Hi, I’m
Kristina Zabinski
Strategic Leader Passionate About Driving Meaningful Change
Albany,NY
Summary
Forward-thinking leader with expertise in customer relationship management and cross-functional collaboration. Proven track record of strengthening business partnerships and ensuring compliance, leading to enhanced organizational success. Focused on process improvements and effective risk management strategies.
Overview
13
years of professional experience
1
Certificate
Work History
Highmark, Inc.
Manager, Broker Experience
09.2021 - 11.2025
Job overview
- Spearheaded the successful, on-time, and on-budget launch of the new APM commission system after years of previous struggles and delays, an effort recognized with a Blue Snoopy award from the Health Plan President.
- Led the cleanup and reconciliation of 12 years of historical broker data, successfully removing 8,000 bad records (25% of all data) from the new system, which substantially improved processing time and reduced future costs.
- Identified critical compliance and data quality gaps that caused a 25% data drop-off in the legacy system; subsequently cleaned up 40% of historical data (2M+ records), achieving 99.9% accuracy for import into the new APM system.
- Delivered over 3,000 hours of operational efficiency gains by streamlining workflows, reducing redundancies, and resolving system defects that had persisted for years.
- Achieved significant cost savings by proposing initiatives to senior leadership projected to save over $500,000 in unnecessary appointment fees and commission system storage space.
- Transformed team operational capacity by cross-training all 9 team members on core tasks (appointments, commission inquiries, PORs), which eliminated work imbalance and increased turnaround times for stakeholders.
- Cultivated strong relationships with key stakeholders across multiple departments (Sales, Legal, Producer Strategy) to operationalize key initiatives like the expansion into a new region and drive process improvements, implementing system enhancements to account for necessary automation.
BlueShield of Northeastern New York
Manager, Account Retention + Broker Program
01.2021 - 09.2021
Job overview
- Managed a team of sales representatives through migration to ensure high performance and engagement.
- Analyzed sales data to refine strategies and improve customer targeting efforts.
- Collaborated with other departments such as underwriting, marketing, operations and finance in order to ensure successful outcomes from sales initiatives.
- Resolved customer complaints quickly by providing satisfactory solutions or refunds.
BlueShield of Northeastern New York
Manager, Broker Program
10.2016 - 01.2021
Job overview
- Managed broker team to ensure compliance with industry regulations and company policies.
- Evaluated market trends to inform strategic decision-making and commission offerings.
- Fostered relationships with key stakeholders to enhance business partnerships and opportunities.
- Reviewed broker commissions on a regular basis to ensure accuracy according to established policies.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive onboarding process for new brokers.
- Conducted regular performance reviews to assess broker effectiveness and identify areas of improvement.
- Coordinated preparation of internal and external audit materials and reporting.
Brown & Brown of New York
Account Executive
09.2015 - 10.2016
Job overview
- Responsible for client management and presenting proposals while developing long term relationships with a portfolio of clients.
- Generate sales for the company as a result of cross selling additional lines of business to both existing and new clients.
- Developed strong relationships with clients to understand their needs and preferences.
- Resolved client issues promptly by coordinating with internal departments for solutions.
Capital District Physician's Health Plan
Broker Client Manager
12.2012 - 09.2015
Job overview
- Recruited by sales leadership to manage mutually beneficial relationships with external business partners, empowering them to meet sales quotas, revenue projections and closing the sale.
- Work in tandem with Account Managers, coordinate client specific resolution on all products sold.
- Process and log sales data and sales progress reports to track the delivery of the sales process in an effort to work collaboratively with all other internal departments.
Skills
- Leadership and strategic planning
- Risk management and compliance
- Data analysis and reporting
- Project management and execution
- Business development and partnerships
- Salesforce administration
- Budgeting and cost control
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Vendor and stakeholder management
- Process optimization
- Customer relationship management
Education
The College of Saint RoseAlbany, NY
Bachelor of Arts from Public Communication
01-2009
Certification
Life Accident & Health License (NYS)
Affiliations
Volunteer, Operation Warm
Board Member, South Albany Airport
Volunteer, Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York
Volunteer, Ronald McDonald House
Big Sister, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region