Montpelier, VT 05604